as the rest of us. He is an energetic man, and you may thus direct his
energy along the right path. From being a critic, he will become one of
the criticised, giving him something to think about. Then your
appointment of him would show that you bear no ill-feeling for what he
said last night."

"You appear to think, Greusel, that it is the duty of a commander to
curry favor with his following."

"No; but I regard tact as a useful quality. You see, you are not in the
position of a general with an army. The members of the guild can depose
you whenever they like and elect a successor, or they may desert you in
a body, and you have no redress. Your methods should not be drastic, but
rather those of a man who seeks election to some high office."

"I fear I am not constituted for such a rôle, Greusel."

"If you are to succeed in the task you have undertaken, Roland, you must
adapt yourself to your situation as it actually is, and not as you would
wish to have it. I stood by you yesterday evening, and succeeded in
influencing the others to do the same, yet there is no denying that you
spoke to those men in a most overbearing manner. Why, you could not have
been more downright had you been an officer of the Emperor himself. What
passed through my mind as I listened was, 'Where did this youth get his
swagger?' You ordered Kurzbold out of the ranks, you know."

"Then why favor my action?"

"Because I was reluctant to see a promising marauding adventure wrecked
at the very outset for lack of a few soothing words."