people, but in the hectoring tone of a drill sergeant Diederich declared that he had no use for a mere figurehead of an Emperor. A people without stern discipline would fall into decay. … By this time they had reached the cellar where Lauer and his friends were already seated. "Well, are you going to sit with us?" Heuteufel asked Diederich. "In the last analysis, I suppose, we are all liberals." Then Diederich solemnly declared: "Liberals, of course. But where great national issues are concerned I am not in favour of half measures. In such matters there are for me only two parties, which His Majesty himself has defined: Those who are with him and those who are against him. Therefore, it is pretty evident to me that my place is not at your table."
He made a formal bow and went over to an unoccupied table. Jadassohn and Pastor Zillich followed him. People seated in the neighbourhood turned round, and a general silence ensued. In the exuberance of what he had been through Diederich conceived the idea of ordering champagne. At the other table there was whispering, then some one moved his chair. It was Fritzsche. He said good-bye, came over to Diederich's table to shake hands with his party and went out.
"He was well advised to do that," remarked Jadassohn. "He recognised in time that his position was untenable." Diederich answered: "I should have preferred an honest break. No one who has a clear conscience in matters of patriotism has any reason to fear those people." But Pastor Zillich seemed embarrassed. "The righteous man must suffer much," said he. "You have no idea what an intriguer Heuteufel is. God knows what atrocious story he will tell about us to-morrow." At this Diederich gave a start. Dr. Heuteufel was one of the initiated in that still obscure incident of his life, when he tried to escape military service! In a mocking letter he had refused to give a certificate of ill-health. He held him in the hollow of his hand and could destroy him! In his
