commander, "see that the army is made ready."

The Wizard smiled. "Well and good, if you remember, dear Princess, that
an army can never be greater or stronger than the nation back of it. For
every gun manufactured there must be a noble desire forged, or a high
ideal realized; or else the weapons will be but a mask of courage on a
weak face."

The military commander shrugged his shoulders. "I'll go and see if the
gunpowder is dry," he commented, "as my contribution to yon stranger's
invisible wall."

Then one by one the nobles at the command of the Princess Myrtle came
forward to register each his vow of sacrifice. One said that he would
write no more poetry for a year; another that he would eat no truffles
for a fortnight; a third proclaimed that he would sell his jeweled sword
to buy bread for the poor.

The Wizard listened and shook his head. "This layer of stones is going to
be very weak," he said. "Why don't you all stop and think, while the
ladies make their vows?"

The maids-of-honor crowded forward like a nose-gay of sweet-scented
flowers, eager to do better than the knights in the construction of this
invisible wall; for being women they were quicker than their brothers and
husbands to understand what the Wizard meant. Yet they, too, were not
quite clear in their minds, for one said she would wear linen instead of
satin; another that she would give up perfumes for six months; another
that she would read no novels for that time.