"If you do not follow us with a good will——"
"I see that you mean to carry out your intentions, and that preaching is useless; therefore, I am ready to follow you."
Saying this, he put his cap on his head, and opened the door.
"And the key?" asked Milenko.
"What key?"
"The key of the church."
"Why, I happen to have it in my pocket."
The church being opened, what was their surprise to see it draped in black; but Danilo Kvekvic explained that there had been a funeral service on that very day, and so the church had remained in its mourning weeds.
Thereupon he shut and locked the doors. Some tapers were lighted on the altar, and the priest, putting on his robes, began to read the service.
The few candles shed but a glimmering light in the sacred edifice, and the small congregation, kneeling on the benches by the altar, were wrapt in a gloomy darkness which added a horror to the mystery of the ceremony.