She
went straight to a chair at the further end of the apartment, and took up
a book. Guest looked at me with a puzzled expression.
"Stranger still!" he said, "we are allowed to talk."
"It may be only for a moment," I reminded him.
"Or pass it on to a successor who will complete my work," he said slowly.
"I fear that I shall not find him. The time is too short now."
"Have you no friends I could send for?" I asked.
"Not one!" he answered.
I looked at him curiously. A man does not often confess himself entirely
friendless.
"I need a strong, brave man," he said slowly--"one who is not afraid of
Death, one who has the courage to dare everything in a great cause!"
"A great cause!" I repeated. "They are few and far between nowadays."
He looked at me steadily.
"You are an Englishman!"
I laughed.
"Saxon to the backbone," I admitted.
"You would consider it a great cause to save your country from ruin, from
absolute and complete ruin!"
"My imagination," I declared, "cannot conceive such a situation."
"A flock of geese once saved an empire," he said, "a child's little
finger in the crack of the dam kept a whole city from destruction.
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