death, by giving you your life and setting you where you are
now, with power to save or kill him?"

"You call him great; yet I am here in safety, and he is--where he is.
Have you not heard of the strife of minds and wills? He represented the
West, I the East. He was a Christian, so was I; the ground of our battle
was a fair one, and--and I have won."

"The ground of battle fair!" she protested bitterly. "He did not know
that there was strife between you. He did not fight you. I think that he
always loved you, Excellency. He would have given his life for you, if
it had been in danger. Is there in that letter one word that any man
could wish unwritten when the world was all ended for all men? But no,
there was no strife between you--there was only hatred on your part. He
was so much greater than you that you should feel no rivalry, no strife.
The sword he carries cuts as wide as Time. You are of a petty day in a
petty land. Your mouth will soon be filled with dust, and you will be
forgotten. He will live in the history of the world. Excellency, I plead
for him because I owe him so much: he killed a man and brought upon
himself a lifelong misery for me. It is all I can do, plead to you who
know the truth about him--yes, you know the truth--to make an effort to
save him. It may be too late; but yet God may be waiting for you to lift
your hand. You said the circle may be smaller, but it may be unbroken
still. Will you not do a great thing once, and win a woman's gratitude,
and the thanks of the world, by trying to save one who makes us think
better of humanity? Will you not have the name of Nahoum Pasha linked
with his--with his who thought you were his friend? Will you not save
him?"

He got slowly to his feet, a strange look in his eyes. "Your words are
useless. I will not save him for your sake; I will not save him for the
world's sake; I will not save him--"

A cry of pain and grief broke from her, and she buried her face in her
hands.

"--I will not save him for any other sake than his own."

He paused. Slowly, as dazed as though she had received a blow, Hylda
raised her face and her hands dropped in her lap.

"For any other sake than his own!" Her eyes gazed at him in a
bewildered, piteous way. What did he mean? His voice seemed to come from
afar off.

"Did you think that you could save him? That I would listen to you, if
I did not listen to him? No, no, madame. Not even did he conquer me; but
something grea