Mosco, in a magnificent bass voice and with majestic delivery, read through five verses. Then, making a momentary pause, he resumed, changing his tone to one of peculiar emphasis,—
"'There was a man sent from God whose name was John—'"
"And there he is!" cried a voice that rang like a clarion all over the cathedral, the voice of Feodor Orloff; "there he is! John, Duke of Bora. People of Czernova, listen to the voice of God."
Scarcely had the words been spoken when the Duke of Bora was seen emerging from the northern transept.
CHAPTER XVIII
THE GREAT WHITE CZAR
The sudden utterance of Count Orloff, combined with the simultaneous appearance of the Duke of Bora, caused an electric thrill to pervade the cathedral.
The holy Gospels, appealed to by a method approved by both factions alike, seemed to have given a mandate in favor of the duke, to the confusion of the adherents of the princess. The occupants of the northern aisle, as well as of the northern transept, gave instant proof of the side on which their sympathies lay. They rose to their feet as one man, and ignoring the sacred character of the place, gave vent to tumultuous cries.
"The holy oracles are on our side!"
"They bid us elect a man, and not a woman!"