Under the Witches'' Moon: A Romantic Tale of Mediaeval Rome

  CHAPTER X

  DEVIL WORSHIP

  The dawn of the following day brought in its wake consternation andterror. From the churches of the two Egyptian Martyrs, Sts. Cosmasand Damian, the Holy Host had been taken during the preceding night.Frightened beyond measure, the ministering priests had suffered theterrible secret to leak out, and this circumstance, coupled with theunexplained absence of the Senator, the tardiness of the Prefect tostart his investigations, and the captivity of the Pontiff, threw theRomans into a panic. It was impossible to guard every church in Romeagainst a similar outrage, as the guards of the Senator were inadequatein number, and, consisting chiefly of foreign elements, could not berelied upon.

  The early hours of the morning found Tristan in the hermitage of Odo ofCluny. To him he confided the incidents of the night and his adventurein the Catacombs. To him he also imparted the terrible discovery he hadmade.

  Odo of Cluny listened in silence, his face betraying no sign of theemotion he felt. When Tristan had concluded his account he regarded himlong and earnestly.

  "I, too, have long known that all is not well, that there is somethingbrewing in this witches' cauldron which may not stand the light ofday.--"

  "But what is it?" cried Tristan. "Tell me, Father, for a great fear asof some horrible danger is upon me; a fear I cannot define and whichyet will not leave me."

  Odo's face was calm and grave. The Benedictine monk had been listeningintently, but with a detached interest, as to some tale which, even ifit concerned himself, could not in the least disturb his equanimity.With his supernormal quickness of perception he knew at once the powerswith which he had to cope. Tristan had told him of the devilish face inthe panel during the night of his first watch at the Lateran.

  "The powers of Evil at work are so great that only a miracle fromheaven can save us," he said at last. "Listen well, and lose not a wordof what I am about to say. Have you ever heard of one Mani, who livedin Babylonia some seven hundred years ago and founded a religion inwhich he professed to blend the teachings of Christ with the cult ofthe old Persian Magi?"

  A negative gesture came in response. Tristan's face was tense withanxiety. Odo continued:

  "According to his teachings there exist two kingdoms: the kingdom ofLight and the kingdom of Darkness. Light represents the beneficentprimal spirit: God. Darkness is likewise a spiritual kingdom: Satan andhis demons were born from the kingdom of Darkness. These two kingdomshave stood opposed to each other from all eternity--touching eachother's boundaries, yet remaining unmingled. At last Satan began torage and made an incursion into the kingdom of Light. Now, the God ofLight begat the primal man and sent him, equipped with the five pureelements, to fight against Satan. But the latter proved himself thestronger, and the primal man was, for the time, vanquished. In timethe cult of the Manichaeans spread. The seat of the Manichaean pope wasfor centuries at Samarkand. From there, defying persecutions, the sectspread, and obtained a foothold in northern Africa at the time of St.Augustine. Thence it slowly invaded Italy."

  Tristan listened with deep attention.

  "The original creed had meanwhile been split up into numerous sects,"Odo of Cluny continued. "The followers of Mani believed there weretwo Gods,--the one of Light, the other of Darkness, both equallypowerful in their separate kingdoms. But lately one by the name ofBogumil proclaims that God never created the world, that Christ hadnot an actual body, that he neither could have been born, nor that hedied, that our bodies are evil, a foul excrescence, as it were, of theevil principle. Maintaining that God had two sons--Satan the olderand Christ the younger--they refuse homage to the latter, Regent ofthe Celestial World, and worship Lucifer. And they hold meetings andperform diabolical ceremonies, in which they make wafers of ashes anddrink the blood of a goat, which their devil-priests administer to themin communion."

  Odo of Cluny paused and took a long breath, fixing Tristan with hisdark eyes. And when Tristan, stark with horror, dared not trust himselfto speak, Odo concluded:

  "This is the peril that confronts us! And Holy Church is without ahead, and the cardinals cannot cope with the terrible scourge. It isthis you saw, my son, and, had your presence been discovered, you wouldnever again have greeted the light of day."

  At last Tristan found his tongue.

  "God forbid that there should be such a thing, that men should worshipthe Fiend."

  "Nevertheless they do," Odo replied, "and other things too awful formortal mind to credit."

  The perspiration came out on Tristan's brow. Although he was preparedfor matters of infinite moment and knew that this interview mightwell be one of the decisive moments of his life, he yet possessed thedetached attitude of mind which was curious of strange learning andinformation, even in a crisis.

  "And you have known this, Father?" he said at last, "and you have donenothing to check the evil?"

  "We are living in evil times, my son," Odo replied. "I have long knownof the existence of this black heresy, which has slowly spread itsbaleful cult, until it has reached our very shores. But that they woulddare to establish themselves in the city of the Apostle, this I was notprepared to accept, until the terrible crime at the Lateran removed thelast doubt. And now I know that the foul thing has obtained a footinghere, and more than that, I know that some high in power are affiliatedwith this society of Satan, that would establish the reign of Luciferamong the Seven Hills. Did you not tell me, my son, of one, terribleof aspect, who peered through the panel in the Capella Palatina on thenight of that first and most horrible outrage?"

  "One who looked as the Fiend might look, did he assume human guise,"Tristan confirmed with a nod.

  "The high priest of Satan," Odo returned, "a familiar of blackmagic--the most terrible of all heinous crimes against Holy Church. Awave of crime is rolling its crimson tide over the Eternal City such asthe annals of the Church have never recorded. It started in the reignof Marozia, and Theodora is leagued with the fiend, as was her sisterbefore her."

  Odo paused for a moment, breathing deep, while Tristan listenedspellbound.

  "Have you ever pondered," he continued with slow emphasis, "why theLord Alberic entrusted to you, a stranger, so important a post as thecommand of the Emperor's Tomb? That there may be one he does not trustand who that one may be?"

  Tristan gave a start.

  "There is one I do not trust--one who seems to wrap himself in a poisonmist of evil--the Lord Basil."

  "Be wary and circumspect. Has he of late come to the Tomb?"

  "Three days ago--in company with a stranger from the North--one I maynot meet and again look upon heaven."

  "The woman's husband?" Odo queried with a penetrating glance.

  Tristan colored.

  "How these two met I cannot fathom."

  "Remember one thing, my son, their alliance portends evil to some one.What did they in the crypts?"

  "The Lord Basil seems to have taken a fancy to exploring the cells,"Tristan replied. "Those who have followed him report that he holdsstrange converse with the ghost of some mad monk whom he starved intoeternity."

  "And this converse--what is its subject?" Odo queried with awakeninginterest.

  "A prophecy and a woman," Tristan replied. "Though those who heard themwere so terror stricken at their infectious madness that they fled--notdaring to tarry longer lest they would find themselves in the clutchesof the fiend."

  "A prophecy and a woman," Odo repeated pensively. "The Lord Alberic hasconfided much in me--his fears--his doubts! For even he knows not, howhis mother came to her untimely end."

  "The Lady Marozia?"

  "The tale is known to you?"

  "Rumors--flimsy--intangible--"

  "One night she was mysteriously strangled. The Lord Alberic was almostbeside himself. But the mystery remained unsolved."

  After a pause Odo continued:

  "I, too, have not been idle. We must lull them in security! We mustappear utterly paralyzed. Our terror will increase their boldness.Their ultimate object is still hid
den. We must be wary. The LordAlberic must be informed. We must spike the bait."

  "I have despatched a trusty messenger in the guise of a peasant to theshrine of the Archangel," Tristan interposed.

  "God grant that he arrive not too late," Odo replied. "And now, my son,listen to my words. A great soul and a stout heart must he have whosets himself to such a task as is before you! We are surrounded by thevery fiends of Hell in human guise. Speak to no one of what you haveseen. If you are in need of counsel, come to me!"

  Odo raised his hands, pronouncing a silent blessing over the kneelingvisitor and Tristan departed, dazed and trembling, wide-eyed and withpallid lips.

  As he passed Mount Aventine the dark-robed form of a hunchback suddenlyrose like a ghost from the ground beside him and, approaching Tristan,muttered some words in an unintelligible jargon. Believing he wasdealing with a beggar, Tristan was about to dismiss the ill-favoredgnome with a gift, which the latter refused, motioning to Tristan toincline his ear.

  With an ill-concealed gesture of impatience Tristan complied, but hisstrange interlocutor had hardly delivered himself of his message whenTristan recoiled as if he had seen a snake in the grass before him,every vestige of color fading from his face.

  "At the Lateran?" he chokingly replied to the whispered confidence ofthe hunchback.

  The latter nodded.

  "At the Lateran."

  Ere Tristan could recover from his surprise, his informant haddisappeared among the ruins.

  For some time he stood as if rooted to the spot.

  It was too monstrous--too unbelievable and yet--what could prompt hisinformant to invent so terrible a tale?

  At midnight, two nights hence, the consecrated wafer was to be takenfrom the tabernacle in the Lateran!

  Perchance he had spoken even to one of the sect who had, at the lastmoment, repented of his share in the contemplated outrage.

  If it were granted to him to deliver Rome and the world from thisterror! A strange fire gleamed in his eyes as he returned to Castel SanAngelo.

  Himself, he would keep the watch at the Lateran and foil the plot.