would not result any tangible consequences, the young rascal accused the Englishman of violating public decency—and with a minor. He would not be shaken off. He ran after the carriage, sprang into it, and only at the door of the traveller's hotel leaped down, and ran away, not daring to face the concierge. The Englishman (who could not speak a word of Italian) was greatly disturbed at the prospect of a scandal. Fortunately there was none.
Another specimen of this kind of vulgar night-assault is as follows. The instance is reported in the Vienna "Neue Freie Presse", for June 14, 1901. It was much talked of in the capital at the time, as can be supposed.
"The secretary of a distinguished person here—the latter being an Archduke—on the night of May 15th, after a late supper, happened to stroll along the edge of the Rathhaus Park. He had been taking considerable beer at the Spatenbrau and in the Café Scheidl. Ho is a man in the thirties. He had wanted a little fresh air, and had been also taking a turn in a cab. At the place named, he alighted and walked along, till he reached a certain urinal. He entered it, and found two young men there, the defendants Karl Horak and Karl Mildner, The statement of the gentleman was this: "When I was leaving the latrine mentioned, one of the two defendants came to me and asked for some money. I would not give him any. Then he accused me of an offense. I said that that was not the fact. He repeated his demands, with the remark that if I would not give him money, then I "could not get away from there so easily." I wished to put an end to the situation; so I put my hand in my pocket and gave him a couple of Kronen.—"You'll have to give us more than that, or we dont let you off! We want a "Tenner"—then we will let you go." I wanted to stop such a scene, so I took out my purse. He seized it out of my hand, (it had some thirty florins in it) and ran off. I wished to pursue him, when the second fellow came up and demanded my watch. Just to get rid of him, I gave it him. I had to borrow money of a café-waiter to get home." …
But this was not the end. Decidedly serious consequences that brought victim and blackmailers in court, were to ensue. These developed as follows:
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