ur?
'Ah! fervidum imitatorum pecus!'

Enter Leonard and the Baptized Jew.

Do you know Count Henry?

THE BAPTIZED. I know him well by sight, great citizen, but I am not
personally acquainted with him. I remember once when I was approaching
the Lord's Supper, he cried to me, '_Out of the way!_' and looked down
upon me with the arrogant look peculiar to the nobles--for which I vowed
him a rope in my soul.

PANCRATIUS. Prepare to visit him early to-morrow morning, and announce
to him that it is my wish to confer with him alone.

THE BAPTIZED. How many men will you send with me on this embassy? I do
not think it would be safe to undertake it without a guard.

PANCRATIUS. You must go alone, my name will be sufficient guard, and the
gallows on which you hung the baron yesterday, your shield.

THE BAPTIZED. Woe is me!

PANCRATIUS. Tell him I will visit him to-morrow night.

THE BAPTIZED. And if he should put me in chains or order me to be hung?

PANCRATIUS. You would die a martyr for the freedom of the people!

THE BAPTIZED. I will sacrifice all for the freedom of the
people.--(_Aside_.) Woe is me!--(_Aloud._) Good night, citizen.

Exit the Baptized.

LEONARD. Pancratius, why this delay, these half measures, these
contracts, this strange interview? When I swore to honor and obey you,
it was because I believed you to be a hero of extremes, an eagle flying
even in the face of the sun directly to its aim; a brave man ready to
venture all upon the cast of a die.

PANCRATIUS. Silence, child!

LEONARD. Everything is ready; the baptized Jews have forged arms and
woven ropes; the masses clamor for immediate orders. Speak but the word
now, and the electric sparks will fly, the millions flash into forked
lightnings, kindle into flame, and consume our enemies!

PANCRATIUS. You are young, and the blood mounts rapidly into your brain;
but will the hour of combat find you more resolute than myself?

LEONARD. Think well what you are doing. The nobles, weak and exhausted,
have fled for refuge to the famous fortress of the Holy Trinity,[1] and
await our arrival, as men wait the knife of the guillotine.

[Footnote 1: A renowned fort in Polish history. It stood on the old
battlefield between Turkey and Poland, between Europe and Asia.]

Forward, citizen, attack them without delay, and it is over with them
forever!

PANCRATIUS. It can make no difference; they have lost the old energy of
their caste in luxury and idlen