your women. Whose sister or daughter is safe? Mr. Brand, one of your
English poets has made the poor cry to the rich,

"'Our sons are your slaves by day,
Our daughters your slaves by night.'

But what if some day a poor man--I will tell you his name--his name is
De Bedros; he is not a peasant, but a helpless, poor old man--what if
this man comes to the great association that I have mentioned and says,
wringing his hands, 'My Brothers and Companions, you have sworn to
protect the weak and avenge the injured: what is your oath worth if you
do not help me now? My daughter, my only daughter, has been taken from
me, she has been stolen from my side, shrieking with fear, and I thrown
bleeding into the ditch. By whom? By one who is beyond the law; who
laughs at the law; who is the law! But you--you will be the avengers.
Too long has this monster outraged the name of Christ and insulted the
forbearance of his fellow creatures: my Brothers, this is what I demand
from your hands--I demand from the SOCIETY OF THE SEVEN STARS--I demand
from you, the Council--I demand, my Brothers and Companions, a decree of
death against the monster Zaccatelli!'"

"Yes, yes, yes, the decree!" shouted Reitzei, all trembling. "Who could
refuse it? Or I myself--"

"Gentlemen," said Lind, calmly, "the decree has been granted. Here is my
authority; read it."

He held out the paper first of all to Brand, who took it in both his
hands, and forced himself to go over it. But he could not read it very
carefully; his heart was beating quickly; he was thinking of a great
many things all at once--of Lord Evelyn, of Natalie, of his oaths to the
Society, even of his Berkshire home and the beech-woods. He handed on
the paper to Reitzei, who was far too much excited to read it at all.
Beratinsky merely glanced at it carelessly, and put it back on the
table.

"Gentlemen," Lind continued, returning to his unemotional manner,
"personally, I consider it just that this man, whom the law cannot or
does not choose to reach, should be punished for his long career of
cruelty, oppression, and crime, and punished with death! but, as I
confessed to you before, I could have wished that that punishment had
not been delivered by our hands. We have made great progress in England;
and we have been preaching nothing but peace and good-will, and the use
of lawful means of amelioration. If this deed is traced to our Society,
as it almost certainly will be, it will do