“But you have another name, haven’t you?” asked another Councillor.
“Yes, of course,—Drikus.”
“Very well, then,—Drikus the First. What do you think of that?”
“Well, well,” muttered Klessens. “‘Drikus the First, President of the Republic of Altenet’; it doesn’t sound bad, not bad at all.”
“Wouldn’t it be still better to say, ‘President of the Independent Republic’?” added the warlike Bauer.
“We might do that,” was the general verdict.
“But then we ought to be called Ministers,” suggested Conrads.
“Of course!” chorussed the rest.
“In that case, I suppose I shall be Minister of War?” asked Bauer.
“Certainly.”