"Softly! Softly! Repeat your enumerations one by one."
"If faith does not exist in you it is useless for me to talk further. I will listen to nothing. Will you give me the money? Yes or no."
"For the revolution, no."
"But the necessity is urgent, my dear Jacob. We must have money to-day; you cannot refuse us."
"I refuse; I have said it."
"I have been your friend and defender, and I am still; but above all, I am a revolutionist. Do you know to what you are exposed by your opinions? To death, perhaps; certainly infamy."
"Infamy, never! A man can only render himself infamous; others cannot imprint this stain upon him. As for death, I do not fear it. The preservation of life or of fortune by the sacrifice of profound convictions is unworthy of a true man, is cowardly. You can obtain nothing from me by threats; kill me if you wish; I firmly believe in the justice of God and the immortality of the soul. And so I am tranquil."
Ivas laughed, and was a little touched.
"You are a great child, my dear Jacob," said he, with an air of compassion. "I pity you, for you are not a man of this century. I regard you as a phenomenon, as a mortal who awakes after a thousand years of sleep into an epoch entirely different from his own. Nevertheless, I esteem you."
Jacob held out his hand silently.