I saw. And yet I could not believe.
He came quickly back, and picked up the two halves. "The oracle of Delphi
was not more impudently worked," he said. "Observe this sponge, these
plates of metal that close down upon it and exert the pressure necessary to
send the liquid with which it is laden oozing forth." As he spoke he tore
out the fiendish mechanism. "And see now how ingeniously it was made to
work--by pressure upon this arrow in the flank."
There was a burst of laughter from the door. I looked up, startled, to
find Galeotto standing at my elbow. So engrossed had I been that I had
never heard his soft approach over the turf.
"Body of Bacchus!" said he. "Here is Gervasio become an image breaker to
some purpose. What now of your miraculous saint, Agostino?"
My answer was first a groan over my shattered illusion, and then a deep-
throated curse at the folly that had made a mock of me.
The friar set a hand upon my shoulder. "You see, Agostino, that your
excursions into holy things do not promise well. Away with you, boy! Off
with this hypocrite robe, and get you out into the world to do useful work
for God and man. Had your heart truly called you to the priesthood, I had
been the first to have guided your steps thither. But your mind upon such
matters has been warped, and your views are all false; you confound
mysticism with true religion, and mouldering in a hermitage with the
service of God.
Pages:
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310