llars, or--"

"Or what?" asked Gotzkowsky, as he hesitated.

The king looked angrily at him. "You are very bold," said he, "to
interrupt me. The Leipsigers must pay, for I need the money for my
soldiers, and they are rich; they are able to pay!"

"They are not able to pay, sire! They are as little able to pay as
Berlin is if Russia insists upon her demands, and her magnanimous king
does not come to her assistance. But your majesty certainly does not
wish that the world and history shall say that Russia acted with
more forbearance and clemency toward Berlin than Prussia did toward
Leipsic? To be sure, the Russians carried off the Jewish elders into
captivity because they could not pay, but then they treated these poor
victims of their avarice like human beings. They did not make them
sleep on rotten straw; they did not let them starve, and die of misery
and filth; they did not have them scourged and tortured until they wet
with their tears the bit of bread thrown to them."

"Who does that?" cried the king, with thundering voice and flashing
eye.

Gotzkowsky bowed low. "Your majesty, the King of Prussia does that!"

Frederick uttered a cry of anger, and advanced with his arm raised on
Gotzkowsky, who looked at him quietly and firmly. "You lie! retract!"
thundered the king.

"I have, as long as I have lived, spoken the truth, sire--the truth,
without fear or dread of man. Your majesty is the first man who has
accused me of a lie. I have seen with my own eyes your majesty's
officials treating the poor captive Leipsic merchants like dogs. What
do I say--like dogs? Oh, how would the poor down-trodden men envy
those dogs the delicacies contained in that dish! It may be right to
compel and humble the refractory, but it is not right to tread out the
human soul, and even in the conquered you should honor God's image."

The king looked at him with ludicrous surprise. "Do you wish to give
me a lesson? Well, I will forgive you this time, and, as you express
it, honor God's image in the owner of the Berlin porcelain factory.
But hush about these hard-headed Leipsigers. They must pay. My
soldiers cannot live on air, and my coffers are empty."

"The Leipsigers are very willing to contribute, but the demand must
not exceed their powers."

"How do you know that?"

"The magistracy and merchant guild of Leipsic sent a deputation to me,
and entreated my mediation."

"You have then already the reputation of one who knows how t