7. Come what might, he determined, as the result of his troubled meditations, he would follow the dictates of his conscience and turn a deaf ear to the whisperings of the Devil of Objective Compromise. My brethren, these were brave words, were they not? But brave, not in the sense of that bravery which comes with the rolling of gun-carriages, the prancing of horses, and the flash and clatter of steel and iron. They were brave, because the strong power of a determined will was stirring the depths of a human heart, and our good friend Nehrodoff was under the influence of that will. It is true that the fawning spirit of Compromise came once more with its Objective Opportunism to keep him back from his resolution. "You will lose your good name," it whispered. "The marriage which you have so much at heart will be broken off." "Your conduct has been no worse than that of many another man." But the simple-hearted Nehrodoff did not succumb a second time to the blandishments of this evil spirit. It is true that he feared and trembled,
