You need not split his lordship's head,
another will do that, a greater person than you or he. There is a law,
there is a court of justice."
Her father grew calmer, his distorted face began to relax. Panna now
released his arm, sat down on the boundary-stone beside which they had
been standing, and, gazing fixedly at the ground, while rolling the hem
of her apron between her fingers, she continued, speaking more to
herself than to him,
"We certainly know best that punishment will not fail. They shot our
poor Marczi, and he only gave a man a blow. If you ever had a little
quarrel with any one in the tavern, they imprisoned you for weeks and
months. I, too, have atoned for the crime I committed; nothing remains
unpunished, and the nobleman will get his deserts, as we have always
received ours."
The sun was setting, and the notes of the vesper-bell echoed from the
distance. The old man picked up his hoe, which he had left in the
furrow and, lost in thought, walked home with his daughter in silence.
Panna prepared the bed she had used when a girl in her father's hut,
and went to rest early.
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