WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.600 --> 00:00:03.640 Chapter twenty three of Claude Lightfoot, or How the Problem 2 00:00:03.680 --> 00:00:07.120 was Solved by Father Francis Finn. This LibriVox recording is 3 00:00:07.120 --> 00:00:12.960 in the public domain, Chapter twenty three the New Tarcissius. 4 00:00:13.960 --> 00:00:17.039 When Claude left Willie in the hands of the kindly 5 00:00:17.239 --> 00:00:21.920 but unintelligible German woman, he made bravely on to the village. 6 00:00:22.440 --> 00:00:25.320 After an hour's walk, it occurred to him that he 7 00:00:25.399 --> 00:00:29.760 had misunderstood her attempts at information. It was now drawing 8 00:00:29.800 --> 00:00:33.159 near the close of day, and even Cloud began to 9 00:00:33.240 --> 00:00:37.479 feel anxious and annoyed. If the village which the woman 10 00:00:37.520 --> 00:00:41.039 had spoken of were a reality, it ought to be near. 11 00:00:42.039 --> 00:00:45.600 Claude gazed about him in quest of some point for observation. 12 00:00:46.600 --> 00:00:49.679 The fields on either side were quite flat. To his 13 00:00:49.840 --> 00:00:53.840 right rose a thick hedge, which lost itself in the distance. 14 00:00:54.520 --> 00:00:57.039 To his left, the meadows were shut off from the 15 00:00:57.119 --> 00:01:00.600 road and divided from each other by the common rag fence. 16 00:01:01.479 --> 00:01:04.359 A few hundred yards before him, and just outside the hedge, 17 00:01:04.840 --> 00:01:09.400 towered a magnificent oak tree. This tree afforded clod the 18 00:01:09.480 --> 00:01:13.799 coin of vantage which he desired. Mounting it with the 19 00:01:13.840 --> 00:01:17.519 skill of long practice, he straddled a branch about thirty 20 00:01:17.519 --> 00:01:20.719 feet above the ground, and with his eyes swept the 21 00:01:20.879 --> 00:01:25.799 unexplored country beyond. The woman had not deceived him. A 22 00:01:25.879 --> 00:01:29.560 mile or so distant loomed the tapering spire of a church, 23 00:01:30.040 --> 00:01:33.120 and further down the road passed through the very heart 24 00:01:33.239 --> 00:01:36.719 of a small village upon whose roofs the sun was 25 00:01:36.799 --> 00:01:41.560 casting his parting beams. The prospect presented to his gaze was, 26 00:01:41.840 --> 00:01:46.000 at that hour of the afternoon indeed beautiful, and Cloud, 27 00:01:46.359 --> 00:01:49.319 who was heated from his long walk, was spain to 28 00:01:49.439 --> 00:01:53.400 dwell longer upon it from his sheltered bower. But even 29 00:01:53.480 --> 00:01:56.200 as he fed his eyes upon the wide sweep of 30 00:01:56.280 --> 00:02:00.560 landscape before him, he remembered Frank and thought of the 31 00:02:00.640 --> 00:02:04.840 disquiet that his absence must be causing his guardian. He 32 00:02:04.879 --> 00:02:07.239 brought his legs on the same side of the branch 33 00:02:07.599 --> 00:02:11.439 and was about to descend when he observed two men 34 00:02:11.680 --> 00:02:15.080 within a short distance of him, walking over the ground 35 00:02:15.159 --> 00:02:19.840 he had so lately traversed. He paused to look at them, and, 36 00:02:20.400 --> 00:02:25.960 strange for Cloud was unfavorably impressed. One of them was 37 00:02:26.039 --> 00:02:30.280 a man beyond middle age, with a thick neck, heavy lips, 38 00:02:30.360 --> 00:02:34.800 and coarse features. His face was covered with black bristles, 39 00:02:35.400 --> 00:02:37.960 while the hair of his head was sprinkled with gray. 40 00:02:38.919 --> 00:02:43.599 His companion was a thin, nervous man, young, beardless, with 41 00:02:43.639 --> 00:02:47.280 a pale, haggard face and a scar slanting across the 42 00:02:47.360 --> 00:02:52.159 upper lip. His face, though not altogether lacking in refinement, 43 00:02:52.879 --> 00:02:57.319 was repulsive. The two were gesticulating and talking in tones 44 00:02:57.360 --> 00:03:01.240 of excitement. Here's where we're to meet him, said the 45 00:03:01.280 --> 00:03:04.919 elder man. And it's a cool place too, saying which 46 00:03:04.960 --> 00:03:08.000 he seated himself at the foot of the tree. He 47 00:03:08.039 --> 00:03:11.680 should have been here by this time. Jordan confound him, 48 00:03:12.479 --> 00:03:16.319 snarled Delaney, we want to loot the place before the 49 00:03:16.360 --> 00:03:20.759 priest gets back, bott growled the other, in a hard, 50 00:03:20.840 --> 00:03:25.759 metallic voice. You've no nerve, man. The priest can't possibly 51 00:03:25.759 --> 00:03:28.960 get back before ten o'clock to night. I sent him 52 00:03:28.960 --> 00:03:31.639 on a sick call, which will give him fifteen miles 53 00:03:31.800 --> 00:03:36.199 ride there alone. You just keep cool, young man. Do 54 00:03:36.319 --> 00:03:40.360 you know where everything is? Jordan, Yes, I know the 55 00:03:40.439 --> 00:03:43.120 lay of the church pretty well. In the room back 56 00:03:43.159 --> 00:03:48.120 of the altar, the sacristy you mean, oh, bother the name, 57 00:03:48.759 --> 00:03:52.319 there's two gold cups and one silver cup. They are 58 00:03:52.400 --> 00:03:57.719 called chalices, put in Delaney. I was an altar boy once. 59 00:03:58.759 --> 00:04:03.919 Then continue, Jordan, there's a lot of lace stuff surplice, 60 00:04:04.159 --> 00:04:09.639 is you igno Raimus? Well, no matter, they're costly. The 61 00:04:09.680 --> 00:04:12.759 priest has rich relations in Germany and they've been giving 62 00:04:12.840 --> 00:04:16.439 him lots of fine things. Those two gold cups came 63 00:04:16.480 --> 00:04:21.879 from Germany and are worth taking. What about the tiborium, 64 00:04:23.000 --> 00:04:28.399 asked Delaney. Clod had not moved a muscle during this conference. 65 00:04:28.959 --> 00:04:33.000 He listened quietly, but with a face every feature of 66 00:04:33.079 --> 00:04:40.199 which had sharpened into eagerness of attention. Tiborium, repeated the other. Yes, 67 00:04:40.399 --> 00:04:46.360 that's kept in the tabernacle, talk English, said Jordan. You're 68 00:04:46.399 --> 00:04:51.079 a fool, cried Delaney, the cut upon his lip quivering 69 00:04:51.120 --> 00:04:55.199 and giving a most forbidding expression to his face. Didn't 70 00:04:55.199 --> 00:04:59.560 you see a light in the church? Yes, it was 71 00:04:59.639 --> 00:05:05.439 burning before a sort of table before the altar. You mean, well, 72 00:05:05.720 --> 00:05:09.040 right above the table, as you call it. Didn't you 73 00:05:09.240 --> 00:05:12.720 see a sort of little house with a little door 74 00:05:13.120 --> 00:05:18.680 and a keyhole in it? Yes, well that's the tabernacle. 75 00:05:19.439 --> 00:05:23.160 Inside that there's a sort of goblet covered with a 76 00:05:23.279 --> 00:05:27.920 veil of silk. The goblet maybe is of gold. If 77 00:05:27.959 --> 00:05:33.240 it's of silver, then the inside is gold plated, oh, 78 00:05:33.920 --> 00:05:38.800 exclaimed the other with fervor. I do hope it's of gold. Well, 79 00:05:38.879 --> 00:05:41.560 in that cup they keep a lot of little white 80 00:05:41.639 --> 00:05:46.079 pieces of bread called hoss. That Catholics say that it 81 00:05:46.160 --> 00:05:49.720 has only the form an appearance of bread, but that 82 00:05:49.920 --> 00:05:54.839 in reality it is God the Sun. I don't care 83 00:05:54.879 --> 00:05:58.639 what they think, grumbled the other. But I hope the 84 00:05:58.680 --> 00:06:04.560 cup is of gold. But I do care, said Delaney, 85 00:06:04.959 --> 00:06:08.439 with his gashed upper lip curling so as to show 86 00:06:08.519 --> 00:06:12.759 his sharp white teeth. I'll get even with him for 87 00:06:13.000 --> 00:06:17.279 making me believe that those pieces of bread were God. 88 00:06:18.079 --> 00:06:22.639 I'll get even with that cursed Dutch priest who prevented 89 00:06:22.680 --> 00:06:27.040 me from marrying a girl because I stood up for Ingersoll. 90 00:06:28.000 --> 00:06:32.240 I'll take every host in that chiborium, and I'll break 91 00:06:32.319 --> 00:06:36.000 each one in bits, and I'll scatter them all about 92 00:06:36.040 --> 00:06:40.199 the church. Oh what a fool I was the day 93 00:06:40.240 --> 00:06:45.839 I made my first communion. Cloud turned pale as he 94 00:06:45.920 --> 00:06:49.920 caught these blasphemous words, and was within a little of 95 00:06:50.000 --> 00:06:54.319 losing his hold upon the branch, so that man below 96 00:06:54.439 --> 00:07:01.240 him had made his first communion. Jordan merely laughed. They 97 00:07:01.519 --> 00:07:06.680 say I was a pious boy, continued the other in low, 98 00:07:06.839 --> 00:07:12.839 scornful tones. They meant that I was a fool. I 99 00:07:13.079 --> 00:07:16.560 might be a fool, yet, if my father hadn't taken 100 00:07:16.639 --> 00:07:19.879 me from the Catholic school and sent me to finish 101 00:07:19.879 --> 00:07:24.720 at the high school, and stopped the catechism business, and 102 00:07:24.839 --> 00:07:29.040 made my mother let up on religion, I began to 103 00:07:29.199 --> 00:07:35.360 see how I had been fooled. I read ingersoll he's 104 00:07:35.600 --> 00:07:39.680 my man, and I've got along first rate without the 105 00:07:39.800 --> 00:07:45.360 help of the Christian God. The language was hideous, the 106 00:07:45.480 --> 00:07:50.680 face in keeping with the language. And so that man 107 00:07:50.920 --> 00:07:55.279 made his first communion. Once upon a time, thought Claud, 108 00:07:56.000 --> 00:08:00.160 his face pale with horror. Then he thought of Ray, 109 00:08:00.480 --> 00:08:04.959 the young, the beautiful, the innocent. Ah, here comes Monroe, 110 00:08:05.680 --> 00:08:10.879 cried Jordan, who paid no attention to Delaney's reminiscences. Is 111 00:08:10.920 --> 00:08:16.759 it all right, Monroe, he asked eagerly. Yes, answered Monroe, 112 00:08:17.000 --> 00:08:20.480 producing from his pocket a large key. Here's the key 113 00:08:20.519 --> 00:08:23.839 of the church. I sent the housekeeper a message from 114 00:08:23.839 --> 00:08:27.839 her sister, who lives six miles north of here, and 115 00:08:28.000 --> 00:08:31.079 she bit at once. As soon as she left. I 116 00:08:31.199 --> 00:08:34.879 got this key. What about the key of the tabernacle, 117 00:08:35.559 --> 00:08:40.879 asked Delaney eagerly. That's provided for the priest, you know, 118 00:08:41.159 --> 00:08:45.000 carries the key of the tabernacle himself. Oh, we can 119 00:08:45.080 --> 00:08:51.759 smash the tabernacle, said Jordan. That won't be necessary, said Monroe. 120 00:08:52.159 --> 00:08:55.159 There's a key hanging on a nail behind the door 121 00:08:55.159 --> 00:08:59.600 in the sacristy. It opens the wardrobe, but it happens 122 00:08:59.639 --> 00:09:04.039 to fit the tabernacle too. You see, I know things 123 00:09:04.120 --> 00:09:08.200 pretty well. What else did you live in the village for, 124 00:09:09.279 --> 00:09:15.279 asked Jordan. I'll take care of that tabernacle, said Delaney. 125 00:09:15.679 --> 00:09:18.200 And it would do me good to see how the 126 00:09:18.279 --> 00:09:21.840 people will look when they find they've been stamping on 127 00:09:22.000 --> 00:09:26.960 their hosts as they walk through the aisles. I didn't 128 00:09:27.000 --> 00:09:31.440 know i'd get this key of the church door, continued Monroe. 129 00:09:32.320 --> 00:09:35.240 And so first I thought we'd have to climb through 130 00:09:35.360 --> 00:09:40.039 the sacristy window. It's twelve feet high, but there's a 131 00:09:40.120 --> 00:09:44.120 lightning rod beside it, and the window isn't bolted. The 132 00:09:44.200 --> 00:09:48.279 key is along sight better, said Jordan. Well, why don't 133 00:09:48.320 --> 00:09:52.679 you fellows, come on, growled Delaney. One would think that 134 00:09:52.799 --> 00:09:56.320 you had a week to do it in Yes, but 135 00:09:56.480 --> 00:09:59.720 before we start, the question is how shall we go 136 00:10:00.720 --> 00:10:05.360 ho on the road? Of course, said Monroe. Won't we 137 00:10:05.480 --> 00:10:11.080 be seen asked Delaney. There's next to no risk because 138 00:10:11.120 --> 00:10:14.559 the people are mostly all except the sick and an 139 00:10:14.559 --> 00:10:18.320 old granny or so out on a picnic. And I 140 00:10:18.440 --> 00:10:20.960 know for sure that they won't start back till the 141 00:10:21.080 --> 00:10:24.480 moon is up. Yes, and it will be up pretty soon, 142 00:10:25.279 --> 00:10:29.600 cried Delaney nervously, for the sun is down already. Come on, 143 00:10:30.559 --> 00:10:37.240 Jordan Rose. Now, remember, he said impressively, Remember that we're 144 00:10:37.240 --> 00:10:40.440 not to do any running or show any signs of 145 00:10:40.559 --> 00:10:43.399 being in a great hurry, so that even if someone 146 00:10:43.559 --> 00:10:46.600 sees us, they won't think that we're up to any game. 147 00:10:47.320 --> 00:10:51.000 Step out now. Claude waited till they were gone some 148 00:10:51.120 --> 00:10:53.919 little distance when he quickly climbed to the end of 149 00:10:53.960 --> 00:10:56.399 the branch on which he had been sitting, thus bringing 150 00:10:56.480 --> 00:10:59.519 himself on the inner side of the hedge. Then he 151 00:10:59.600 --> 00:11:02.879 swung himself to a lower branch and from that dropped 152 00:11:02.919 --> 00:11:05.440 to the ground, a feat that few boys could have 153 00:11:05.480 --> 00:11:09.519 performed without injury to their limbs. Screened by the hedge, 154 00:11:09.559 --> 00:11:12.720 he broke into a light trot, picking each step as 155 00:11:12.720 --> 00:11:16.159 he went. The crackle of a twig, the rustle of 156 00:11:16.200 --> 00:11:19.679 a leaf might attract the notice of the horrible trio, 157 00:11:20.279 --> 00:11:24.320 preseating him on the road. As he drew nearer them, 158 00:11:24.399 --> 00:11:28.360 he became more wary. He stepped quickly, but he chose 159 00:11:28.440 --> 00:11:33.120 each foothold with an unerring eye. On he moved light 160 00:11:33.200 --> 00:11:36.600 as a fairy, on till he was abreast the men, 161 00:11:37.240 --> 00:11:40.480 and held his breath and wondered whether they could possibly 162 00:11:40.519 --> 00:11:49.200 hear the beating of his heart. Slowly, surely he advanced, slowly, lightly, deftly, 163 00:11:49.679 --> 00:11:53.159 till at length the men were many paces behind. Then 164 00:11:53.279 --> 00:11:56.519 Claud took a long breath and broke into a run, 165 00:11:57.000 --> 00:12:02.399 where earnestness and energy and love and determination lent wings 166 00:12:02.480 --> 00:12:06.279 to the natural speed of his feet. On he dashed, 167 00:12:06.600 --> 00:12:10.639 perfect master of his breath, the rich color mounting into 168 00:12:10.679 --> 00:12:14.639 his cheeks, the breeze of the calm twilight sweeping his 169 00:12:14.759 --> 00:12:18.360 soft hair over his brow on. He dashed till the 170 00:12:18.440 --> 00:12:21.840 hedge row ceased and a rail fence stood before him. 171 00:12:22.480 --> 00:12:24.840 Not stopping even to put his hand on the fence, 172 00:12:25.240 --> 00:12:29.159 clod leaped high in the air and made on. Nor 173 00:12:29.240 --> 00:12:31.480 did he even so much as turn his head to 174 00:12:31.559 --> 00:12:35.759 see whether the thieves were in sight or not. Luckily, 175 00:12:35.799 --> 00:12:38.279 a bend in the road shut him off from their sight. 176 00:12:39.080 --> 00:12:42.759 Very shortly the church was gained and Clod, grasping the 177 00:12:42.840 --> 00:12:45.960 lightning rod, went up hand over hand to a level 178 00:12:46.000 --> 00:12:48.720 with the window. It was the work of one moment 179 00:12:48.919 --> 00:12:51.919 to throw back the shutter and open the window, the 180 00:12:51.960 --> 00:12:55.080 work of another to leap into the room, snatch the 181 00:12:55.159 --> 00:12:59.279 key from the sacristy, and hurry into the sanctuary. It 182 00:12:59.399 --> 00:13:02.279 was rather dark in the church, so dark that for 183 00:13:02.360 --> 00:13:05.399 a moment, Clod, coming out of the clearer light of 184 00:13:05.440 --> 00:13:10.919 the sacristy, could discern objects with difficulty. At the gospel side. 185 00:13:10.960 --> 00:13:15.159 Upon the altar rested the sanctuary lamp, its trembling flame 186 00:13:15.480 --> 00:13:19.399 shining through the red glass. In honor of the blessed sacrament, 187 00:13:20.159 --> 00:13:24.200 Clod made a genuflection, ascended the altar steps, and fitting 188 00:13:24.240 --> 00:13:26.559 the key into the lock, threw open the door of 189 00:13:26.600 --> 00:13:31.200 the tabernacle. As he genuflected for the second time, he 190 00:13:31.279 --> 00:13:34.919 could distinctly hear the beatings of his heart. In the 191 00:13:34.960 --> 00:13:39.639 tabernacle there was a veiled object. Clod removed the veil, 192 00:13:40.240 --> 00:13:43.960 raised the cover, and holding the tiborium with trembling hands, 193 00:13:44.399 --> 00:13:50.000 looked down into its cup. There lay twelve consecrated hosts. 194 00:13:50.960 --> 00:13:54.679 Imagine a man who, after years of preparation and study, 195 00:13:55.159 --> 00:13:59.039 has been ordained. Ascending the altar to say his first Mass, 196 00:13:59.799 --> 00:14:03.639 his limbs tremble beneath him when for the first time 197 00:14:03.840 --> 00:14:08.240 he pronounces the sacred words of consecration, and knows that 198 00:14:08.320 --> 00:14:11.840 with the pronouncing of these words, what had been bred 199 00:14:11.879 --> 00:14:14.879 before is now the body and blood, the soul and 200 00:14:14.960 --> 00:14:19.039 divinity of Christ. Very similar was the feeling of clod 201 00:14:19.080 --> 00:14:23.240 as he gazed upon the sacred particles. Here he stood 202 00:14:23.799 --> 00:14:28.879 face to face with Him, who, although ruler of Earth 203 00:14:28.919 --> 00:14:33.360 and Sky, had been born in a stable, with him, 204 00:14:33.879 --> 00:14:39.519 who had been despised, insulted, put to death. He had 205 00:14:39.600 --> 00:14:43.639 conquered death, but he could still be insulted. And it 206 00:14:43.720 --> 00:14:47.759 was Cloud's office to save him. And as Cloud fell 207 00:14:47.840 --> 00:14:51.240 upon his knees, still holding in his hands the tiboreum, 208 00:14:52.000 --> 00:14:56.840 he turned from Christ to himself. At once, in a long, 209 00:14:57.080 --> 00:15:03.679 endless procession, came his sins, his faults, his negligences, his 210 00:15:04.000 --> 00:15:11.000 bursts of anger. Oh how terrible they looked, sins against 211 00:15:11.080 --> 00:15:16.120 whom Claude asked himself this question, and looking into the tiboium, 212 00:15:16.559 --> 00:15:21.679 saw the answer. They were against him, who, through love 213 00:15:21.759 --> 00:15:25.600 for us, through the desire of being ever with us, 214 00:15:25.639 --> 00:15:29.360 to feed us with the bread of life had for 215 00:15:29.559 --> 00:15:35.399 nineteen centuries borne the insults and outrages of thousands and 216 00:15:35.639 --> 00:15:41.080 thousands of brutal, ungrateful men. And with this thought Claude 217 00:15:41.240 --> 00:15:44.559 made an act of contrition for the sins of his life. 218 00:15:45.200 --> 00:15:49.240 All these thoughts flashed through Claude's mind with incredible rapidity. 219 00:15:50.320 --> 00:15:55.519 These few moments crowded together thoughts that in ordinary circumstances 220 00:15:55.720 --> 00:16:01.159 should occupy ours again. A fit of trembling upon him. 221 00:16:01.480 --> 00:16:06.039 There were steps approaching. The awful moment was come, for 222 00:16:06.120 --> 00:16:09.840 Claude was determined that not one of the consecrated species 223 00:16:10.159 --> 00:16:14.960 should ever fall into the renegade's hands, they might take 224 00:16:15.039 --> 00:16:18.799 his life. That question he did not consider worth the 225 00:16:18.919 --> 00:16:23.200 dwelling upon, But think of it. He a small boy 226 00:16:23.639 --> 00:16:26.960 who had but the night before flown into a passion. 227 00:16:27.759 --> 00:16:31.360 He was now to hold God in his fingers and 228 00:16:31.519 --> 00:16:36.639 receive him into his bosom. Then, surging upon his soul 229 00:16:36.879 --> 00:16:42.799 came all his sins like waves of menace. His scrupulosity 230 00:16:42.879 --> 00:16:46.519 had reached the snapping point, And as he heard the 231 00:16:46.519 --> 00:16:49.639 footfalls of the thieves ascending the steps of the church, 232 00:16:50.600 --> 00:16:56.159 the scrupulosity snapped, bowing his head, while tears born of 233 00:16:56.320 --> 00:17:03.200 many and varied emotions started to his eyes. He murmured, reverently, Lord, 234 00:17:04.000 --> 00:17:07.480 I am not worthy, And with the words he took 235 00:17:07.559 --> 00:17:11.680 the hosts in his trembling fingers and placed them in 236 00:17:11.799 --> 00:17:16.039 his mouth, folding his hands in prayer, and turning upon 237 00:17:16.039 --> 00:17:19.240 the kneeling bench so as to face the door. He 238 00:17:19.359 --> 00:17:25.119 waited Clod had made his first communion. The key turned 239 00:17:25.200 --> 00:17:29.839 in the lock, and three men entered, the atheist Delaney 240 00:17:30.160 --> 00:17:35.480 taking the lead. What's that, cried the atheist, jumping back 241 00:17:35.880 --> 00:17:40.720 and falling against Jordan, No wonder, he started in terror. 242 00:17:41.200 --> 00:17:43.880 The church, to those who had just entered out of 243 00:17:43.880 --> 00:17:48.279 the waning twilight, was quite dark, save within the radius 244 00:17:48.319 --> 00:17:51.559 of a few feet of the sanctuary lamp. And there 245 00:17:51.599 --> 00:17:56.759 within its radius, Delaney's eyes fell upon a face there, beautiful, 246 00:17:57.079 --> 00:18:03.000 sweet composed, the calm eyes looking straight at him, blue, 247 00:18:03.000 --> 00:18:08.480 calm eyes and open, shining with a sweetness, a sorrow, 248 00:18:08.960 --> 00:18:12.720 and a light such as would become an angel in 249 00:18:12.839 --> 00:18:17.640 human form. Standing guard at a desecrated shrine, Jordan caught 250 00:18:17.680 --> 00:18:22.680 Delaney's hand. Monroe put his arms through Jordan's, and while 251 00:18:22.720 --> 00:18:25.519 Delaney would have taken to flight, the other two stood 252 00:18:25.599 --> 00:18:31.960 in stupid alarm. There was a silence, But Clod happy Clod. 253 00:18:32.599 --> 00:18:35.960 Those moments of silence were the sweetest of his life, 254 00:18:36.640 --> 00:18:41.519 for in those fleeting seconds, great waves of love flooded 255 00:18:41.559 --> 00:18:46.000 his soul, and great waves of light illumined his mind. 256 00:18:46.640 --> 00:18:49.680 He saw it now, He saw what he had failed 257 00:18:49.799 --> 00:18:53.319 to see in his adventure with Worden. He saw the 258 00:18:53.400 --> 00:18:58.680 horror and ugliness of sin. There it rose before him, 259 00:18:59.200 --> 00:19:02.599 stamped upon the souls and faces of the men who 260 00:19:02.680 --> 00:19:06.240 stood in the twilight at the door. Those three men 261 00:19:06.720 --> 00:19:11.960 represented sin. It was possible, he perceived, in that moment 262 00:19:12.000 --> 00:19:15.799 of insight, to be a sinner without being a thief, 263 00:19:16.319 --> 00:19:20.839 a profaner of the blessed sacrament, a murderer. But in 264 00:19:20.880 --> 00:19:25.200 the long run, sin was sin, and every sinner, no 265 00:19:25.319 --> 00:19:29.720 matter whether he were rough or gentle, high or low, 266 00:19:30.480 --> 00:19:34.799 rich or poor, every sinner in the world cast his 267 00:19:34.960 --> 00:19:38.839 lot in with these men. There might be a difference, 268 00:19:39.079 --> 00:19:42.680 but the difference was of degree, not of kind. Facing 269 00:19:42.759 --> 00:19:48.160 him there was sin, But ah, what a gulf between them. 270 00:19:48.960 --> 00:19:52.160 Next to sin, near to sin, by the length of 271 00:19:52.200 --> 00:19:57.720 a church, was love incarnate love. There was to be 272 00:19:57.880 --> 00:20:03.799 a choice between these two, Sin with its foulness, Christ 273 00:20:04.279 --> 00:20:09.359 with his love, no reasoning creature of God's could escape 274 00:20:09.359 --> 00:20:13.039 the choice, and now the choice was given to Cloud. 275 00:20:14.119 --> 00:20:18.119 In answer, his soul soared high in a blaze of love. 276 00:20:19.000 --> 00:20:23.519 The light, the true light, was within his bosom. He 277 00:20:23.599 --> 00:20:27.440 saw the light, he heard the voice, and, aided by 278 00:20:27.559 --> 00:20:31.000 the powerful graces that were finding full play of activity 279 00:20:31.000 --> 00:20:34.799 in his soul, he made an act of perfect love, 280 00:20:35.480 --> 00:20:40.599 and love drove out fear. Clode's scruples were gone forever, 281 00:20:41.559 --> 00:20:45.559 and so there was sin in the world. Clod had 282 00:20:45.599 --> 00:20:49.759 never before appreciated this sad fact, But now in the 283 00:20:49.839 --> 00:20:53.519 light that poured upon him, he saw the mystery of life, 284 00:20:54.160 --> 00:20:57.640 and upon his spirit settled a sense of the sacredness 285 00:20:57.640 --> 00:21:01.200 of his own being. It was given to him to use, 286 00:21:01.960 --> 00:21:06.240 for love consists not in words, but in deeds. All 287 00:21:06.279 --> 00:21:09.599 these things flashed through Claude's mind while the three men 288 00:21:09.680 --> 00:21:14.640 stood pausing at the door. It's a human being, whispered Jordan. 289 00:21:15.240 --> 00:21:18.440 I saw tears on its face. It can't be a ghost. 290 00:21:19.079 --> 00:21:23.400 I thought it was an angel, said Delaney. Hm, I 291 00:21:23.440 --> 00:21:28.000 thought you didn't believe in God. Who's that? Called Jordan 292 00:21:28.079 --> 00:21:32.200 in a loud voice. Cloud continued to pray in silence. 293 00:21:33.079 --> 00:21:39.799 Are you a boy? Cried Monroe. No answer, well, said Jordan. 294 00:21:40.400 --> 00:21:44.240 Suppose we move up together. The three stepped slowly up 295 00:21:44.279 --> 00:21:48.039 the middle aisle. As they advanced, Clod rose to his feet. 296 00:21:48.480 --> 00:21:52.599 Why it's nothing but a boy, cried Delaney. I see 297 00:21:52.640 --> 00:21:55.880 his close now. We must catch him before we do 298 00:21:55.960 --> 00:22:02.079 anything else. Boy, come here. God neither spoke nor moved. 299 00:22:02.519 --> 00:22:06.400 He was watching his chance to escape, to bring away 300 00:22:06.559 --> 00:22:11.359 his life, which belonged to God. With an oath, Delaney 301 00:22:11.519 --> 00:22:14.799 rushed at Cloud. Just as he was about to put 302 00:22:14.839 --> 00:22:18.000 his hands upon him, Clod, who had stepped upon a 303 00:22:18.079 --> 00:22:22.079 kneeling bench, leaped over the altar railing into the side 304 00:22:22.160 --> 00:22:25.480 aisle and sprang for the door. The three men were 305 00:22:25.519 --> 00:22:28.759 after him at once, and as he flew down the steps, 306 00:22:28.880 --> 00:22:33.880 a bullet whistled by his ear. Then Clod heard Frank's 307 00:22:33.880 --> 00:22:38.160 welcome voice. He answered at once, But it was not 308 00:22:38.319 --> 00:22:41.880 the same Clod whom Frank had known that made answer. 309 00:22:42.880 --> 00:22:46.039 For in the few minutes that had passed before the tabernacle, 310 00:22:46.839 --> 00:22:51.839 Clod had undergone a wondrous change, and the problem had 311 00:22:51.880 --> 00:22:59.440 been solved. End of Chapter twenty three.