Fjallkonan #46 | 23 November 1900

29 MAY

SOMETHING HAS HAPPENED—QUITE A TRIFLE, BUT perhaps it could be helpful.²³⁹ The overwhelming silence, which has loomed over this place since I arrived, was disrupted yesterday. When I came into the dining room, I saw a group of Tatars in the courtyard.

These nomadic people are numerous in Hungary and Transylvania (Siebenburgen), with a population of many thousands. To some extent they live outside the country’s laws, clinging more tightly to their old customs and habits here than elsewhere in Europe. Still, sometimes they elect some mighty nobleman as their protector, adopt his name, and assume themselves as his liegemen. They are wild, brave and merciless; they have no known religion, but they are very superstitious.²⁴⁰

It occurred to me that I might be able to send messages with the help of these people. To make contact, I greeted them and spoke to them from the window. They looked at me with great respect, but they understood me no better than I understood them. I had finished the letters. I only wrote a few lines to my employer, asking him to speak to Wilma, as she could tell him what he’d want to know. I had written her a long and clear letter, explaining everything about my situation.²⁴¹This letter was coded in shorthand,²⁴² so that it’s less likely to be read by others. I told her that the Count is more or less deranged and that one of his whims is to keep me here for as long as he can, but that staying here is unbearable for me. I urged that my employer make an effort to try and get me out of here, with the help of the British ambassador in Vienna and the Consulate in Budapest. I expressed confidence in the English Government, which always goes to great lengths to protect its citizens.

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I have managed to pass the letters to the Tatars. I tossed them out the window, along with two gold coins. One of the Tatars picked them up, bowed deeply and, pressing the letter to his chest, pointed to the west; apparently, he had grasped my intentions. There was nothing more that I could do. I went back into the library and waited for the Count to return. – – –