"Whose fault is that? Have you tried to make them fit? Besides, their
fitness or unfitness has nothing to do with it. It is their country; let
them grow fit by experience. But I believe they _are_ fit. How many of
your great men have come from humble life?"

"Oh, a great many, I dare say!" answered the Prince, impatiently. "But a
body needs a head. It must be governed by a head, not by a stomach!"

"Ah," said Vard, "but, as a matter of fact, every body is governed by
its stomach. Not till the stomach is satisfied does the head get a
chance. And, to govern wisely, the head must be a part of the body, not
something distinct from it. How is it to govern wisely, if it is not
always in close touch with the body, aware of its every need? It is only
when the head is distinct from the body that it lets the body starve and
wastes its substance on vain and unnecessary things."

"I suppose," said the Prince with a smile, "that you refer to our army
and navy."

"To the army and navy of every nation. Could the people choose, how many
battleships would Germany build next year?"

The Prince shrugged his shoulders helplessly.

"How can I answer such questions? I do not know. But I do know that I
have been born in a certain position, and that I must maintain it."

"Why?" Vard demanded.

"For the sake of my honour, and the honour of my house," answered the
Prince, simply.

"Honour!" cried Vard. "What do Princes know of honour? Is it honourable
to live on the sweat and suffering of others, and to make them no
return? Is it honourable to be supported by the toil of women and
children, whose men you have taken for your army? Is it honourable...."

He stopped suddenly, for the door had opened and a girl came in. She
stared first at one man and then at the other, evidently astonished by
the few words she had heard. Then she turned to withdraw. But Vard
stopped her.

"Don't go, my dear," he said. "Allow me to present you to a Prince of
the House of Hohenzollern! Prince, this is my daughter, Kasia."

CHAPTER XXI

ON THE EDUCATION OF PRINCES

The Prince sprang to his feet and bowed low over the hand which Kasia,
after an instant's startled hesitation, had extended. Her father watched
the scene with an amused face.

"You arrived most opportunely, my dear," he said. "The Prince, being
bored, as is the way with Princes, came to me, asking to be amused. I
started out to amuse him by describing certain strange customs of