"You are one of us now," Anstruther said. Then he turned to the Sons. "This man is my comrade, my brother. This man will be your brother. He too has come into your world by some power infinitely beyond our understanding, and he too will join strength with yours in overthrowing Stephen Bryce, who calls himself the Father."
Involuntarily, the Son beside O'Hara bent his knee and said, "The Father," whispering it, reflexively devotional. Anstruther took no notice of it.
"The Deluge," he was saying, "has just been loosed upon Emporia. The tens of thousands who dwelt there have gone now to the Pits of Yellowstone. Some among you were born there, in Emporia, and your mothers are no more. Stephen Bryce has destroyed them. Do you understand what I am telling you—Stephen Bryce has destroyed your mothers, as he will destroy you when the need for you has passed. As he would have destroyed me long ago had he dared. Do you understand?"
"We understand," the Son beside O'Hara said. "Stephen Bryce, the Father—"
"Who calls himself the Father!"
"—who calls himself the Father, has loosed the Deluge on Emporia. And will loose it on us."
"Unless we destroy him first."
"Unless we destroy him first," echoed the Son. And the others said, as if it were a litany, "Unless we destroy him first."
"We are not free until Stephen Bryce is dead," said Anstruther.
The chorus answered gravely, "We are not free until Stephen Bryce is dead."