She smiled suddenly, to the amazement of her sinister companions.
"Have no fear, Brutus. When he hears that you object, he will be very polite and give us a wide berth," she said. Peter flushed angrily.
"He doesn't mean any good by you," he snapped. "He'll fool you and—poof! Away he goes, rejoicing."
She still smiled. "You have a very good opinion of me, Peter Brutus."
"Well," doggedly, "you know what men of his type think of shopgirls. They consider them legitimate prey."
"And what, pray, do men of your type think of us?" she asked quietly.
"Enough of this," interposed William Spantz. "Now, Brutus, what does Count Marlanx say to this day two weeks? Will he be ready? On that day the Prince and the Court are to witness the unveiling of the Yetive memorial statue in the Plaza. It is a full holiday in Graustark. No man will be employed at his usual task and—"
Brutus interrupted him. "That is the very day that the Count has asked me to submit to the Committee. He believes it to be the day of all days. Nothing should go amiss. We conquer with a single blow. By noon of that day, the 26th of July, the Committee of Ten will be in control of the State; the new regime will be at hand. A new world will be begun, with Edelweiss as the centre, about which all the rest shall revolve. We—the Committee of Ten—will be its true founders. We shall be glorified forever—"
"We've heard all this before, Brutus," said Julius Spantz unfeelingly, "a hundred times. It's talk, talk, talk! What we need now is action. Are we sure that the Count will be prepared to do all that he says he will on the 26th of July? Will he have his plans perfected? Are his forces ready for the stroke?"
"Positively. They await the word. That's all I can say," growled Peter. "The death of the Prince is the signal for the overthrow of the present government and the establishment of the new order of equal humanity."