ho should have defended it
have played you false. So be it! I speak to you as man to man, citizen
of Theos to citizen of Theos. No Republic can save you. It is a King
you want."

A deep, hoarse murmur swept upwards from the packed square. The
Republic had been their plaything, the caprice of an impulsive people,
and they were loth to own themselves in the wrong. Nicholas of Reist
read their faces like a book. Now or never must he win his way from
this people, or fall forever from their regard. His pale countenance
was lit with a passionate earnestness. He leaned towards them, and his
voice throbbed with tremulous eloquence.

"Listen," he cried. "You have had a Parliament and a
President--Metzger. What glories has he won for you?--how has he
enriched you, how much more prosperous is our country? I will tell you
what he has done. He has tried to sell you and Theos for a million
pounds. Oh, I am not afraid to tell you the truth, though one of you
should shoot me whilst I stand here. Theos was to become a tributary
state to Russia. Your country, which has defied conquest for a
thousand years, was to be bartered away that one man might live in
luxury on his miserable blood-money. Men of Theos, turn over the back
pages of your country's history. Think of those heroes who gave their
lives that you might be free men. Think of King Rudolph, who
vanquished all the hosts of Austria, or King Ughtred, who drove the
Turks back across the Balkans in midwinter, and with five thousand
ill-armed men routed the whole army of the Sultan. Remember Rudolph
the Second, who defended this very city for twelve months against
fifty thousand Turks, until for very shame England held up her hand
and all Europe rang with the gallantry of our King and his little band
of half-starved soldiers. Leave Republics to nations who have no past,
and whose souls are steeped in commerce. What have we to do with them?
We have a magnificent history, an ancient and glorious country. We
have soldiers, few perhaps, but matchless throughout the world. And
men of Theos, listen. Metzger has gone far in his treachery. I know
nothing of your State affairs, but this I do know. The covetousness of
those with whom he dealt is whetted. They are not likely to bear their
disappointment quietly. Before many months have passed the storm may
burst--the war beacons may be flaring round our borders. So I say to
you, have no more dealings with Republics. Scatter your Parliament to