Axel Regor and Max
Graub glanced at Leroy, and saw in his face that his decision was
unalterable.
"Then we will work for the Cause, also," said Max Graub resignedly.
"What you determine upon, we shall do, shall we not, Axel?"
Axel Regor gave a brief assent.
Sergius Thord looked at them all straightly and keenly.
"You have finally decided?"
"We have!" replied Leroy. "We will enrol ourselves as your associates
at once."
Whereupon Johan Zegota rose from his place, and unlocking an iron safe
which stood in one corner of the room, took out a roll of parchment and
handed it to Thord, who, unfolding it, read in a clear though low voice
the following:--
"We, the Revolutionary Committee, are organized as a Brotherhood, bound
by all the ties of life, death, and our common humanity, to destroy the
abuses, and redress the evils, which self-seeking and tyrannous
Governments impose upon the suffering poor.
"_Firstly:_ We bind ourselves to resist all such laws as may in
any degree interfere with the reasonable, intellectual, and spiritual
freedom of man or woman.
"_Secondly:_ We swear to agitate against all forms of undue and
excessive taxation, which, while scarcely affecting the rich, make life
more difficult and unendurable to the poor.
"_Thirdly:_ We protest against the domination of priestcraft, and
the secret methods which are employed by the Church to obtain undue
influence in Governmental matters.
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