Part 20 (2/2)
”You were right, Father,” said Philip, throwing himself on the sofa.
”I am old and suspicious, you are young and buoyant, Philip; but I trust all may yet be well.”
”I trust so too,” replied Philip. He then remained silent and absorbed in thought, for now that the imminent danger was over, he was reflecting upon what Father Seysen had communicated to him, relative to Amine's having revealed the secret whilst in a state of mental aberration. The priest, perceiving that his mind was occupied, did not interrupt him.
An hour had thus pa.s.sed, when Father Seysen entered the room.
”Return thanks to Heaven, my son. Amine has awakened, and is perfectly sensible and collected. There is now little doubt of her recovery. She has taken the restorative ordered by the doctor though she was so anxious to repose once more, that she could hardly be persuaded to swallow it. She is now again fast asleep, and watched by one of the maidens, and in all probability will not move for many hours; but every moment of such sleep is precious, and she must not be disturbed. I will now see to some refreshment, which must be needful to us all. Philip, you have not introduced me to your companion, who, I perceive, is of my own calling.”
”Forgive me, sir,” replied Philip; ”you will have great pleasure in making acquaintance with Father Mathias who has promised to reside with me, I trust, for some time. I will leave you together, and see to the breakfast being prepared; for the delay of which I trust Father Mathias will accept my apology.”
Philip then left the room and went into the kitchen. Having ordered what was requisite to be taken into the parlour, he put on his hat and walked out of the house. He could not eat; his mind was in a state of confusion; the events of the morning had been too hara.s.sing and exciting, and he felt as if the fresh air was necessary to his existence.
As he proceeded, careless in which direction, he met many with whom he had been acquainted, and from whom he had received condolence at his supposed bereavement, and congratulations when they learnt from him that the danger was over; and from them he also learnt how fatal had been the pestilence.
Not one-third of the inhabitants of Terneuse and the surrounding country remained alive, and those who had recovered were in a state of exhaustion, which prevented them from returning to their accustomed occupations. They had combated disease, but remained the prey of misery and want; and Philip mentally vowed that he would appropriate all his savings to the relief of those around him. It was not until more than two hours had pa.s.sed away that Philip returned to the cottage. On his arrival he found that Amine still slumbered, and the two priests were in conversation below.
”My son,” said Father Seysen, ”let us now have a little explanation. I have had a long conference with this good father, who hath much interested me with his account of the extension of our holy religion among the Pagans. He hath communicated to me much to rejoice at, and much to grieve for; but, among other questions put to him, I have (in consequence of what I have learnt during the mental alienation of your wife) interrogated him upon the point of a supernatural appearance of a vessel in the Eastern seas. You observe, Philip, that your secret is known to me, or I could not have put that question. To my surprise he hath stated a visitation of the kind to which he was eye-witness, and which cannot reasonably be accounted for, except by supernatural interposition. A strange and certainly most awful visitation! Philip, would it not be better (instead of leaving me in a maze of doubt) that you now confided to us both all the facts connected with this strange history, so that we may ponder on them, and give you the benefit of advice of those who are older than yourself, and who by their calling may be able to decide more correctly whether this supernatural power has been exercised by a good or evil intelligence?”
”The holy father speaks well, Philip Vanderdecken,” observed Mathias.
”If it be the work of the Almighty, to whom should you confide, and by whom should you be guided, but by those who do his service on this earth? If of the evil one, to whom but to those whose duty and wish it is to counteract his baneful influence? And reflect, Philip, that this secret may sit heavily on the mind of your cherished wife, and may bow her to the grave, as it did your (I trust) sainted mother. With you, and supported by your presence, she may bear it well; but recollect how many are the lonely days and nights that she must pa.s.s during your absence, and how much she must require the consolation and help of others. A secret like this must be as a gnawing worm, and, strong as she may be in courage, must shorten her existence but for the support and the balm she may receive from the ministers of our faith. It was cruel and selfish of you, Philip, to leave her, a lone woman, to bear up against your absence, and at the same time oppressed with so fatal a knowledge.”
”You have convinced me, holy father,” replied Philip. ”I feel that I should before this have made you acquainted with this strange history.
I will now state the whole of the circ.u.mstances which have occurred, but with little hope your advice can help me in a case so difficult, and in a duty so peremptory, yet so perplexing.”
Philip then entered into a minute detail of all that had pa.s.sed, from the few days previous to his mother's death until the present time, and when he had concluded, he observed,--”You see father, that I have bound myself by a solemn vow--that that vow has been recorded and accepted, and it appears to me that I have nothing now to do but to follow my peculiar destiny.”
”My son, you have told us strange and startling things--things not of this world--if you are not deceived. Leave us now. Father Mathias and I will consult upon this serious matter; and, when we are agreed, you shall know our decision.”
Philip went upstairs to see Amine; she was still in a deep sleep. He dismissed the servant, and watched by the bedside. For nearly two hours did he remain there, when he was summoned down to meet the two priests.
”We have had a long conversation, my son,” said Father Seysen, ”upon this strange and perhaps supernatural occurrence. I say _perhaps_, for I would have rejected the frenzied communications of your mother as the imaginings of a heated brain; and for the same reason I should have been equally inclined to suppose that the high state of excitement that you were in at the time of her death may have disordered your intellect; but as Father Mathias positively a.s.serts that a strange, if not supernatural, appearance of a vessel did take place, on his pa.s.sage home, and which appearance tallies with and corroborates the legend--if so I may call it--to which you have given evidence, I say that it is not impossible but that it is supernatural.”
”Recollect that the same appearance of the Phantom s.h.i.+p has been permitted to me and to many others,” replied Philip.
”Yes,” replied Father Seysen; ”but who is there alive of those who saw it but yourself? But that is of little importance. We will admit that the whole affair is not the work of man, but of a superior intelligence.”
”Superior, indeed!” replied Philip. ”It is the work of Heaven!”
”That is a point not so easily admitted; there is another power as well as that which is divine--that of the devil!--the arch-enemy of mankind!
But as that power, inferior to the power of G.o.d, cannot act without his permission, we may indirectly admit that it is the will of Heaven that such sighs and portents should be allowed to be given on certain occasions.”
”Then our opinions are the same, good Father.”
”Nay, not exactly, my son. Elymas, the sorcerer, was permitted to practise his arts--gained from the devil--that it might be proved, by his overthrow and blindness, how inferior was his master to the Divine Ruler; but it does not therefore follow that sorcery generally was permitted. In this instance it may be true that the evil one has been permitted to exercise his power over the captain and crew of that s.h.i.+p, and, as a warning against such heavy offences, the supernatural appearance of the vessel may be permitted. So far we are justifiable in believing. But the great questions are, first, whether it be your father who is thus doomed? and, secondly, how far you are necessitated to follow up this mad pursuit, which, it appears to me--although it may end in your destruction--cannot possibly be the means of rescuing your father from his state of unhallowed abeyance? Do you understand me, Philip?”
”I certainly understand what you would say, Father; but--”
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