“Well?”
“Your Majesty, the kingdom of Theos is in danger!”
“I know it,” the King answered, calmly. “There are traitors in the city itself. I have felt sure of it for some time.”
“The danger is urgent!”
“Go on.”
“I have acquired a good deal of information during the last few days,” Brand said. “Some of it has come through a source which I may not reveal—piecemeal, and in disconnected fragments. You will have to take a good deal on trust.”
“I believe in you, Brand.”
“First of all, then,” Brand said, “you are aware of what has been going on in the Press all over Europe, in Russia, Germany, and France?”
The King nodded.
“A widespread conspiracy,” he said, “to vilify me and my methods and my government. I have been represented to Europe as a harebrained, scheming, military adventurer, idle, worthless, a drunkard, and heaps of other things. I know it, Brand. I know another thing, too. I know that one paper in England, through thick and thin, has been my friend. I do not deserve all the good which it has spoken of me. On the other hand, I shall always regard as one of my best friends the man who had the pluck to try and stem the tide.”