When it was Dark

by Guy Thorne

  Walke heard his ringing words with manifest uneasiness. He was unequal to the situation. He represented the earthly pomp and show of Christianity, wore the ceremonial vestments. He feared the concrete power, the vehement opposition of the mouthpiece of secularism. He saw the crisis, but from one side only. The deep spiritual love was not there.

  "You are exultant, Mr. Schuabe," he said coldly, "but you will hardly be so for long."

  "You do not appreciate the situation, sir," Schuabe answered. "I can see further than you. I repeat that the discovery we hear of today makes a thorough, intellectual sanity possible for every living man."

  "Yes, Mr. Schuabe," said Mrs. Armstrong, "you are right, incalculably right. It is to human intellect and that alone -- the great Intellect of The Nazarene among others -- that we must look from henceforth. As long as the world was content to believe that Jesus actually rose from the dead, for so long has error hindered development."

  While these imposing figures had been speaking, Father Wilson, the domestic chaplain at Fencastle, remained silent but attentive.

  He was a lean, dark man, monk-like in appearance, somewhat glum on the surface. It was Sir Michael's wish, not the chaplain's, that he should sit with the guests as one of them, and experience some of the great ones of the world.

  The voices of strong opinion died away. Everyone was a little exhausted, great matters had been dealt with. There came a little clink and clatter as they sought food.

  Suddenly Wilson looked up and began to speak. His voice was somewhat harsh , his manner was uncompromising. As he spoke, everyone realised with a sense of unpleasant shock that he cared little or nothing for the society he was in.

  "It is very interesting, sir," he said, turning to Schuabe, "to hear all you have been saying. I have seen the paper and read of this so-called discovery too. Of course, such a thing harmonises exactly with the opinions of those who want to believe it. But go and tell a devoted Christian that he has been fed with sacraments which are no sacraments, and all he has done has been at best the honest mistake of a deceived man, and he will laugh in your face -- as I do!

  "There are memories, far back in his life, when his whole being was quickened and braced, which refuse to be explained as the hallucinations of a well-meaning but deceived man. There are memories when Christ drew near to his soul and helped him. Struggles with temptation are remembered when God's grace saved him. He also says, as the blind man said about Jesus when questioned by the authorities, 'Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see.'

  "It is easy to part with one in whom we have never really believed. We can easily surrender what we have never held. But you do not have a notion of the real Christian's convictions, Mr. Schuabe. Your estimate of the future is based on utter ignorance of the true Christian's heart. You are incapable of understanding the heart to which experience has made it clear that Jesus was indeed the very Christ.

  "There are many people who are called Christians with whom your sayings and writings, and those of this lady here, have great power. It is because they have never found Christ. Unreal words, shallow emotions, unbalanced sentiment, leave such as these without armour in a time of tumult and conflicting cries. But if we know Him, if we can look back over a life richer and fuller because we have known Him; if we know, every man, the plague of his own heart, then your explorers may discover anything and we will not believe. It is easy to prophesy as you have been doing all this meal-time the end of the Christian faith. It is popular once more to shout the malignant 'Crucify' -- but events will show you how utterly wrong you are in your estimate of the Christian character."

  They all stared at the chaplain. His sudden vigorous outburst, the contempt in his voice, was almost stupefying at first.

  Up to now they had regarded the silent, rather forbidding priest in his cassock and robe, in the light of an upper servant. Nor was it so much his interference they resented as his manner of interfering. The supreme confidence of the man galled them; it was patronising in its strength.

  Mrs. Armstrong heard the outburst with a slight frown of displeasure, which as the priest continued changed into a smile of kindly tolerance, the attitude of a housemaid who spares a spider. She remembered that, after all, her duty lay in being kind to those of less power than herself.

  The speech touched Schuabe more closely. He seemed to hear a familiar echo of Basil Gortre, a voice he hated and feared. There was something chilling in these men who drew a confidence and certainty from the Unseen. He felt, as he had felt before, the hated barrier which he could in no wise pass; this calm fanaticism which would not even listen to him, which was beyond his influence.

  The bitter hate which welled up in his heart, the terrible scorn which he had to repress, gave him almost a sense of physical nausea. His pale face became pallid, but he showed no other sign of the tempest within. He smiled slightly. That was all.

  As for Canon Walke, his feelings were varied. He was conscious of the lack of life, fire, and conviction in what he himself had said. His own windy commonplaces shrank to nothingness and failure before the witnessing of the undistinguished priest. Before the two hostile intellects, the man and the woman, he had left the burden of the fight to this nobody. He was quick and jealous to mark the strength of Wilson's words, and his own failure had put him in an entirely false position. And yet a shrewd blow had been struck at Schuabe and Mrs. Armstrong. There was consolation in the fact.

  Father Wilson, when he had finished what he had to say, rose from his seat without more ado. "I will say a grace," he said. He made the sign of the Cross, muttered a short Latin thanksgiving, and strode from the room.

  "A fanatic," said Mrs. Armstrong.

  Neither Walke nor Schuabe replied.

  It was getting late in the morning. The sun had risen higher and flooded the level wastes of snow outside the large windows. The little party finished their meal in silence.

  In the chapel, Wilson knelt on the chancel step, praying that help and light might come to men, and the imminent darkness pass away.

  Chapter 17

  The vast network of cables and telegraph wires that encircled the world, those tentacles which may be called the nerves of the world's brain, throbbed unceasingly after the tremendous announcement for which Ommaney had undertaken the responsibility.

  A battalion of special correspondents from every European and American paper of importance followed hot on Harold Spence's trail.

  Nevertheless, for the first two or three days, the world at large hardly realised the importance of what was happening. Nothing was certain. The whole statement depended on two men. To the mass of people these two names, Hands, Schmöulder, conveyed no meaning whatever. Nine tenths of the population of England knew nothing of the work of archaeologists in Palestine, and had never even heard of the Exploring Society.

  Had British government bonds fallen a point or two the effect would have been far greater, and the fact would have made more stir.

  The great dailies of equal standing with The Wire were making every preparation for a supply of news and a consensus of opinion. But all this activity went on behind the scenes. The article in The Wire was quoted from, but opinions on it were printed with the greatest caution and reserve.

  The mass of the clergy, at any rate in public, chose to ignore, or did genuinely dismiss as impossible, the whole question. A few words of earnest exhortation and indignant denial were all they permitted themselves.

  But beneath the surface, and among the real influencers of public opinion, great anxiety was felt.

  The Patriarch of the Greek Church called a council of Bishops, and Dr. Procopides, an expert of antiquities from Athens, was sent immediately to Palestine.

  The following paragraph, in substance, appeared in the leader page of all the English papers:

  We are in a position to state, that in order to allay the feeling of uneasiness produced among the churches by a recent article in The Daily Wire making ex
traordinary statements as to a discovery in Jerusalem, a conference was held yesterday at Lambeth. Their Graces the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, the Bishops of Manchester, Gloucester, Durham, Lincoln, and London were present. Other well-known Churchmen consisted of Sir Michael Manichoe, Lord Robert Verulam, Canons Baragwaneth and Walke, the Dean of Christchurch and the Master of Trinity Hall. The Prime Minister was not present, but was represented by Mr. Alured King. Mr. Ommaney, the editor of The Daily Wire, was included in the conference. Although, from the names mentioned, it will be seen that the conference is considered to be of great importance, nothing has been allowed to become known as to the result of its deliberations.

  The paragraph began to attract great attention throughout the United Kingdom during the early part of the day.

  The Westminster Gazette in its third edition then published a further statement. The public learned:

  Professor Clermont-Ganneau, the Professor of Biblical Antiquities at the French University of La Sorbonne, arrived in London yesterday night. He took a carriage straight to the house of Sir Robert Llwellyn, the famous archaologist. Early this morning both gentlemen drove to Downing Street, where they remained closeted with the Prime Minister for an hour. While there, they were joined by Dr. Grier, the learned Bishop of Leeds, and Dr. Carr, the Warden of Wyckham College, Oxford. The four gentlemen were later driven to Charing Cross Station in a brougham. On the platform from which the Paris train starts they were met by Major-General Adams, the Vice-President of the Palestine Exploring Society, and Sir Michael Manichoe. The distinguished party entered a reserved saloon and left, en route for Paris, at midday. We are able to state on undeniable authority that the party, which represents all that is most authoritative in historical research and archaeological knowledge, are a committee from a recent conference at Lambeth, and are proceeding to Jerusalem to investigate the recent discovery in the Holy City.

  All that evening countless families discussed the information with curious unrest and foreboding. In the towns, the churches were exceptionally full at evensong. One fact was more discussed than any other, more particularly in London. Could it be true?

  Although the six men who had left England so suddenly, almost furtively, were obviously on a mission of the highest importance, no reputable paper published more than the bare fact of their departure. Comment on it, more detailed explanation of it, was sought by readers in the columns of all the journals in vain.

  The next morning was big with shadow and gloom. A shudder passed over the country. Reports appeared in all the papers which struck a chill of fear to the very heart of all who read them, Christian and indifferent alike.

  It was as though a great and ominous bell had begun to toll over the world.

  The faces of people in the streets were universally pale.

  It was remarked that the noises of London, the traffic, the movement of crowds engaged on their daily business, lost half their noise.

  The shops were full of Christmas gifts, but no one seemed to enter them.

  In addition to the telegraphic despatches, a single leading article appeared in The Daily Wire, which burnt itself, as the most extreme cold burns, into the brains of Englishmen.

  TERRIBLE RIOTS IN JERUSALEM

  The French Consul-General and Staff, who were paying a ceremonial visit to the Latin Patriarch, have been attacked by fanatical Muslims, and only escaped from the fury of the crowd with great difficulty, aided by the Turkish Guards. A vast concourse of Armenian Christians, Russian pilgrims, and Greeks afterwards gathered round the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The strange discovery said to have been made by the English excavator, Mr. Hands, and the German Doctor Schmöulder, has aroused the mob to furious protest against it. For nearly an hour fervent cries of 'Hadda Kuber Saidna,' 'This is the tomb of our Lord,' filled all the air. The Muslims and lower-class Jews made a wild attack on the protesting Christians in the courtyard of the church. Many hundreds are reported dead and dying.

  REUTER

  LATER -- Strong drafts of Turkish troops have marched into Jerusalem. By special order from the Sultan to the Governor of the city, the 'New Tomb,' discovered by Mr. Hands and Doctor Schmöulder, is guarded by a triple cordon of troops. The two gentlemen are guests of the Governor. The concentration of troops round the 'New Tomb' has left various portions of the city unguarded. Muslim fanatics, armed with swords, are calling for a general massacre of Christians. The city is in a state of utter anarchy. By the Jaffa gate and round the Mosque of Omar the fanatics are preaching massacre."

  SIR ROBERT LLWELLYN'S PARTY TO BE CONVEYED IN A WARSHIP

  MALTA -- Orders have been received here from the Admiralty that the gunboat Velox is to proceed at once to Alexandria, there to await the coming of Sir Robert Llwellyn and the other members of the English Commission by the Indian mail steamer from Brindisi. The Velox will then leave at once for Jaffa with the six gentlemen. At Jaffa an escort of mounted Turkish troops will accompany the party on the day's ride to Jerusalem.

  BERLIN -- The German Emperor has convened the principal clergy of the empire to meet him in conference at Potsdam. The conference will sit with closed doors.

  ROME -- A decree, or short letter, has just been issued from the Vatican to all the Patriarchs, Primates, Archbishops, Bishops and other local ordinaries having peace and communion with the Holy See. The decree deals with the alleged discoveries in Jerusalem. In it Catholics are forbidden to read newspaper accounts of the proceedings in Palestine, nor may they discuss them with their friends. The decree has had the effect of drawing great attention to the affairs in the Middle East, and has excited much adverse comment among the secularist party, and in the Voce della Populo.

  Quite suddenly, as if a curtain were withdrawn, the world began to realise the fact that something almost beyond imagination was taking place in the far-off city.

  During the afternoon preceding the publication of the above article, the three principal proprietors had met at the offices of The Wire and had held a long conference with Mr. Ommaney, the editor.

  Constantine Schuabe was among the group. His words had more weight than any others. The largest holding in the paper was his. The tentacles of this man were far-reaching and strong.

  "For my part, gentlemen," Ommaney said, "I am entirely with Mr. Schuabe. I agree with him that we should at once take the boldest possible attitude. Sir Robert Llwellyn's opinion before he left was conclusive. We will therefore publish a leader tomorrow taking up our standpoint. We will make it quite plain and simple. Strong and simple, but with no subtleties to puzzle and obscure the ordinary reader. It is no use touching on history or metaphysics, or anything but pure simplicity."

  "Then, Mr. Ommaney," Schuabe said quietly, "since we are exactly agreed on the best thing to do, and since these other gentlemen are prepared to leave the thing in our hands, if you will allow me I will write the leading article myself."

  Chapter 18

  It was Wednesday evening in Walktown. Mr. Byars was taking the service. The huge, ugly church was lit with rows of gas jets, arranged in the shape of crowns painted a drab green. But the vicar's voice, strained and worn, echoed sadly, with a melancholy cadence through the great barn-like place.

  Two or three girls, a couple of men, and half a dozen boys made up the choir, which had dwindled to less than a fifth of its usual size. The organ was silent.

  Down the church Byars saw row upon row of cushioned empty seats. Here and there a small group of people broke the chilling monotony of line, but the worshippers were very few. In the galleries an occasional couple, almost secure from observation, whispered to each other. The church was warm, the seats not uncomfortable. It was better to flirt here than in the cold, frost-bound streets.

  Never had Evensong been so cheerless and gloomy in that vast, unlovely building. There was no sermon. The vicar was suffering under such obvious strain, he looked so worn and ill that even this lifeless congregation seemed to feel it a relief when the Blessing was said and everyone was
free to shuffle out into the streets.

  The harsh trumpeting of the vestry clerk's final "Amen," was almost jubilant.

  As Mr. Byars walked home he saw that the great Unitarian chapel which he had to pass en route was blazing with light. Policemen were standing at the doors to prevent the entrance of any more people into the overcrowded building. A tremendous life and energy pulsated within.

  On each side of the great polished mahogany doors were large placards, printed in black and red, vividly illuminated by electric arc lights. These announced that on this night Mr. Constantine Schuabe, MP, would lecture on the recent discovery in Jerusalem. The title of the lecture, in staring black type, seemed to Mr. Byars as if it possessed an almost physical power. It struck him like a blow.

  THE DOWNFALL

  OF CHRISTIANITY

  And then in smaller type,

  ANTHROPOMORPHISM

  AN EXPLODED SUPERSTITION

  Glancing back, with a bitter sigh the vicar saw the lights in St. Thomas were already extinguished. The tower in which the illuminated church clock glowed sullenly, rose stark and cold into the dark winter sky. He walked on more hurriedly through the dark.

  Schuabe had returned to Mount Prospect from London.

  His long-sustained position as head of the antichristian party in Parliament, in England indeed, Schuabe's political connection with the place, his wealth, the ties of family and relationship, all combined to make him the greatest power of the moment in the North.