ears; but even thence he ruled his guild, and was
religiously consulted on all matters, and if he escaped from the hulks
he met with help, succor, and respect wherever he went. To have a
chief in the hulks is one of those misfortunes for which Providence is
responsible; but a faithful lodge of _devorants_ is bound, as before, to
obey a power created by and set above themselves. Their lawful sovereign
is in exile for the time being, but none the less is he their king.
And now any romantic mystery hanging about the words _Ferragus_ and the
_devorants_ is completely dispelled.

As for the Thirteen, the author feels that, on the strength of the
details of this almost fantastic story, he can afford to give away yet
another prerogative, though it is one of the greatest on record, and
would possibly fetch a high price if brought into a literary auction
mart; for the owner might inflict as many volumes on the public as La
Contemporaine.[*]

[*] A long series of so-called Memoirs, which appeared about 1830.

The Thirteen were all of them men tempered like Byron's friend
Trelawney, the original (so it is said) of _The Corsair_. All of them
were fatalists, men of spirit and poetic temperament; all of them were
tired of the commonplace life which they led; all felt attracted towards
Asiatic pleasures by all the vehement strength of newly awakened
and long dormant forces. One of these, chancing to take up _Venice
Preserved_ for the second time, admired the sublime friendship between
Pierre and Jaffir, and fell to musing on the virtues of outlaws, the
loyalty of the hulks, the honor of thieves, and the immense power that
a few men can wield if they bring their whole minds to bear upon the
carrying out of a single will. It struck him that the individual man
rose higher than men. Then he began to think that if a few picked men
should band themselves together; and if, to natural wit, and education,
and money, they could join a fanaticism hot enough to fuse, as it were,
all those separate forces into a single one, then the whole world would
be at their feet. From that time forth, with a tremendous power of
concentration, they could wield an occult power against which the
organization of society would be helpless; a power which would push
obstacles aside and defeat the will of others; and the diabolical power
of all would be at the service of each. A hostile world apart within the
world, admitting none of the ideas, recognizing none