He repeated hurriedly to the Priest what he had been saying, and he was surprised when the Priest rejoined:—
"I do not agree with you. Yes, you gentlemen of philosophy and the self-government of mankind—remember Captain, I told you so the first time we met—you have nothing but arrogance or dejection; you know no such thing as equanimity, because the firmly fixed rock of the Positive is lacking in you."
Eric, who had been holding his breath while the Doctor was holding forth, was on the point of replying sharply to the Priest, when the door was thrown open and Roland entered.
"No Doctor," exclaimed he, "you have not converted me. I still know—I still know—and you, Herr Priest, it does not become me to dispute with you, but I will not suffer my friend, my brother, my Eric, to be assailed here. He has given me the Positive, the belief in our duty, in our activity, in our never-ceasing self-devotion. I will show for his sake, and for my sake, what I can yet do in life."
The Prince embraced Roland; the Doctor took the Priest outside, and said to him in a low tone:—
"Don't trouble the young man, a favorable crisis has set in. Come with me, I beg of you."
He drew the Priest away almost by force.
Eric, Roland, and the Prince still sat a long while together; then they had the horses saddled, Eric and Roland accompanying the Prince a part of the way.
After they had ridden a short distance, they saw a strange shape on the road; Roland cried out suddenly:—
"There's something walking, I think—I think—no, I am not mistaken, it's our friend Knopf!"