"To the ruin of your own souls," asked father Walter, "will any of you dare to drag a priest from the altar?" "We must do as we are bid, good father," replied the man: "the sin is hers, if there be any." "But the fire will be yours," replied the priest, "and her sin will not deliver you." "It is no use talking, Sir," continued the man; "we have sworn to do it, and so we will. 'Tis but for a few hours; and you may choose where we shall take you to. Shall it be to your own room?" "No," answered father Walter, "no; if this act be needful to your mistress, why not keep me here, where I have promised to stay till the hour of matins? I shall be as safe here as any where else." "No, no, that will not do," replied the man; "the chapel will be wanted." "Well, then, as near as possible," said the priest: "aggravate not your offence, my son, by dragging the servant of God from his temple. I will stay here in the sacristy. At all events, I shall be still within the sacred precincts, and near the body I have promised to watch." The man hesitated; but father Walter, assuming a higher tone, exclaimed, "If not--Stand back, while I pronounce upon you all, the anathema you so well deserve, and deliver you over to perdition with her who sent you." "Stay, father, stay!" cried another of the men; "we will have none of this, Martin Gournay. If the reverend father chooses the sacristy, we will not have him thwarted. It is bad enough to do it at all. It must not be made worse than it need." "Bad enough, indeed!" replied the priest; "and heaven forgive you for listening to the voice of man, rather than that of the church." "Well, well," said Martin, "I do not care: let it be the sacristy. But I must see that it is all safe;" and, opening the door, he went in, followed by the priest and the other two men. "Ah, there is a way out!" he cried. "I must have the key of that lock, good father." "There it hangs," replied father Walter with a smile: "make it all sure. But, remember, that there is another key in the hands of the church, which may lock the door of heaven against you, if you do not repent." The man Martin, however, tried the door which led out through the walls into the country; and, finding it locked, he took the key from a hook above, and ascertained that it fitted. Then, putting it into his pocket, he turned to the priest, saying, "I am very sorry to do this, father; but it is not with my will, and I must obey my orders. They shall bring you some food and wine; and there is a lamp. At noon to-morrow you shall be free." Father Walter bent his head gravely; and the three men withdrew, locking the sacristy door after them, and taking the key. The moment they were gone, he rose from the seat in which he had placed himself, and laughed with a bitter mocking tone.