e of Fate
that denied me your friendship. What could we not have accomplished
together for the Fatherland? I, with my youth and energy, under the
tutelage of your wisdom and experience. You tasted there, probably for
the first time in your life, the intoxicating cup of popularity, yet it
affected you no more than if you had drunk of the fountain in the
Romerberg.

"Now, my Lords, here is what I ask of you, and it will show how much I
would have depended upon you had I been chosen to the position at first
proposed to me. I request you, my Lord of Treves, to remove your three
thousand troops to the other side of the Rhine."

"I shall do nothing of the sort," blurted Treves, amazed at the absurd
proposal.

Roland went on, unheeding:

"I ask you, my Lord of Cologne, to march your troops to Assmannshausen."

"You indeed babble like the boy you said you were!" cried the indignant
Cologne. "You show no grasp of statesmanship."

A faint smile quivered on the thin lips of Mayence at his colleagues'
ill-disguised fear at leaving him the man in possession so far as
Frankfort was concerned. The naive proposal which angered his two
brethren merely amused Mayence. This young man's absurdity was an
intellectual treat. Roland smiled in sympathy as he turned towards him,
but his next words banished all expression of pleasure from the face of
Mayence.

"I hope to succeed better with you, my Lord. Of course I recognize I
have no standing with this Court since my refusal of the gift you
intended to bestow. I ask you to draft into this city seven thousand
men;" then after a pause: "_the seven thousand will not have far to
march, my Lord._"

He caught an expression almost of fear in the Archbishop's eyes, which
were quickly veiled, but his Lordship's tone was as unwavering as ever
when he asked:

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean that the city of Mayence is nearer to Frankfort than either
Cologne or Treves."

"Your geographical point is undeniable. What am I to do with my ten
thousand once they are here?"

"My Lord, I admire the rigid discipline of your men, and estimate from
that the genius of organization possessed by your officers; a genius
imparted, I believe, by you. No one knows better than I the state of
confusion which this effort at relief has brought upon the city. I
suggest that your capable officers divide this city into cantons,
proclaim martial law, and deliver to every inhabitant rations of food as
if each