to see him now. How he would quiver and shake. There is death in those
voices."

She flashed a look of impatient scorn upon him.

"You are trifling with your destiny, Nicholas," she cried. "What
matters the life or death of such as Metzger? Our people need you. Out
and tell the men of Theos that once again a Reist will save his
country."

"Brave words, little sister. Brave words."

Her eyes were ablaze with anger.

"Have I been mistaken in you all these years, Nicholas?" she cried.
"Listen again. Those are the children of your city who call to you for
aid. Have you no longer the heart of a man or the blood of a patriot?"

A storm of wind and rain shook the high windows. From below came the
sound of a multitude thronging nearer and nearer till the square
seemed filled to overflowing with a surging mob. The man raised his
head as one who listens, and the smile no longer lightened his face.
The woman who watched him anxiously drew a long sigh of relief. She
knew then beyond a doubt that it needed no words from her to fire his
resolution.

"Marie," he said, quietly, "those are the voices which I have prayed
all my life that I might hear. Only I fear that they have come too
soon. Have you considered what it is that they would have from me?"

"They would make you lord of the country," she cried. "Who better or
more fitted? Have no fear, Nicholas. You come of a race of rulers. The
God of our fathers will guide your destiny."

The room, huge, unlit and darkened with tapestry hangings, seemed full
of mysterious shadows. Only those two faces--the girl's passionate,
the man's keenly thoughtful--seemed like luminous things. From below
came still the murmur of voices rising every now and then to a hoarse
roar. The man became suddenly explicit. His face relaxed. He came back
from a far-away land of thought.

"Listen," he said. "These people have come to put me in Metzger's
place. There would be no difficulty about that. Already I have
received a message from the House of Laws. Bah! I have no stomach
to sit in council with tradesmen and citizens, to have my will
questioned, to rule only by a casting vote. These modern forms
of government are vile. They would make me President of their
Republic--I, a Reist of Theos, whose forefathers ruled the land
with sword and fire. They would put me in the place of Metzger, the
merchant--Metzger, who would have sold his country to the Russians.
I say no!"

"What, then?" she cried.