“He’s ‘a roaring lion, that goeth about, seeking whom he may devour’; but he can devour no man without his own participation.”
“Why, then, you make us all out to be witches, for it’s they who enter into league with Satan.”
“Do you know, Gerard,” said Haimet suddenly, “some folks in the town are saying that you belong to those over-sea heretics whose children are born with black throats and four rows of teeth, and are all over hair?”
“I don’t see that Rudolph resembles that description,” was the calm reply of Gerhardt. “Do you?”
“Oh, of course we know better. But there are some folks that say so, and are ready to swear it too. It would be quite as well if you stayed quiet at home for a while, and didn’t go out preaching in the villages so much. If the Bishop comes to hear of some things you’ve said—”
Isel and her daughters looked up in surprise. They had never imagined that their friend’s frequent journeys were missionary tours. Haimet, who mixed far more with the outer world, was a good deal wiser on many points.
“What have I said?” quietly replied Gerhardt, stopping his carving—which he still pursued in an evening—to sweep up and throw into the corner the chips which he had made.
“Well, I was told only last week, that you had said when you spoke at Abingdon, that ‘Antichrist means all that is in contrast to Christ,’ and that there was no such thing as a consecrated priest in the world.”
“The first I did say: can you disprove it? But the second I did not say. God forbid that I ever should!”
“Oh, well, I am glad to hear it: but I can tell you, Halenath the Sacristan said he heard you.”