It would have to be a bald petition for pardon." And seeing Wilhelm recoil involuntarily, he added: "It does not do to be too proud in such a case.

In the preposterously unequal struggle between the individual and the organized power of the State, it is no disgrace to declare yourself beaten and ask for quarter." "A petition without any gush or protestations of loyalty, in which I would simply say: 'Please allow me to come back to Berlin, because I prefer it to any other place of residence,' would certainly be ineffectual, and I should only have humiliated myself for nothing." "We must get somebody to take up your cause.

I shall do all in my power to make the Oberburgermeister put in a good word for you." "Would you yourself do what you are advising me to do ?" Schrotter was silent for a moment.
"I am not in the same case.

If Berlin were as much a necessity to me as it is to you I would do it--most certainly." Wilhelm looked as if he were swallowing a bitter draught.

But Schrotter's strong hand lay tenderly on the dark head.
"Yes, friend Eynhardt," he said; "you will send in the petition, and it will, I hope, have the desired result.