der our laws, so long as she shall obey them, and
there is no law of this District, nor this republic, nor of any
state, any monarchy, not even any law of nations, which could be
invoked to dismiss her from a capital where, though unwelcome, she
has a right to remain. I may be unwelcome to you, you to me,
either of us to any man; yet, having done no treason, so long as we
pay our debts and observe the law, no man may raise hand or voice
against us."

"Quite right!" broke in the leader again. "But let us look simply
at the gravity of it. They say it is treason not only against our
own country but against a foreign power which this woman is
fomenting. The Austrian attache, Mr. Hulsemann, is altogether
rabid over the matter. He said to me privately--"

"Then most improperly!" broke in the tall dark man.

"Improperly, but none the less, insistently, he said that his
government will not tolerate her reception here. He charges her
with machinations in Europe, under cover of President Taylor's
embassy of investigation into Hungarian affairs. He declares that
Russia and Austria are one in their plans. That, I fear, means
also England, as matters now stand in Europe."

"But, sir," broke in the vibrant voice of a gentleman who sat at
the left of the speaker, concealed in the shadow cast by the heavy
window drapings, "what is our concern over that? It is our boast
that this is a free country. As for England, we have taken her
measure, once in full, a second time at least in part; and as for
Austria or Russia, what have we to do with their territorial
designs? Did they force us to fight, why, then, we might fight,
and with proper reason."

"True again, sir!" said the leader, recognizing the force of the
murmur which greeted this outburst. "It is not any of these powers
that I fear. They might bluster, and still not fight; and indeed
they lack any rational cause for war. But what I fear, what all of
us fear, gentlemen, is the danger here, inside our own walls,
inside our own country."

Silence again fell on all. They looked about them, as though even
in this dimly lighted room they felt the presence of that ominous
shadow which lay over all the land--the menace of a divided country.

"That is the dread of all of us," went on the leader. "The war
with Mexico showed us where England stands. She proved herself
once more our ancient enemy, showed that her chief desire is to
break this republic. Before that wa