Page:The council of seven.djvu/333

 so. The code which governs the use of this weapon is very rigidly enforced."

"I am glad to know that such is the case," said Endor, grimly. "And I fully appreciate your own courage and self-sacrifice. But, as I say, I cannot help you or any one else to do that which my conscience will not sanction my doing myself."

"Don't be quixotic," said Hierons, with growing impatience. "As far as one can see, this is the only possible way out."

Endor, however, was a rock. "I cannot, I will not, lend myself to cold-blooded murder. It is true that at a time of severe overstrain, I made certain vows. And it is true that I have chosen to break them. But having done so deliberately, I am now ready to pay a full price for the privilege."

Such a finality of tone moved Helen to tears. Hierons, also, was deeply affected.

"You ought to think of others," said Helen, piteously. "The world must not lose you. Does your life, your work, mean nothing?"

Endor raised his hands to his face with the gesture of a man driven beyond his strength. But he did not speak.

As Helen and George Hierons stood watching him, a sense of utter despair came upon them. They now shared in common a desolating thought. Even in a world in which Good was submerged, it seemed possible to pay too high a price for the hope of dethroning Evil.