_Orl._ Vasil Vetrova! [_Vasil steps out, his face white, his eyes blazing_] _A voice._ Adrian Lavrov, do you still say submit? _Adr._ [_Blanching_] Submit. _Orl._ [_To Vasil_] Come! _Adr._ [_Stepping between them_] I will take his lot. Put me in his place. _Orl._ You are not a peasant. _Adr._ I live as one, work as one. We are not born to a class; we choose it. It is the lad who is no peasant. _Orl._ What is he then? _Adr._ A student. _Orl._ Ha! In the University of Lonz! No. He must come with us. _Adr._ If I can not stand for him I will stand for myself. I am one of these people. _A voice._ No! _Adr._ You live by my counsel. I too must live by it. If I shun the fate it brings I can not ask you to believe me again. [_Sophie moves appealingly forward, then back unnoticed_] _Orl._ I can't oblige you with a flogging,--I am sorry to say,--even to keep you in favor with your converts. Forward! To the line! _Soph._ [_Stepping out_] Release the boy! _Orl._ Who are _you_? _Soph._ [_Taking off her hat_] You know, Count Orloff. _Orl._ I salute your highness. _Soph._ Release him. _Orl._ Again I salute your highness, but my orders are from Petrizoff. _Soph._ Mine also. Read this. [_Holds an open locket before him_] _Orl._ [_Reads_] "The bearer is in my service. Petrizoff." [_Softly_] Ah,--the tiara? _Adr._ O God! _Orl._ We release Vasil Vetrova. [_To princess, in low tone_] When may I see you? _Soph._ To-night, at the ball. Orl. [_Bending over her hand_] Till then--silence. [_To the men_] Forward! _A voice._ Must we go, Shepherd of Lonz? We have hands as well as they! Must we go? _Adr._ Go. The millennium is no lie, and the man who suffers wrong for the eternal right's sake is the man who brings it nearer. Go! And God give you strength to be true to yourselves--to the future--to Him! [_Orloff, soldiers and peasants pass out. Adrian is following when Sophie comes toward him hesitatingly_] _Adr._ I must go with the people. _Soph._ I have not deceived you in the way you think. _Adr._ [_Passing her_] I must go. _Soph._ You will return here? _Adr._ This is my home. _Soph._ I shall wait for you. _Adr._ Farewell! [Exit] [_Sophie stands looking after him. Vasil approaches and kneels before her. She gives him her hand, which he kisses reverently. Curtain_] SCENE 2. _Same room several hours later. Sophie alone, standing by the small, high window, left._ _Soph._ Almost sunset. [_Turns from window_] And he knows I am waiting.[_Hears a step in the yard and turns again to window. Adrian enters, pauses in door, and sees Sophie gazing out. He advances_] _Adr._ Your highness? _Soph._ [_Turning her head_] You have made no haste. _Adr._ I have been with the people. _Soph._ [_Looking at him_] You are tired. I, too, went out, but it was so terrible.... You are very tired. Sit down, please. I want to stand. [_Takes a few nervous steps and goes back to window_]