Peter the Priest - Part 19
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Part 19

The poor fellow in the agony of death told all. When he spoke of the chamber of the dead, and of the cavern of treasure, Idalia was convinced that he spoke the truth. No one who had not been there and seen them could know of these places.

"Good," she said, "now take this. Go home to Tepla to your daughter, and say nothing of what you know."

But what the beautiful lady really gave Master Mathias was anything but an antidote; it was a still more active poison, so there should be no time for him to communicate his secret to a third.

When Master Mathias had dragged himself to Tepla to his daughter's house, his tongue hardly moved in his throat, and he could only stammer: "Father Peter--walled in--under-ground--with treasures--in Mitosin--still alive--I am undone." More he could not say; by the time the priest came, he was already dead.

Idalia was left alone with the secret she had extorted. Suddenly her old pa.s.sion blazed up again to its full height like a column of fire. Her beloved was still alive; he was only buried, walled in deep underground,--abandoned by G.o.d and man, left to the company of the corpses, with no sound save those of the silent night; robbed of his loved one, betrayed in despair, with n.o.body to expect but grim death.

What if somebody should go down to him in this frightful grave, and should look at him through that small opening; would not such a countenance seem like that of an angel looking down from Heaven? Would he not look upon her as a G.o.ddess who should bring him up from the depths of the grave into G.o.d's world again? Would it be possible for him not to yield to the force of that love which opens graves even, and will not leave him to G.o.d or the devil?

She did not hesitate long, but threw her black cloak around her shoulders, placed a dagger and a sword at her belt, and looked for a strong axe: "It will be convenient," she thought, "to break through the heavy walls." She lighted her lantern, and stole out of the castle.

Toward morning, a thick fog had settled over the place, so that n.o.body saw which way she went. In fact n.o.body ever knew which way she had gone.

About six o'clock that morning, the whole country was aroused by a frightful underground explosion convulsing the earth. Towers fell, castles rocked, the Jesuit monastery fell in, and Mitosin Chapel was reduced to a heap of stones.

Those who were awake at the time maintained that they saw a giant column rise up from the middle of the Waag and blaze on high. The clouds of smoke were visible for some time through the fog, and seemed like an army of darkness. The broken ice began to heave and roll violently, not only forward, but in all directions, overspreading the valley and sweeping away before it villages and forests.

After the flood had subsided and the Waag returned to its bed, evil traces were left behind in thick layers of round pebbles; for the Waag is not like those friendly rivers which when they overflow cover the earth with a fertile deposit.

In the excitement over the disturbance of the elements, people forgot the frightful family history that had just been enacted in the two castles. A few days later, relatives of the Likovay family found the body of Lord Grazian in the agent's quarters of the castle. The swollen flood had not forced its way there; but not one stone upon another was left of the little church. The devastating explosion had opened a way through this for the streaming flood of waters, whose irresistible current ground stone and wood to powder.

The same fate met the statue of Nepomeck at Madocsany. The Hussite pa.s.sage was filled with stones, and the flood took its path from there over the country.

It was not for a long, long time that the members of the Likovay family began to inquire what had become of the treasure that Lord Grazian had received from the Lady of Madocsany for his estate; but never a trace of it was found.

And the whole of this story, from beginning to end, is a true story. The dates are kept in the family archives: and on the lips of the people the name of Father Peter still lives. The place is often visited by earthquakes, and at such times they say, "Father Peter has turned over in his grave." And every time that Mitosin Castle and estate is transferred to a new purchaser, it is stipulated in the contract, that if the buried treasure is found, it shall be given back to its rightful owners. But the people say that the treasure will never be found, until Father Peter has been set free from his living grave; and this may be true.

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THE DAGGER AND THE CROSS

BY JOSEPH HATTON

Author of "By Order of the Czar."

"Most dramatic manner.... Deserves to rank well up in current fiction."--_Minneapolis Tribune_.

"Villainy of the deepest die, heroism of the highest sort, beauty wronged and long suffering, virtue finally rewarded, thrills without number."--_St. Louis Globe-Democrat_.

"Clean wholesome story, which should take prominent place in current fiction."--_Chicago Record_.

"Finely conceived and finely written."--_Toledo Blade_.

"This is his masterpiece."--_Buffalo Express_.

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NEW YORK R. F. FENNO & COMPANY

THE CEDAR STAR

BY MARY E. MANN

Author of "Susannah."

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"Heartily alive and extremely well written."--_Boston Gazette_.

"Resembles some of Stockton's works."--_Pittsburg Press_.

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"Possessing among other merits that of original detail."--_Cincinnati Times-Star_.

"The author has a very genius for clever character drawing."--_Detroit Journal_.

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"Intense human interest."--_Bulletin_.

"The author has a genius for clever character drawing."--_Baltimore American_.

"An unusually pleasing novel and well written."--_Philadelphia Press_.

"A charming book, beginning with good chapters of child-life, and containing memorable figures, notably Billy the Curate and Betty herself. Betty is, indeed, quite a discovery."--_London Academy_.