“This is no laughing matter!” he said very earnestly; “Let me stand near you—let me keep close at your side all the evening!”
Leroy smiled and pressed his hand.
“My dear fellow!” he said; “Have no fear! Or if you have fear, do not show it! You stand in precisely the same danger as myself, or as any of us; you may draw the fatal Signal!—but if you do, I promise you I will volunteer myself in your place.”
“You!” said Regor with a volume of meaning in the utterance; “You would stand in my place?”
“Why, of course!” replied Leroy cheerily; “Life is not such a wonderful business, that death for a friend’s sake is not better!”
Regor looked at him, and a speechless devotion filled and softened his eyes. Certain words spoken to him by a woman he loved echoed through his brain, and he murmured:
“Nay, by the God above us, if death is in question, I will die rather than let you die!”
“That will depend on my humour!” said Leroy, still smiling; “You will require my permission to enter into combat with the last enemy before he offers challenge!”
Max Graub here approached them with a warning finger laid on his lips.
“Hush—sh—sh!” he said; “Think as much as you like,—but talk as little as you can! I assure you this is a most uncomfortable business!—and here comes the axis of the revolving wheel!”