ess. "Numa Pompilius, ever true to the good cause,
fervent in action, lucid in counsel, pitiless in execution, and fearless
in peril."

And again they pressed each other's hands in a fiery masonic grip, and
all the while Maria was thinking: how I long to seize the dry skinny
throat of this fervent, pitiless, and fearless man while he is spouting
his finest, and throttle him on the spot.

"So you have raised the standard of revolt, eh?" inquired Maria of the
valiant Numa Pompilius, "who gave you the signal?"

"Heaven and Earth," replied the master. "Heaven which sends death down
upon the people, and Earth which opens her mouth to receive their dead
bodies. Never was there a better opportunity than now. The terrible
destroying angel is going from house to house, and striding from village
to village, bringing with him wherever he goes sorrow and terror. Men
perceive that life is cheap and that it can't last long. Desperation has
severed every bond between masters and servants, creditors and debtors,
superiors and inferiors. It needs but one spark to ignite the whole
mass. That spark has already been kindled."

"How?"

"A blind rumour has begun to circulate among the masses to the effect
that the gentry are about to poison their peasants _en masse_."

Maria looked at the master in amazement.

"But is there anyone who believes such a thing?"

"The tales of wayfarers first spread the rumour, the thoughtless speech
of a drunken apothecary's assistant established it, intercepted letters
written by the gentry to one another served as confirmatory testimony."

"And the gentry actually wrote to each other that they were about to
poison the peasants?"

"No, but those who read out these letters to the people, took care to
find therein things that had never been written down."

In her horror and disgust Maria had been on the point of betraying
herself.

"Oh! I see. You read out forged letters to the illiterate people. A very
judicious expedient, I must say. Village folks can be got to believe
anything. But how about the townsfolk?"

"Oh! in the towns there is even more fear than in the country, and more
terrifying rumours too. But one loud cry and the walls of Jericho will
fall down--fall down where nobody expected it."

An idea suddenly flashed like lightning through Maria's brain.

"Have our brethren who dwell on the banks of the Drave[13] and among
the mountains of Chernagora[14] been informed of this movement?"