"Master, faith removes mountains. Command."
"Oh, my brave disciples!" exclaimed Ignatius Loyola rising and supporting himself with his staff. "What joy it is to me to have thus imbued you with my substance, and nourished you with the marrow of my doctrine! Be up! Be up! The moment for action has come. That is the reason I have caused you to gather this evening here at Montmartre, where I have so often come to meditate in this hollow, this second to that cavern of Manres, where, in Spain, after long years of concentration, I at last perceived the full depth, the immensity of my work. Yes, in order to weld you together in this work, I have broken, bent and absorbed your personalities. I have turned you into instruments of my will as docile as the cane in the hand of the man who leans upon it. Yes, I have captured your souls. Yes, you are now only corpses in my hands. Oh, my dear corpses! my canes! my serfs! my slaves! glorify your servitude. It delivers to you the empire of the world! You will be the masters of all the men! You will be supreme rulers of all the women!"
Loyola"s disciples listened to him in devout silence. For a moment he remained steeped in the contemplation of his portentous ambition, meditating universal domination. Presently he proceeded:
"We must prepare ourselves by means of the holy sacrifice of the ma.s.s for the last act of this great day. We must receive the body of Jesus, we who const.i.tute his intrepid militia! We the Jesuits!" And addressing himself to Lefevre: "You have brought with you the necessaries for the celebration of ma.s.s. Yonder rock"--pointing to the boulder behind which Christian and Justin were concealed--"yonder rock will serve us for altar. Come, to work, my well-beloved disciple."
Lefevre opened the bundle which he had taken charge of. He drew from it a surplice, a chasuble, a Bible, a stole, a chalice, a little box of consecrated wafers, and two small flasks with wine and water. He clothed himself in sacerdotal garb, while one of the disciples took the wax candle, knelt down and lighted the improvised altar upon which the other Jesuits were engaged in disposing the rest of the requisites for the celebration of the divine sacrifice. It was done before Loyola and his disciples. The voice of Lefevre, as he droned the liturgy, alone disturbed the silence of the solitude upon which the wax candle cast a flickering ruddy glow. The time for communion having come, the seven founders of the Society of Jesus received the Eucharist with unction.
The service over, Loyola rose again to his feet, and with an inspired mien said to his disciples:
"And now, come, come."
He walked away, limping and followed by his acolytes, leaving behind them the religious implements on the block of stone.
Soon as the Jesuits moved away, Christian and Justin cautiously emerged from their hiding place, astounded at the secret they had just had revealed to them. Christian could still hardly believe that Lefevre, one of his oldest friends, and whose sentiments inclined him to the Reformation, had become a priest, and was one of the most ardent sectarians of Loyola.
"They are gone," Justin whispered to his companion; "I have not a drop of blood left in my veins. Let"s flee!"
"What imprudence! We might run against those fanatics. I doubt not they will come back. Let us wait till they have departed."
"No, no! I will not stay here another minute. I am overcome with fear."
"Then let us try to escape by the other issue, which, as you were telling me, runs behind this rock. Come, be brave!"
"I am not sure whether that pa.s.sage is not now obstructed. It would be dangerous to enter it without a light. A light would betray us. Let"s return upon our steps."
More and more frightened, Justin walked rapidly towards the entrance of the quarry. Christian followed, unwilling to leave him alone. The moment they were about to emerge from the subterranean cavern, their ears were struck by the sound of human voices coming from above. The moon was now high in the sky, and lighted the only path that led to the abbey.
"We can not leave this place without being seen," observed Justin in a low and anxious voice. "Those men have gathered upon the platform above the entrance of the cave."
"Listen," said Christian, yielding to an irresistible impulse of curiosity; "listen, they are talking."
The artisans remained motionless and mute. For a moment a solemn silence reigned. Presently the voice of Ignatius Loyola reached them as if it descended from heaven.
"Do you swear?" came from the founder of the Society of Jesus. "Do you swear in the name of the living G.o.d?"
"In the name of G.o.d," responded the Jesuits. "We swear! We shall obey our master!"
"My sons," Loyola"s voice resumed solemnly, "from this place you can see the four cardinal points of that world whose empire I parcel out among you, valiant soldiers of the Society of Jesus. Down yonder, towards the north, lie the land of the Muscovite, Germany, England. To you, Germany, England and the land of the Muscovite--John Lainez."
"Master, your will be done!"
"Yonder, to the east, Turkey, Asia, the Holy Land. To you, Turkey, Asia and the Holy Land--Rodriguez of Acevedo."
"Master, your will be done!"
"Yonder, towards the west, the new America and the Indies. To you, the new America and the Indies--Alfonso Salmeron."
"Master, your will be done!"
"Yonder, to the south, Africa, Italy, Spain, Portugal, the islands of Corsica and Sardinia, and the Balearic Isles. To you, Africa, Italy, Spain, Portugal, the islands of Corsica and Sardinia and the Balearic Isles--Inigo of Bobadilla. Behold your empire."
"Master, your will be done!"
"Finally, here at our feet, Paris, the capital of France, a world in itself. To you, Paris, to you, France--John Lefevre."
"Master, your will be done!"
"Beginning with to-morrow, gird up your loins. Depart, staff in hand, alone, unknown. To work, soldiers of Jesus! To work, Jesuits! The kingdom of earth is ours! To-morrow I depart for Rome, to offer or force upon the Pope our invincible support."
Loyola"s voice died away. Hearing the sectarians descending from the platform, Christian and Justin hurried back to their hiding place, behind the huge rock upon which were the implements that Lefevre had used in the celebration of the ma.s.s. The latter soon came back, followed by his companions. He doffed his sacerdotal vestments, and approached the improvised altar to gather the sacred vessels. So busied, his hand struck against the chalice, which rolled down and fell behind the rock at the place where the two artisans were crowding themselves from sight.
John Lefevre walked back of the rock after the chalice which had fallen close to Christian"s feet. The latter saw the Jesuit approach; stoop down and pick up the vase, without seeming, in the demi-gloom, to notice his old friend, whom his hand almost touched, and rejoin the other disciples.
"Lefevre has seen us!" thought Christian to himself. "It is impossible he should not have noticed us. And yet, not a word, not a gesture betrayed upon his countenance the astonishment and uneasiness into which he must have been plunged by our presence at this place, and the knowledge that we are in possession of the secret of his society."
While Christian was absorbed by these thoughts, Lefevre, ever imperturbable, returned to his bag the objects which he used in celebrating the ma.s.s, walked out of the cavern with his companions, and whispered a few words into the ear of Loyola. A slight tremor ran through the frame of the latter, who, however, immediately recovered his composure, and whispered back his answer to Lefevre. The latter lowered his head in token of acquiescence. Thereupon the founder of the Society of Jesus and his disciples disappeared in the windings of the road and reached Paris.
Such was the origin of that infernal society.
CHAPTER XI.
MOTHER AND DAUGHTER.
As soon as Christian returned home, late towards midnight, he hastened to communicate to his guest the occurrences at Montmartre. Monsieur John concluded it was urgent to a.s.semble the chiefs of the Reformation in the abandoned quarry, where there was no danger of apprehending the return of the Jesuits, seeing that Ignatius Loyola was to depart immediately for Rome, while his disciples were to scatter to the distant countries parceled out to them. Finally, if, as Christian persisted with good reason in believing, Lefevre had noticed the presence of the two artisans at the Jesuit conventicle, it would be an additional reason to keep them from returning to the spot. Accordingly, Monsieur John decided to convoke the chiefs of the Reformation in Paris for six o"clock in the afternoon of the following day at Montmartre. To this effect he prepared a letter giving the directions to the trysting place. Justin was to proceed in time to make certain that the second issue was practicable.
Furthermore, it was agreed between Bridget and her husband that she would absent herself together with her daughter before sunset, in order to allow the stranger to leave the house unnoticed by Hena. On his part, Christian was to pretend an invitation to supper with a friend, in order to engage his son"s company in a walk, and was to dismiss him when he thought that Monsieur John had departed. The program was carried out as agreed. When Bridget and Hena returned home after a short walk along the banks of the Seine, the proscribed man had quitted his hospitable refuge, and betaken him to the Montmartre Gate, where Christian was to await him, and conduct him to the place of meeting.
The artisan"s wife and daughter busied themselves at their trade of embroidery. They worked in silence by the light of a lamp--Bridget musing over Herve"s repentance, while Hena, lost in revery, frequently allowed her needle to drop inactive on her lap. The young girl was absorbed in her own thoughts, a stranger to what went on around her. The hour of nine struck from the distant clock in the tower of St.
James-of-the-Slaughter-House.
"Nine o"clock," observed Bridget to herself. "My son can not be long in coming back. With what joy shall I not embrace him this evening! What a heavy load did not his repentance roll off my heart! The dear child!"
And addressing Hena without removing her eyes from her needlework:
"G.o.d be blessed! Dear child, you will no longer have cause to complain of Herve"s indifference. No, no! And when my little Odelin comes back from Italy we shall then all live together again, happy as of old. I am awaiting with impatience the return of Master Raimbaud, the armorer, who will bring us back our gentle Odelin."
Not receiving any answer from her daughter, Bridget looked up and said to her:
"I have been speaking to you some time, dear daughter. You do not seem to hear me. Why are you so absentminded?"
Hena remained silent for an instant, then she smiled and answered navely:
"Singular as it may be, why should I not tell you, mother? It would be the first time in my life that I kept a secret from you."
"Well, my child, what is the reason of your absent-mindedness?"