Page:The Wreck of a World - Grove - 1890.djvu/62

46 "Those who are NOT willing to obey me, hold up their hands."

Not one.

"Citizens," said I for the last time, "you have unanimously chosen me your leader and dictator to meet the present peril. God only knows whether I shall be permitted to rescue you, or whether we are fated all to perish together. I may be compelled to do things that seem harsh or unjust, but remember that you have sworn to obey. And for my part I swear that as long as you will obey me I will never desert you. Now, go all of you to your homes, and provide everything you need for a journey; clothes, provisions, cooking gear, and all else. We know not how soon we may be obliged to march!"

I stepped back among the granite columns of the portico and passed into the lonely Council-chamber while the crowd dispersed. My next action was one which would have been ridiculed by most of my fellow citizens, but which, writing for posterity, I need not be ashamed to confess here. I walked into the Cathedral church of the Episcopalians, and there, before the sculptured figure of Him who died to save