"Think, Excellency. Have you ever known one so selfless, so good,
so true? For humanity's sake, would you not keep alive such a man?
If there were a feud as old as Adam between your race and his, would you
not before this life of sacrifice lay down the sword and the bitter
challenge? He gave you his hand in faith and trust, because your God was
his God, your prophet and lord his prophet and lord. Such faith should
melt your heart. Can you not see that he tried to make compensation for
Foorgat's death, by giving you your life and setting you where you are
now, with power to save or kill him?"

"You call him great; yet I am here in safety, and he is--where he is.
Have you not heard of the strife of minds and wills? He represented the
West, I the East. He was a Christian, so was I; the ground of our battle
was a fair one, and--and I have won."

"The ground of battle fair!" she protested bitterly. "He did not know
that there was strife between you. He did not fight you. I think that
he always loved you, Excellency. He would have given his life for you,
if it had been in danger. Is there in that letter one word that any man
could wish unwritten when the world was all ended for all men? But no,
there was no strife between you--there was only hatred on your part. He
was so much greater than you that you should feel no rivalry, no strife.
The sword he carries cuts as wide as Time. You are of a petty day in a
petty land. Your mouth will soon be filled with dust, and you will be
forgotten. He will live in the history of the world. Excellency,
I plead for him because I owe him so much: he killed a man and brought
upon himself a lifelong misery for me. It is all I can do, plead to you
who know the truth about him--yes, you know the truth--to make an effort
to save him. It may be too late; but yet God may be waiting for you to