"Doth not Revelation say Satan is to be bound and thrust into the bottomless pit?" gasped Brother Beissel.
"Heard ye not the clanking of the chains?" whispered Brother Onesimus.
"What was't, Vaterchen?" whispered Sonnlein, who was still shivering in my embrace.
"Some wild beast that hath strayed nigh;" for in my hermit days I had more than once heard the panther's terrifying howl, in the darkness of the night.
"Was't an Indian, Vaterchen?"
"Nay, my son," replied Brother Enoch for me, "the Indians are at peace with us. 'Twas no human voice."
"Was't some wild beast, thinkest thou?" asked Brother Gabriel.
"Nay, it sounded not so to me; I know not what it was. It is a great mystery to me," replied Brother Enoch slowly, which was a great deal for our clear-headed brother to admit.
"'Twas the cry of the Evil One, naught else," declared Brother Jephune.
"And in this I agree with thee," solemnly spake our leader; "great and gracious is our Lord to show us these marvelous signs of his coming. Let us go to our rest in peace and gladness, and await the dawn of his kingdom in the earth."