He explained to me that posts were few and unreliable. If I wrote the letters now, this would ensure that my friends did not worry. And he assured me with great seriousness that he would stop the sending of the later letters, if I had to stay here longer for some reason. Instead the letters would be held over at Bistritz until it was time for me to go. To oppose him would have been to make him more suspicious. I therefore pretended to agree with his views. I asked him what dates I should put on the letters.

He thought for a minute, and then said, "The first should be June 12, the second June 19, and the third June 29." I know now how long I have left to live. God help me!

28 May. There is a chance of escape, or at any rate of being able to send a message home. A band of Szgany have come to the castle, and are staying in the courtyard. These are gipsies. I have notes of them in my book. They are found only in this part of the world, though they have friends among the ordinary gipsies all over the world. There are thousands of them in Hungary and Transylvania, and they are almost outside the law. As a rule they follow some great noble (called a 'boyar'), and give themselves his name. They are fearless and have no religion, except superstition, and they talk only their own varieties of the Romany tongue.

Vocabulary:

Posts: Collections of the mail
Ensure: Make certain
Assured: Say that something is true
Held over: Delayed until needed
Views: Here it means 'opinions'
At any rate: At least
Outside the law: Not obeying any laws
Tongue: Here it means 'language'