“Father,” Margeret cried wildly, “they are coming here!”
“It may be,” said Master Simon at last, “that some child is lost or some one is hurt. We had better go out to make sure that it is no such mischance as that.”
The wind and rain blew hard in their faces as they went down the garden path so that Margeret had to cling to her father’s arm to keep from losing him in the dark. The horn lantern in his hand winked and flickered but managed somehow to remain feebly alight as they struggled on against the storm. They had not gone far beyond the boundaries of their own land before they came upon a little group of searchers led by Goodman Allen. Their lights had all blown out and they were standing close together, their backs to the wind, trying, in breathless haste, to kindle a new flame.
“Here is Master Simon Radpath with his lantern still burning,” exclaimed one in a tone of relief. “Now we can lose no time but lay hands upon that evil man at once. I am certain he is somewhere near.”
“I had hoped that we would meet you sooner, Neighbour,” said Goodman Allen. “It is not your wont to sit safe by the fire when Hopewell needs your help.”
“That depends somewhat upon your trouble,” answered Master Simon gravely. “Some matters I find are better managed without my aid. What is it now? Are some fleeing Quaker women threatening the safety of your souls again? Or is it a Baptist this time, one man against the whole of the village?”
“It is far worse than that,” burst out the one who had spoken first, “worse than anything you can believe!”
“I thought there was naught worse than a Quaker,” began Master Simon bitterly, but Allen interrupted him.
“The man whom we seek is a thousand times worse,” he cried. “He is a Catholic priest, a Jesuit, and he has dared to live in the forest near us for years. He wandered southward from the Canadian settlements and came to dwell, miles from here it is true, but within the legal bounds of the Colony of Hopewell. He established a mission among the Indians, even built a woodland chapel and said his forbidden masses here, actually here in New England, upon Puritan soil! And the Indians, close-mouthed rascals, never betrayed him.”
“And how have you found him out now?” inquired Master Simon. He seemed not so astonished as he should have been upon hearing this terrible tale. Perhaps his red-skinned friends had told more to him than to the other white men.