Arguments repeated a second time rarely seem so forcible as
when they are first heard. Painfully and conscientiously Greif
recapitulated his reasons, trying to speak coldly and concisely,
exerting himself to the utmost and summoning all the skill he
could command in order to state his case convincingly. Hilda
could not have put the idea that possessed him to a more cruel
test than this. It began to dawn even upon himself that he
was in pui-suit of a chimera, and the necessity for the enormous
self-sacrifice, upon which he insisted, was breaking down in the
face of such a determined opposition on the part of those who
were more interested than himself. Doggedly and persistently
he continued, nevertheless, fighting his love as though it had
been a devil, thrusting Hilda's from his thoughts as though it
had been an evil temptation, savagely determined not to part
with his belief in what he took for his duty. It was a strange
sight, and would have afforded material for reflexion to an older
and wiser person than Hilda.
" That is all I have to say," he concluded. " It seems to me
that I cannot say it moi'e clearly. You know what it costs me
to repeat it all."

An expression of intense pain passed over his face, and he
turned away in order to hide it from Hilda. He was hardly
able to make his strained lips pronounce the last words.
"I am not convinced," said Hilda after a moment's pause.
"No eloquence in the world would convince me that you and I



GKEIFENSTBIN. 239

should sacrifice our lives for an idea, merely to save ourselves
from the possibility of a few ill-natured remarks hereafter.
