Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-05-07
ire . lsssss n fs midst IT thsse thieves

bis sword hit. ILL s aaa Xsiifs, tightly
ss s|fss h lsss tao sd fs rs II eS
ths light t., Of the ain candle. and ha grs-
wall, walls Of the Great room. He sliced gaslnlb
silently Tor minute. then turned sthaftiy
on his heels and, with gesture or SAT-
aonlc respect, threw open the door for me.
may not rise too seon.''
We went swiftly down the oofonades for
the last time In the pitch darkness and into
the blackness OF the vast arehway. The
| hollow echoes from the fiagstones. In the
deep sort OF cave behind US, lit by dim
ianthorn, the negroes waited to unbar the
doors. Castro himself began to mutter over
nis beads. Suddenly he said:
IT 10 the last time / shall stand here.
me on the earth"
.n Great flashes Of light began to make
suooeniy visible the tall pillars of the i'm
mense mournful place. and after a long
time. absolutely without sound, save the
sput.er OF enormous torches. an Incredibly
ghostly body Of figures, black-robed from
head to foot. with large eyeholes peerinx
laan,asticaiiy, swayed into the great arch
OF the hall. Above them was the enormous
o.aSk conn. 1t was sight SO appalling
ana unexpected that stood gazing at them
without any power to move, until I remen1-
uered that l, too was such a figure. And
, .neh, with an ejaculation of fmpatience.
n,LI1s Sastro caught at my hand, and
Wmrled me around.
Inc great doors had swung noiseIesslv
S upen' ana the black night, bespangled with
nttie fldmes. was frame in front of me He
suaoeniy unsheathed his portentous sword,
ana hanging his great hat upon his nnatr
&c arm, stalked. a pathetic and sinister fiy
, ure OF grief, down the great steps. / fol-
lowed MN In the vivid and extraordinary
eoihpu,sion or the sinister body that. like
one fabulous and enormous monster. swave
ed 1mpenetrably after me sway
w .ieaTt peat till my head was in a tn
omuilous Whirl when trus, at last, 1 stepped
robes o, .,ia. house-but l suppose my grim
very clearly through the eyeholes n was
Utmost ii Incredible to me that l was not NV
seii sen But these Brothers of PITY were
til; society, KNOW: to no man except
.heir spiritual head, who chose them in turn
ana NOT knowing even each other Tbe;r
gooo teeGs of clarity were in that uav
tbai Wy pure stealth. And it happened that
go spiIituai director was the Father An
.oIlIo himself. At the foot of the nalace
s.eps' drawn back out of our way. stood the
sIeat glass coach Of state, containing even
men, me woman who was all the world TO
to he r,srofe TO me, unattainable to me, not
" pe eomforted by me even as her great
sileis We're to me invisible and unassnapa-
oie. outs!de the lines were the crowd of
idpseaihons in red rackets their women and
Re io @,roa the population of the Aldea
DaJo. ifroan1ng. The whole crowd got into
f.o osioll round us. the white mules nIuneino
70 a'ieIedily' the coach swaying. Ahead Of
t as ,,iarched the sardonic, CALAMITY gro
nosnt nm asu.e OF true Tomas, his sword
ppTn, up MS motions always iauntv.
- af ol MIN again were the white robes
VI n,ny priests cluster of tall candles
&c, So. JeWeied cross, sand tall saints
sWaylng, mere than shoulder high
"hu disappearing up above into the darL
.ess, for me, under my cowl, it was suf-
I'eatnsly hot; but l seemed to move for
W waiu iolewing' swept along without any
mensely long journey; and then as we
wen, wsnt at last up the cathedral steps a
VOICE VOICE cried harshly. Death to the here
f,snt;caI my neart stood still. clutched
l oGuio not disengage from folds of black
,,i But, as a matter of fact, the cry
was purely a general one; 1 was supposed
10 De smut up in the palace still
lie sLCden glow, the hush, the warm
Dieath OF incense. and the blaze of light
turned me suddenly faint: my ears buzzed
ana L heard strange sounds
The cathedral was q mass of be.ds
Every one in Rio Medic was present or
came trooping in behind u.s. The better
Grass was clustered near the blaze of eild-
ing; mottied marble, wax flowers and black
and purple drapery that vauIted over tho
TWO black collins in the choir Down IN
the unit body of the church the riffraff of
OBrien kept the DOORS
MONKS began to sing; a great brass in
strument grunted lamentably: in the hody
OF the building there was silence TIL.
uishop ana his supporters moved about as
il amnesty, in front of the altar the
e s,s OF the gold censors clicked cease
iessly. Seraphina's head had s,,nl for
"ard out OF my sight. All the heads Of tbc
cathedral bowed down, and suddenly FROM
round the side of the STALL a hand toucbaJ
NINE nafte,. ana I: voice said ut is time" Very
Drawn round the stall through a door in
the SIDE OF the screen. AS we went ont u,
MS turnings, the old bishop gave ms tho
peheoictlon Then the door closed on the
glory or his robes, and in a minnie In. tbe
darkness we were rustlfng down a circn-
lar narrow staircase into the dimness of :,
crypt, lit by the little blue flame of an oil
lamp; from above came sounds like
thunder, immense vibrating: we were i'm
med1ately under the choir Tbroneb IT,
cracks round large stone showed a paral-
telegram of light - pa al
I'm IN Inc dimness 1 had a glimpse of the
race OF my CONDUCTOR thin. wonderf,,iiv
hoilow-cheeked lay brother He heean
WIN great gentleness. to assist me ont of
my black robes. and then he said:
With .hs seE So Wi, VIII be here very soon
smle oei' uiiil
will not the Senior Caballero. if if is
not repugnant say a prayer for the renose
of :" He pointed gently inward to tbe
great nagstone above which was the coffin
or Don Balthasar and Carlos The priest
h1n.seiI was one Of those very holy, very
one hnds In such places. With his dim
WlstfuI face he is ever present in nv mem
DRY. He added: And that the good God
or us all may keep 1t in the Senior CabaI-
iero's heart to care well for the soul of the
dear senorita." "
1 am very old man." he whispered. after
a pause. He was indeed an old man quite
worn out, quite without hope on earth. II
nave loved the senorita since she was
child. The Senior Caballero takes her from
us. l would have him pray-to be made
worthy"
Whilst I was doing it, the place began to
be alive with whispers of garments of
hushed footsteps, a small exclamation in a
gruff voice. Then the stone above moved
out of its place, and a blaze of light fell
down from the choir above.
l saw beside me Seraphina's face bril-
liantly lit, looking upward. Tomas Cas-
tro said.
Come quickly come ouicklv
the prayers are ending; there will
be people in the street" And from above
an enormous voice intoned
rum ;" The end of great box
covered with black velvet glided forward
above our heads; ropes were fastened
around 1t. The priest had opened door
in the shadowy distance, beside a white
marble tablet in the thick walls The coffin
up above moved forward a little again: the
rOCeS were readiuSte6 with a "a