Speaker 1: Chapter twenty three of Claude Lightfoot, or How the Problem
Speaker 1: was Solved by Father Francis Finn. This LibriVox recording is
Speaker 1: in the public domain, Chapter twenty three the New Tarcissius.
Speaker 1: When Claude left Willie in the hands of the kindly
Speaker 1: but unintelligible German woman, he made bravely on to the village.
Speaker 1: After an hour's walk, it occurred to him that he
Speaker 1: had misunderstood her attempts at information. It was now drawing
Speaker 1: near the close of day, and even Cloud began to
Speaker 1: feel anxious and annoyed. If the village which the woman
Speaker 1: had spoken of were a reality, it ought to be near.
Speaker 1: Claude gazed about him in quest of some point for observation.
Speaker 1: The fields on either side were quite flat. To his
Speaker 1: right rose a thick hedge, which lost itself in the distance.
Speaker 1: To his left, the meadows were shut off from the
Speaker 1: road and divided from each other by the common rag fence.
Speaker 1: A few hundred yards before him, and just outside the hedge,
Speaker 1: towered a magnificent oak tree. This tree afforded clod the
Speaker 1: coin of vantage which he desired. Mounting it with the
Speaker 1: skill of long practice, he straddled a branch about thirty
Speaker 1: feet above the ground, and with his eyes swept the
Speaker 1: unexplored country beyond. The woman had not deceived him. A
Speaker 1: mile or so distant loomed the tapering spire of a church,
Speaker 1: and further down the road passed through the very heart
Speaker 1: of a small village upon whose roofs the sun was
Speaker 1: casting his parting beams. The prospect presented to his gaze was,
Speaker 1: at that hour of the afternoon indeed beautiful, and Cloud,
Speaker 1: who was heated from his long walk, was spain to
Speaker 1: dwell longer upon it from his sheltered bower. But even
Speaker 1: as he fed his eyes upon the wide sweep of
Speaker 1: landscape before him, he remembered Frank and thought of the
Speaker 1: disquiet that his absence must be causing his guardian. He
Speaker 1: brought his legs on the same side of the branch
Speaker 1: and was about to descend when he observed two men
Speaker 1: within a short distance of him, walking over the ground
Speaker 1: he had so lately traversed. He paused to look at them, and,
Speaker 1: strange for Cloud was unfavorably impressed. One of them was
Speaker 1: a man beyond middle age, with a thick neck, heavy lips,
Speaker 1: and coarse features. His face was covered with black bristles,
Speaker 1: while the hair of his head was sprinkled with gray.
Speaker 1: His companion was a thin, nervous man, young, beardless, with
Speaker 1: a pale, haggard face and a scar slanting across the
Speaker 1: upper lip. His face, though not altogether lacking in refinement,
Speaker 1: was repulsive. The two were gesticulating and talking in tones
Speaker 1: of excitement. Here's where we're to meet him, said the
Speaker 1: elder man. And it's a cool place too, saying which
Speaker 1: he seated himself at the foot of the tree. He
Speaker 1: should have been here by this time. Jordan confound him,
Speaker 1: snarled Delaney, we want to loot the place before the
Speaker 1: priest gets back, bott growled the other, in a hard,
Speaker 1: metallic voice. You've no nerve, man. The priest can't possibly
Speaker 1: get back before ten o'clock to night. I sent him
Speaker 1: on a sick call, which will give him fifteen miles
Speaker 1: ride there alone. You just keep cool, young man. Do
Speaker 1: you know where everything is? Jordan, Yes, I know the
Speaker 1: lay of the church pretty well. In the room back
Speaker 1: of the altar, the sacristy you mean, oh, bother the name,
Speaker 1: there's two gold cups and one silver cup. They are
Speaker 1: called chalices, put in Delaney. I was an altar boy once.
Speaker 1: Then continue, Jordan, there's a lot of lace stuff surplice,
Speaker 1: is you igno Raimus? Well, no matter, they're costly. The
Speaker 1: priest has rich relations in Germany and they've been giving
Speaker 1: him lots of fine things. Those two gold cups came
Speaker 1: from Germany and are worth taking. What about the tiborium,
Speaker 1: asked Delaney. Clod had not moved a muscle during this conference.
Speaker 1: He listened quietly, but with a face every feature of
Speaker 1: which had sharpened into eagerness of attention. Tiborium, repeated the other. Yes,
Speaker 1: that's kept in the tabernacle, talk English, said Jordan. You're
Speaker 1: a fool, cried Delaney, the cut upon his lip quivering
Speaker 1: and giving a most forbidding expression to his face. Didn't
Speaker 1: you see a light in the church? Yes, it was
Speaker 1: burning before a sort of table before the altar. You mean, well,
Speaker 1: right above the table, as you call it. Didn't you
Speaker 1: see a sort of little house with a little door
Speaker 1: and a keyhole in it? Yes, well that's the tabernacle.
Speaker 1: Inside that there's a sort of goblet covered with a
Speaker 1: veil of silk. The goblet maybe is of gold. If
Speaker 1: it's of silver, then the inside is gold plated, oh,
Speaker 1: exclaimed the other with fervor. I do hope it's of gold. Well,
Speaker 1: in that cup they keep a lot of little white
Speaker 1: pieces of bread called hoss. That Catholics say that it
Speaker 1: has only the form an appearance of bread, but that
Speaker 1: in reality it is God the Sun. I don't care
Speaker 1: what they think, grumbled the other. But I hope the
Speaker 1: cup is of gold. But I do care, said Delaney,
Speaker 1: with his gashed upper lip curling so as to show
Speaker 1: his sharp white teeth. I'll get even with him for
Speaker 1: making me believe that those pieces of bread were God.
Speaker 1: I'll get even with that cursed Dutch priest who prevented
Speaker 1: me from marrying a girl because I stood up for Ingersoll.
Speaker 1: I'll take every host in that chiborium, and I'll break
Speaker 1: each one in bits, and I'll scatter them all about
Speaker 1: the church. Oh what a fool I was the day
Speaker 1: I made my first communion. Cloud turned pale as he
Speaker 1: caught these blasphemous words, and was within a little of
Speaker 1: losing his hold upon the branch, so that man below
Speaker 1: him had made his first communion. Jordan merely laughed. They
Speaker 1: say I was a pious boy, continued the other in low,
Speaker 1: scornful tones. They meant that I was a fool. I
Speaker 1: might be a fool, yet, if my father hadn't taken
Speaker 1: me from the Catholic school and sent me to finish
Speaker 1: at the high school, and stopped the catechism business, and
Speaker 1: made my mother let up on religion, I began to
Speaker 1: see how I had been fooled. I read ingersoll he's
Speaker 1: my man, and I've got along first rate without the
Speaker 1: help of the Christian God. The language was hideous, the
Speaker 1: face in keeping with the language. And so that man
Speaker 1: made his first communion. Once upon a time, thought Claud,
Speaker 1: his face pale with horror. Then he thought of Ray,
Speaker 1: the young, the beautiful, the innocent. Ah, here comes Monroe,
Speaker 1: cried Jordan, who paid no attention to Delaney's reminiscences. Is
Speaker 1: it all right, Monroe, he asked eagerly. Yes, answered Monroe,
Speaker 1: producing from his pocket a large key. Here's the key
Speaker 1: of the church. I sent the housekeeper a message from
Speaker 1: her sister, who lives six miles north of here, and
Speaker 1: she bit at once. As soon as she left. I
Speaker 1: got this key. What about the key of the tabernacle,
Speaker 1: asked Delaney eagerly. That's provided for the priest, you know,
Speaker 1: carries the key of the tabernacle himself. Oh, we can
Speaker 1: smash the tabernacle, said Jordan. That won't be necessary, said Monroe.
Speaker 1: There's a key hanging on a nail behind the door
Speaker 1: in the sacristy. It opens the wardrobe, but it happens
Speaker 1: to fit the tabernacle too. You see, I know things
Speaker 1: pretty well. What else did you live in the village for,
Speaker 1: asked Jordan. I'll take care of that tabernacle, said Delaney.
Speaker 1: And it would do me good to see how the
Speaker 1: people will look when they find they've been stamping on
Speaker 1: their hosts as they walk through the aisles. I didn't
Speaker 1: know i'd get this key of the church door, continued Monroe.
Speaker 1: And so first I thought we'd have to climb through
Speaker 1: the sacristy window. It's twelve feet high, but there's a
Speaker 1: lightning rod beside it, and the window isn't bolted. The
Speaker 1: key is along sight better, said Jordan. Well, why don't
Speaker 1: you fellows, come on, growled Delaney. One would think that
Speaker 1: you had a week to do it in Yes, but
Speaker 1: before we start, the question is how shall we go
Speaker 1: ho on the road? Of course, said Monroe. Won't we
Speaker 1: be seen asked Delaney. There's next to no risk because
Speaker 1: the people are mostly all except the sick and an
Speaker 1: old granny or so out on a picnic. And I
Speaker 1: know for sure that they won't start back till the
Speaker 1: moon is up. Yes, and it will be up pretty soon,
Speaker 1: cried Delaney nervously, for the sun is down already. Come on,
Speaker 1: Jordan Rose. Now, remember, he said impressively, Remember that we're
Speaker 1: not to do any running or show any signs of
Speaker 1: being in a great hurry, so that even if someone
Speaker 1: sees us, they won't think that we're up to any game.
Speaker 1: Step out now. Claude waited till they were gone some
Speaker 1: little distance when he quickly climbed to the end of
Speaker 1: the branch on which he had been sitting, thus bringing
Speaker 1: himself on the inner side of the hedge. Then he
Speaker 1: swung himself to a lower branch and from that dropped
Speaker 1: to the ground, a feat that few boys could have
Speaker 1: performed without injury to their limbs. Screened by the hedge,
Speaker 1: he broke into a light trot, picking each step as
Speaker 1: he went. The crackle of a twig, the rustle of
Speaker 1: a leaf might attract the notice of the horrible trio,
Speaker 1: preseating him on the road. As he drew nearer them,
Speaker 1: he became more wary. He stepped quickly, but he chose
Speaker 1: each foothold with an unerring eye. On he moved light
Speaker 1: as a fairy, on till he was abreast the men,
Speaker 1: and held his breath and wondered whether they could possibly
Speaker 1: hear the beating of his heart. Slowly, surely he advanced, slowly, lightly, deftly,
Speaker 1: till at length the men were many paces behind. Then
Speaker 1: Claud took a long breath and broke into a run,
Speaker 1: where earnestness and energy and love and determination lent wings
Speaker 1: to the natural speed of his feet. On he dashed,
Speaker 1: perfect master of his breath, the rich color mounting into
Speaker 1: his cheeks, the breeze of the calm twilight sweeping his
Speaker 1: soft hair over his brow on. He dashed till the
Speaker 1: hedge row ceased and a rail fence stood before him.
Speaker 1: Not stopping even to put his hand on the fence,
Speaker 1: clod leaped high in the air and made on. Nor
Speaker 1: did he even so much as turn his head to
Speaker 1: see whether the thieves were in sight or not. Luckily,
Speaker 1: a bend in the road shut him off from their sight.
Speaker 1: Very shortly the church was gained and Clod, grasping the
Speaker 1: lightning rod, went up hand over hand to a level
Speaker 1: with the window. It was the work of one moment
Speaker 1: to throw back the shutter and open the window, the
Speaker 1: work of another to leap into the room, snatch the
Speaker 1: key from the sacristy, and hurry into the sanctuary. It
Speaker 1: was rather dark in the church, so dark that for
Speaker 1: a moment, Clod, coming out of the clearer light of
Speaker 1: the sacristy, could discern objects with difficulty. At the gospel side.
Speaker 1: Upon the altar rested the sanctuary lamp, its trembling flame
Speaker 1: shining through the red glass. In honor of the blessed sacrament,
Speaker 1: Clod made a genuflection, ascended the altar steps, and fitting
Speaker 1: the key into the lock, threw open the door of
Speaker 1: the tabernacle. As he genuflected for the second time, he
Speaker 1: could distinctly hear the beatings of his heart. In the
Speaker 1: tabernacle there was a veiled object. Clod removed the veil,
Speaker 1: raised the cover, and holding the tiborium with trembling hands,
Speaker 1: looked down into its cup. There lay twelve consecrated hosts.
Speaker 1: Imagine a man who, after years of preparation and study,
Speaker 1: has been ordained. Ascending the altar to say his first Mass,
Speaker 1: his limbs tremble beneath him when for the first time
Speaker 1: he pronounces the sacred words of consecration, and knows that
Speaker 1: with the pronouncing of these words, what had been bred
Speaker 1: before is now the body and blood, the soul and
Speaker 1: divinity of Christ. Very similar was the feeling of clod
Speaker 1: as he gazed upon the sacred particles. Here he stood
Speaker 1: face to face with Him, who, although ruler of Earth
Speaker 1: and Sky, had been born in a stable, with him,
Speaker 1: who had been despised, insulted, put to death. He had
Speaker 1: conquered death, but he could still be insulted. And it
Speaker 1: was Cloud's office to save him. And as Cloud fell
Speaker 1: upon his knees, still holding in his hands the tiboreum,
Speaker 1: he turned from Christ to himself. At once, in a long,
Speaker 1: endless procession, came his sins, his faults, his negligences, his
Speaker 1: bursts of anger. Oh how terrible they looked, sins against
Speaker 1: whom Claude asked himself this question, and looking into the tiboium,
Speaker 1: saw the answer. They were against him, who, through love
Speaker 1: for us, through the desire of being ever with us,
Speaker 1: to feed us with the bread of life had for
Speaker 1: nineteen centuries borne the insults and outrages of thousands and
Speaker 1: thousands of brutal, ungrateful men. And with this thought Claude
Speaker 1: made an act of contrition for the sins of his life.
Speaker 1: All these thoughts flashed through Claude's mind with incredible rapidity.
Speaker 1: These few moments crowded together thoughts that in ordinary circumstances
Speaker 1: should occupy ours again. A fit of trembling upon him.
Speaker 1: There were steps approaching. The awful moment was come, for
Speaker 1: Claude was determined that not one of the consecrated species
Speaker 1: should ever fall into the renegade's hands, they might take
Speaker 1: his life. That question he did not consider worth the
Speaker 1: dwelling upon, But think of it. He a small boy
Speaker 1: who had but the night before flown into a passion.
Speaker 1: He was now to hold God in his fingers and
Speaker 1: receive him into his bosom. Then, surging upon his soul
Speaker 1: came all his sins like waves of menace. His scrupulosity
Speaker 1: had reached the snapping point, And as he heard the
Speaker 1: footfalls of the thieves ascending the steps of the church,
Speaker 1: the scrupulosity snapped, bowing his head, while tears born of
Speaker 1: many and varied emotions started to his eyes. He murmured, reverently, Lord,
Speaker 1: I am not worthy, And with the words he took
Speaker 1: the hosts in his trembling fingers and placed them in
Speaker 1: his mouth, folding his hands in prayer, and turning upon
Speaker 1: the kneeling bench so as to face the door. He
Speaker 1: waited Clod had made his first communion. The key turned
Speaker 1: in the lock, and three men entered, the atheist Delaney
Speaker 1: taking the lead. What's that, cried the atheist, jumping back
Speaker 1: and falling against Jordan, No wonder, he started in terror.
Speaker 1: The church, to those who had just entered out of
Speaker 1: the waning twilight, was quite dark, save within the radius
Speaker 1: of a few feet of the sanctuary lamp. And there
Speaker 1: within its radius, Delaney's eyes fell upon a face there, beautiful,
Speaker 1: sweet composed, the calm eyes looking straight at him, blue,
Speaker 1: calm eyes and open, shining with a sweetness, a sorrow,
Speaker 1: and a light such as would become an angel in
Speaker 1: human form. Standing guard at a desecrated shrine, Jordan caught
Speaker 1: Delaney's hand. Monroe put his arms through Jordan's, and while
Speaker 1: Delaney would have taken to flight, the other two stood
Speaker 1: in stupid alarm. There was a silence, But Clod happy Clod.
Speaker 1: Those moments of silence were the sweetest of his life,
Speaker 1: for in those fleeting seconds, great waves of love flooded
Speaker 1: his soul, and great waves of light illumined his mind.
Speaker 1: He saw it now, He saw what he had failed
Speaker 1: to see in his adventure with Worden. He saw the
Speaker 1: horror and ugliness of sin. There it rose before him,
Speaker 1: stamped upon the souls and faces of the men who
Speaker 1: stood in the twilight at the door. Those three men
Speaker 1: represented sin. It was possible, he perceived, in that moment
Speaker 1: of insight, to be a sinner without being a thief,
Speaker 1: a profaner of the blessed sacrament, a murderer. But in
Speaker 1: the long run, sin was sin, and every sinner, no
Speaker 1: matter whether he were rough or gentle, high or low,
Speaker 1: rich or poor, every sinner in the world cast his
Speaker 1: lot in with these men. There might be a difference,
Speaker 1: but the difference was of degree, not of kind. Facing
Speaker 1: him there was sin, But ah, what a gulf between them.
Speaker 1: Next to sin, near to sin, by the length of
Speaker 1: a church, was love incarnate love. There was to be
Speaker 1: a choice between these two, Sin with its foulness, Christ
Speaker 1: with his love, no reasoning creature of God's could escape
Speaker 1: the choice, and now the choice was given to Cloud.
Speaker 1: In answer, his soul soared high in a blaze of love.
Speaker 1: The light, the true light, was within his bosom. He
Speaker 1: saw the light, he heard the voice, and, aided by
Speaker 1: the powerful graces that were finding full play of activity
Speaker 1: in his soul, he made an act of perfect love,
Speaker 1: and love drove out fear. Clode's scruples were gone forever,
Speaker 1: and so there was sin in the world. Clod had
Speaker 1: never before appreciated this sad fact, But now in the
Speaker 1: light that poured upon him, he saw the mystery of life,
Speaker 1: and upon his spirit settled a sense of the sacredness
Speaker 1: of his own being. It was given to him to use,
Speaker 1: for love consists not in words, but in deeds. All
Speaker 1: these things flashed through Claude's mind while the three men
Speaker 1: stood pausing at the door. It's a human being, whispered Jordan.
Speaker 1: I saw tears on its face. It can't be a ghost.
Speaker 1: I thought it was an angel, said Delaney. Hm, I
Speaker 1: thought you didn't believe in God. Who's that? Called Jordan
Speaker 1: in a loud voice. Cloud continued to pray in silence.
Speaker 1: Are you a boy? Cried Monroe. No answer, well, said Jordan.
Speaker 1: Suppose we move up together. The three stepped slowly up
Speaker 1: the middle aisle. As they advanced, Clod rose to his feet.
Speaker 1: Why it's nothing but a boy, cried Delaney. I see
Speaker 1: his close now. We must catch him before we do
Speaker 1: anything else. Boy, come here. God neither spoke nor moved.
Speaker 1: He was watching his chance to escape, to bring away
Speaker 1: his life, which belonged to God. With an oath, Delaney
Speaker 1: rushed at Cloud. Just as he was about to put
Speaker 1: his hands upon him, Clod, who had stepped upon a
Speaker 1: kneeling bench, leaped over the altar railing into the side
Speaker 1: aisle and sprang for the door. The three men were
Speaker 1: after him at once, and as he flew down the steps,
Speaker 1: a bullet whistled by his ear. Then Clod heard Frank's
Speaker 1: welcome voice. He answered at once, But it was not
Speaker 1: the same Clod whom Frank had known that made answer.
Speaker 1: For in the few minutes that had passed before the tabernacle,
Speaker 1: Clod had undergone a wondrous change, and the problem had
Speaker 1: been solved. End of Chapter twenty three.