beside us.
I expressed surprise at finding him there, but he only smiled, saying--
"You are disappointed at discovering nothing else--eh?"
"We expected to reveal the secret of the Cardinal Sannini," was my frankresponse, well knowing that he was in possession of the truth, andsuspecting that, with the one-eyed Englishman, he had been partner withBlair.
The monk's strongly-marked, sunburnt features assumed a puzzledexpression, for he saw that we had gained some knowledge, yet hehesitated to make inquiry lest he should betray himself. Capuchins,like Jesuits, are wonderful diplomatists. Doubtless, the monk'spersonal fascination was somewhat due to his splendid presence. A manof fine physique, he had a handsome, open face, with clean-cut, powerfulfeatures, softened by eyes in which seemed the light of perpetual youth,with a candid, unassuming expression, brightened by a twinkling humourabout the lips.
"You have recovered the record, then," he remarked at last, lookingstraight into my face.
"Yes, and having read it," I answered, "I am here to investigate andclaim the secret bequeathed to me."
He drew a long breath, glanced for an instant at both of us, and hisshaggy black brows contracted. It was hot where we sat, for thebrilliant Italian sun beat straight down upon us, therefore, withoutreplying to me, he rose and invited us into his cool little cell, asquare bare room with boarded floor, the furniture consisting of a low,old-fashioned wooden bedstead, with a piece of old brown blanket forcoverlet, a Renaissance _prie-dieu_ in old carved oak, black with age, achair, a hanging lamp, and upon the wall a great crucifix.
"Well, and the Signor Dawson?" he asked at last, when Reggie had seatedhimself on the edge of the bed, and I had taken the chair. "What doeshe say?"
"I have no necessity to ask his opinion," I responded quickly. "By lawthe Cardinal's secret is mine, and no one can dispute it."
"Except its present holder," was his quiet remark.
"Its present holder has no right to it. Burton Blair has made gift ofit to me, and it is therefore mine," I declared.
"I do not dispute that," answered the dark-faced monk. "But as guardianof the Cardinal's secret, I have a right to know the manner in which therecord upon the cards came into your hands, and how you gained the keyto the cipher."
I related to him exactly what he wished to ascertain, whereupon heanswered--
"You have certainly succeeded where I anticipated that you would fail,and your presence here to-day surprises me. Apparently you haveovercome every obstacle, and are now here to claim from me what isundoubtedly yours by right." He seemed fair-minded, yet I confess I wasloth to trust men of his stamp very far, and was therefore stillsuspicious.
"Before we go further, however," he said, standing with his hands in thewide sleeves of his habit, "I would ask whether it is your intention tocontinue the methods of the Signor Blair, who allotted one-eighth partof the money derived from the secret to our Order of Capuchins?"
"Certainly," I answered, rather surprised. "My desire is to regard inevery particular my dead friend's obligations."
"Then that is a promise," he said with some eagerness. "You make thatsolemnly--you take an oath? Raise your hand!" And he pointed to thegreat crucifix upon the white-washed wall.
I raised my hand and exclaimed--
"I swear to act as Burton Blair has acted."
"Very well," answered the monk, apparently satisfied that I was a man ofhonour. "Then I suppose the secret, strange as it will strike you, mustnow be revealed to you. Think, Signore, at this moment you are acomparatively poor man, yet in half an hour you will be rich beyond yourwildest dreams--worth millions, just as Burton Blair became."
I listened to him, scarcely believing my ears. Yet what was thepossession of riches to me, now that I had lost my love?
From a little cupboard he took a small, rusty old hurricane lamp, andcarefully lit it, while we both watched with breathless interest. Thenhe closed the door and securely locked and barred it, afterwards placingthe shutters to the iron-barred window, so that we were quickly indarkness. Was some supernatural illusion about to be shown us? Westood open-mouthed in expectation.
A moment later he dragged his low ponderous bedstead away from thecorner, where we saw that in the floor was a cunningly-concealedtrap-door, which, on being lifted, disclosed a deep, dark, well-likehole beneath.
"Be careful," he cautioned us, "the steps are rather difficult inplaces," and holding the lantern he soon disappeared, leaving us tofollow him down a roughly-hewn spiral flight of foot-holes in the stone,deeper and deeper into the solid rock, damp and slimy in places wherethe water percolated through and fell in loudly-sounding drops.
"Bend low!" ordered our guide, and we saw the faint glimmer of this lamplighting our path along a narrow, tortuous burrow which ran away atright angles and sloped down still further into the heart of the cliff.In places we went through a veritable quagmire of mud and slime, whilethe close atmosphere smelt foul and earthy.
Suddenly we emerged into a great opening, the dimensions of which wecould not ascertain with that one single glimmering light.
"These caverns run for miles," explained the monk. "The galleries runin all directions right under the city of Lucca and over towards theArno. They have never been explored. Listen!"
In the weird darkness we heard the distant roaring of tumbling watersfar away.
"That is the subterranean river, the stream that divides the secret fromall men save yourself," he said. Then he went forward again, keepingalong one side of the gigantic cavern through which we were passing, andwe followed, approaching nearer those thundering waters, until at lasthe told us to halt, and appeared to be examining the rough walls uponwhich shone great glittering stalactites.
Presently he found a large white mark similar to the letter E on therock upon the cliff-side, and placed his lantern on the floor.
"Don't move another step forward," he said. Then he produced from ahole, where it appeared to be well hidden, a long, roughly-madefootbridge, consisting of a single plank, with a light handrail on eachside. This he pushed before him while I held the lantern, until he cameto the edge of a deep chasm and then bridged it across so that we couldpass over.
When in the centre, he held aloft the lantern, and as we peered down ahundred feet we shuddered to see, deep down in the chasm, the rushingflood of black water roaring away into the bowels of the earth, aterrible trap to those who ventured to explore that weird, dank place.
Having passed safely over we again skirted a wall of rock to the right,traversed a long, narrow tunnel and at last emerged into another openspace, of the dimensions of which we could gather no idea.
Here the monk set down his lantern in a niche wherein stood severalcandles stuck upon rude boards and secured between three nails. Whenthey were lit and our eyes grew accustomed to the light, we saw that thechamber was not a large one, but that it was long, narrow and somewhatdrier than the rest.
"See!" exclaimed the Capuchin, with a wave of his hand. "It is allthere, Signor Greenwood, and all yours."
Then I realised to my utter amazement that around the walls of theplace, piled high, one on the other, were sacks of untanned hide filledto bursting. One pile close to my hand I touched, and found that whatwas within them was hard, angular and unyielding. There were manysmall, old-fashioned chests which, from their strong appearance, bandedwith rusted iron and studded with nails, must, I knew, contain themysterious riches that raised Burton Blair from homeless wayfarer tomillionaire.
"Why, surely this is an actual hoard of treasure!" I cried.
"Yes," answered Fra Antonio in his deep, bass voice. "The hiddentreasure of the Vatican. See," he added, "it is all here except thatportion taken out by the Signor Blair," and opening one of the massivechests, he held his lantern above and displayed such a miscellaneouscollection of golden chalices, monstrances, patens, jewel-embroideredvestments and magnificent gems, such as had never before dazzled myeyes.
Both Reggie and I
stood utterly dumbfounded. At first I seemed to beliving in some fairy world of legend and romance, but when a momentlater the rugged, bearded face of the Capuchin recalled to me all thepast, I stood open-mouthed in wonder.
The secret of Burton Blair was disclosed--and the secret was now mine!
"Ah!" exclaimed the monk, laughing, "no doubt this revelation is, toyou, an amazing one. Did I not, however, promise you that in half anhour you would become many times over a millionaire?"
"Yes; but tell me the history of all this great wealth," I urged, for hehad cut open one or two of the leathern bags, and I saw that each ofthem was filled with gold and gems mostly set in crucifixes andornaments of an ecclesiastical character.
CHAPTER TWENTY NINE.
IN WHICH A STRANGE TALE IS TOLD.
"I suppose it is only just that you should now know the truth, althougha most strenuous effort has been made to keep it from you," the monkremarked, as though to himself. "Well, it is this. You, as aProtestant, probably know that the treasures in the Vatican in Rome arethe greatest in the world, and also that each Pope, on his jubilee orother notable anniversary, receives a vast number of presents, while thechurch of St. Peter's itself is constantly in receipt of quantities ofornaments and jewels as votive offerings. These are preserved in thetreasury of the Vatican, and constitute a collection of wealthunequalled by all the millions of modern millionaires. Well, in theearly part of 1870, Pope Pius IX received, through the marvellousdiplomatic channels our Holy Church possesses, secret information thatit was the intention of the Italian troops to bombard and enter Rome,and sack the Palace of the Vatican. His Holiness confided his fears tohis favourite, the great, Cardinal Sannini, the treasurer-general, who,having lived in this district when a peasant lad, was aware of theexistence of this safe hiding-place. He, therefore, succeeded, duringthe months of June, July and August 1870, in secretly removing a vastquantity of the Vatican treasure from Rome and storing it in this placein order to save it from the enemy's hands. True to the fears of HisHoliness, on September 20 the Italian troops, after a five days'bombardment, entered Rome, but, fortunately, no serious attack was madeupon the Vatican, while the treasure removed has remained here eversince. Cardinal Sannini was, it appears, a traitor to the Church, foralthough he induced Pio Nono to allow the treasure to be removed insecret, he never told him the exact spot where it was concealed, andcuriously enough the two members of the Swiss Guard who had assisted theCardinal, and alone knew the secret, both disappeared--in allprobability, I believe, precipitated into that subterranean river wehave just crossed. Originally, the small entrance to these gallerieswas only hidden by brambles, but, directly after the treasure had beensafely secreted, His Eminence the Cardinal suddenly discovered that thespot on the cliff-side was well adapted for a hermitage, and he builtthe present hut over the small opening in the rock in order to concealit, having first closed the hole with his own hands so that thestone-masons should not discover the entrance. For many months, duringthe struggle between, the Italian Government and the Holy See, he doffedthe purple and lived in the cell, a hermit, but in reality guarding theenormous treasure he had so cleverly secured. But, as you know, he wascaptured by the terrible Poldo Pensi, dreaded down in Calabria, and wascompelled, in order to save his life and reputation, to betray theexistence of his hoard. Upon this, Pensi came here in secret, saw thetreasure, but being extremely superstitious, as are all his class, hedare not touch one single object. A man who had once served in his bandand who had entered our monastery, a certain Fra Orazio, he sought out,and to him gave the hermitage, without, however, telling him of thesecret tunnel and caves beneath. Both Sannini and the Pope died, butFra Orazio, in ignorance of the fact that he resided over a veritablemine of wealth, continued here sixteen years, until he died, and Isucceeded him in the occupancy of the cell, spending nearly six monthseach year here in meditation and prayer.
"In the meantime, however, the secret of His Eminence inscribed in thesecret cipher used by the Vatican in the seventeenth century, seems tohave passed through Poldo Pensi into the hands of Burton Blair, hisshipmate and intimate friend. The first I knew of it was about fiveyears ago, when one day my peace was disturbed by a visit from twoEnglishmen, Blair and Dawson. They told me a story of the secret beinggiven to them, but at first I would not believe that there was any truthin the hidden hoard. We, however, investigated, and after a very long,difficult and perilous search we succeeded in revealing the truth."
"Then Dawson shared in the secret, as well as in the profits?" Iremarked, astounded at the amazing truth.
"Yes, the three of us alone knew the secret, and it was then mutuallyarranged that it having been given by the repentant brigand to Blair, hewas entitled to the greater share, while Dawson, to whom Pensi hadapparently spoken before his death concerning the treasure, and who hadbeen in possession of certain facts, should be allotted one quarter ofthe annual out-take, and to myself, appointed guardian of thetreasure-house, one eighth to be paid, not to myself direct, as thatwould arouse suspicion, but by Blair's bankers in London to theVicar-General of the Order of the Capuchins at Rome. Through five yearsthis arrangement has been carried out. Once every six months we enteredthis chamber in company and selected a certain amount of gems and otherarticles of value which were sent by certain channels--the gems toAmsterdam for sale and the other articles to the great auction-rooms ofParis, Brussels and London, and others into the hands of renowneddealers in antiques. As you may see for yourself, this collection ofgems is almost inexhaustible. Three rubies alone fetched sixty-fivethousand pounds in Paris last year, while some of the emeralds haverealised enormous sums, yet so ingeniously did the Signori Dawson andBlair arrange the channels by which they were placed upon the marketthat none ever guessed the truth."
"But all this is, strictly speaking, the property of the Church ofRome," remarked Reggie.
"No," answered the big monk in his broken English; "according toCardinal Sannini, His Holiness, after the peace with Italy, made a freegift to him of the whole of it as a mark of regard, and knowing too thatwith Rome in the occupation of the Italian troops it would be difficultto get the great collection of jewels back again into the treasurywithout exciting suspicion."
"Then all this is mine!" I exclaimed, even then unable to fully realisethe truth.
"All," answered the monk, "except the share to me, or rather to myOrder, for distribution to the poor, as payment for its guardianship,and that to the Signor Dawson--with, I suppose," and he turned towardsReggie, "some acknowledgment to your friend. I warned you against himonce," he added, "but it was owing to what Dawson told me--lies."
"I have already pledged myself to continue to act towards your Order asBurton Blair has done," I replied. "As to Dawson that is anothermatter, but certainly my friend Seton here will not be forgotten, noryou personally, as the faithful holder of the secret."
"Any reward of mine goes to my Order," was the manly fellow's quietreply. "We are forbidden to possess money, our small personal wantsbeing supplied by the father superior, and of this world's riches wedesire none save that necessary to relieve the poor and afflicted."
"You shall have some for that purpose, never fear," I laughed.
Then, as the air exhausted by the lights seemed to grow more foul, wedecided to return to the cell so cunningly constructed at the mouth ofthe narrow outer gallery.
We had reached the brink of that terrible abyss where the black floodroared deep below, and I had passed over the narrow hand-bridge andgained the opposite side safely, when, without warning, a pair of stronghands seized me in the darkness, and almost ere I could utter a cry Iwas forced backwards to the edge of the awful chasm.
The hands held me in an iron grip by the throat and arm, and so suddenlyhad I been seized that for the first instant I believed it to be a jokeon Reggie's part--for he was fond of horseplay when in jubilant spirits.
"My God!" I however heard him cry a second later, as I suppose theflickering lamplight fell upon m
y assailant's countenance, "why, it'sDawson!"
Knowledge of the terrible truth that I had been seized by my worstenemy, who had followed us in, well knowing the place, aroused within mea superhuman strength, and I grappled with the fellow in a fierce deathstruggle. Ere my two companions could reach and rescue me we wereswaying to and fro in the darkness on the very edge of the abyss intowhich it was his intention to hurl me to the same death that the twoSwiss Guards had probably been consigned by the wily cardinal.
I realised his murderous intention none too quickly, for with a fierceoath he panted--
"You sha'n't escape me now! That blow in the fog didn't have thedesired effect, but once down there you'll never intrude again upon myaffairs. Down you go!"
I felt my strength fail me as he forced me back still further, locked inhis deadly embrace. In the darkness one of my companions gripped me andsaved me, but at that instant I had recourse to an old Charterhousetrick, and twisting suddenly, so that my opponent stood in my place, Itripped him backwards, at the same moment slipping from his grasp.
It was the work of a second. In the uncertain glimmer from the lamp Isaw him stumble, clutch wildly at the air, and with an awful cry of rageand despair he fell backwards, down into the Stygian blackness where therushing waters swept him down to subterranean regions, unknown andunexplored.
My escape from death was assuredly the narrowest man had ever had, and Istood panting, breathless, bewildered, until Reggie took me by the armand led me forward in silence more
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