Part 23 (2/2)

”G.o.d-blessed be his name--has made nothing in vain,” he whispered; ”I must go foremost, but do as I do.” He then raised up the long heath, and entered a low, narrow fissure in the rocks, Reilly following him closely. The entrance was indeed so narrow that it was capable of admitting but one man at a time, and even that by his working himself in upon his knees and elbows. In this manner they advanced in utter darkness for about thirty yards, when they reached a second opening, about three feet high, which bore some resemblance to a Gothic arch.

This also it was necessary to enter consecutively. Having pa.s.sed this they were able to proceed upon their legs, still stooping, however, until, as they got onwards, they found themselves able to walk erect.

A third and larger opening, however, was still before them, over which hung a large thick winnow-cloth.

”Now,” said the priest, ”leave every thing to me. If we were to put our heads in rashly here we might get a pair of bullets through them that would have as little mercy on us as those of the troopers, had we got them. No clergyman here, or anywhere else, ever carries firearms, but there are laymen inside who are not bound by our regulations. The only arms we are allowed to carry are the truths of our religion and the integrity of our lives.”

He then advanced a step or two, and shook the winnow-cloth three times, when a deep voice from behind it asked, ”_Quis venit?_”

”_Introibo ad altare Dei,_” replied the priest, who had no sooner uttered the words than the cloth was partially removed, and a voice exclaimed, ”_Benedicite, dilecte frater; beatus qui venit in nomine Domini el sacrosanctae Ecclesiae_.”

Reilly and his companion then entered the cave, which they had no sooner done than the former was seized with a degree of wonder, astonishment, and awe, such as he had never experienced in his life before. The whole cavern was one flas.h.i.+ng scene of light and beauty, and reminded him of the gorgeous descriptions that were to be found in Arabian literature, or the brilliancy of the fairy palaces as he had heard of them in the mellow legends of his own country. From the roof depended gorgeous and immense stalact.i.tes, some of them reaching half way to the earth, and others of them resting upon the earth itself. Several torches, composed of dried bog fir, threw their strong light among them with such effect that the eye became not only dazzled but fatigued and overcome by the radiance of a scene so unusual. In fact, the whole scene appeared to be out of, or beyond, nature. There were about fifteen individuals present, most of them in odd and peculiar disguises, which gave them a grotesque and supernatural appearance, as they pa.s.sed about with their strong torches--some bright and some flas.h.i.+ng red; and as the light of either one or other fell upon the stalact.i.tes, giving them a hue of singular brilliancy or deep purple, Reilly could not utter a word. The costumes of the individuals about him were so strange and varied that he knew not what to think. Some were in the dress of clergymen, others in that of ill-clad peasants, and nearly one-third-of them in the garb of mendicants, who, from their careworn faces, appeared to have suffered severely from the persecution of the times. In a few minutes, however, about half a dozen diminutive beings made their appearance, busied, as far as he could guess, in employments, which his amazement at the whole spectacle, unprepared as he was for it, prevented him from understanding. If he had been a man of weak or superst.i.tious mind, unacquainted with life and the world, it is impossible to say what he might have imagined. Independently of this--strong-minded as he was--the impression made upon him by the elf-like sprites that ran about so busily, almost induced him, for a few moments, to surrender to the illusion that he stood among individuals who had little or no natural connection with man or the external world which he inhabited.

Reflection, however, and the state of the country, came to his aid, and he reasonably inferred that the cavern in which he stood was a place of concealment for those unfortunate individuals who, like himself, felt it necessary to evade the vengeance of the laws.

Whilst Reilly was absorbed in the novelty and excitement of this strange and all but supernatural spectacle, the priest held a short conversation, at some distance from him, with the strange figures which had surprised him so much. Whenever he felt himself enabled to take his eyes from the splendor and magnificence of all he saw around him, to follow the motions of Father Maguire, he could observe that that gentleman, from the peculiar vehemence of his att.i.tudes and the evident rapidity of his language, had made either himself or his presence there the topic of very earnest discussion. In fact it appeared to him that the priest, from whatever cause, appeared to be rather hard set to defend him and to justify his presence among them. A tall, stern-looking man, with a lofty forehead and pale ascetic features--from which all the genial impulses of humanity, that had once characterized them, seemed almost to have been banished by the spirit of relentless persecution--appeared to bear hard upon him, whatever the charge might be, and by the severity of his manner and the solemn but unyielding emphasis of his att.i.tudes, he seemed to have wrought himself into a state of deep indignation. But as it is better that our readers should be made acquainted with the topic of their discussion, rather than their att.i.tudes, we think it necessary to commence it in a new chapter.

CHAPTER X.--Scenes that took place in the Mountain Cave

”I will not hear your apology, brother,” said the tall man with the stern voice; ”your conduct, knowing our position, and the state of this unhappy and persecuted country, is not only indiscreet, but foolish, indefensible, mad. Here is a young man attached--may G.o.d pardon him--to the daughter of one of the most persecuting heretics in the kingdom.

She is beautiful, by every report that we have heard of her, even as an angel; but reflect that she is an heiress--the inheritress of immense property--and that, as a matter of course, the temptations are a thousand to one against him. He will yield, I tell you, to the heretic syren; and as a pa.s.sport to her father's favor and her affection, he will, like too many of his cla.s.s, abandon the faith of his ancestors, and become an apostate, for the sake of wealth and sensual affection.”

”I question, my lord,” replied the priest, ”whether it is consistent with Christian charity to impute motives of such heinous guilt, when we are not in a condition to bear out our suspicions. The character of this young gentleman as a Catholic is firm and faithful, and I will stake my life upon his truth and attachment to our Church.”

”You know him not, father,” replied the bishop, for such he was; ”I tell you, and I speak from better information than you possess, that he is already suspected. What has been his conduct? He has a.s.sociated himself more with Protestants than with those of his own Church; he has dined with them, partaken of their hospitality, joined in there amus.e.m.e.nts, slept in their houses, and been with them as a familiar friend and boon companion. I see, father, what the result will necessarily be; first, an apostate--next, an informer--and, lastly, a persecutor; and all for the sake of wealth and the seductive charms of a rich heiress. I say, then, that deep in this cold cavern shall be his grave, rather than have an opportunity of betraying the shepherds of Christ's persecuted flock, and of hunting them into the caverns of the earth like beasts of prey. Our retreat here is known only to those who, for the sake of truth and their own lives, will never disclose the knowledge of it, bound as they are, in addition to this, by an oath of the deepest and most dreadful solemnity--an oath the violation of which would const.i.tute a fearful sacrilege in the eye of G.o.d. As for these orphans, whose parents were victims to the cruel laws that are grinding us, I have so trained and indoctrinated them into a knowledge of their creed, and a sense of their duty, that they are thoroughly trustworthy. On this very day I administered to them the sacrament of confirmation. No, brother, we cannot sacrifice the interests and welfare of our holy Church to the safety of a single life--to the safety of a person who I foresee will be certain to betray us.”

”My lord,” replied the priest, ”I humbly admit your authority and superior sanct.i.ty, for in what does your precious life fall short of martyrdom but by one step to the elevation which leads to glory? I mean the surrendering of that life for the true faith. I feel, my lord, that in your presence I am nothing; still, in our holy Church there is the humble as well as the exalted, and your lords.h.i.+p will admit that the gradations of piety, and the dispensations of the higher and the lower gifts, proceed not only from the wisdom of G.o.d but from the necessities of man.”

”I do not properly understand you, father,” said the bishop in a voice whose stern tones were mingled with something like contempt.

”I beg your lords.h.i.+p to hear me,” proceeded Father Maguire. ”You say that Reilly has a.s.sociated more frequently with Protestants than he has with persons of our own religion. That may be true, and I grant that it is so; but, my lord, are you aware that he has exercised the influence which he has possessed over them for the protection and advantage and safety of his Catholic friends and neighbors, to the very utmost of his ability, and frequently with success?”

”Yes; they obliged him because they calculated upon his accession to their creed and principles.”

”My lord,” replied the priest with firmness, ”I am an humble but independent man; if humanity and generosity, exercised as I have seen them this night, guided and directed by the spirit of peace, and of the word of G.o.d itself, can afford your lords.h.i.+p a guarantee of the high and Christian principles by which this young man's heart is actuated, then I may with confidence recommend him to your clemency.”

”What would you say?” asked the bishop.

”My lord, he was the princ.i.p.al means of saving the lives of six Protestants-heretics, I mean--from being cut off in their iniquities and sins this night.”

”How do you mean?” replied the stern bishop; ”explain yourself!”

The good priest then gave a succinct account of the circ.u.mstances with which the reader is already acquainted; and, after having finished his brief narrative, the unfortunate man perceived that, instead of having rendered Reilly a service, he had strengthened the suspicions of the prelate against him.

”So!” said the bishop, ”you advance the history of this dastardly conduct as an argument in his favor!”

As he uttered these words, his eyes, which had actually become bloodshot, blazed again; his breath went and came strongly, and he ground his teeth with rage.

Father Maguire, and those who were present, looked at each other with eyes in which might be read an expression of deep sorrow and compa.s.sion.

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