_THE SIEGE OF VIENNA._
Once more the Grand Turk was afoot. Straight on Vienna he had marched,
with an army of more than two hundred thousand men. At length he had
reached the goal for which he had so often aimed, the Austrian capital,
while all western Europe was threatened by his arms. The grand vizier,
Kara Mustapha, headed the army, which had marched straight through
Hungary without wasting time in petty sieges, and hastened towards the
imperial city with scarce a barrier in its path.
Consternation filled the Viennese as the vast army of the Turks rolled
steadily nearer and nearer, pillaging the country as it came, and moving
onward as irresistibly and almost as destructively as a lava flow. The
emperor and his court fled in terror. Many of the wealthy inhabitants
followed, bearing with them such treasures as they could convey. The
land lay helpless under the shadow of terror which the coming host threw
far before its columns.
But pillage takes time. The Turks, through the greatness of their
numbers, moved slowly. Some time was left for action.
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