"This is the peril that confronts us! And Holy Church is without a head, and the cardinals cannot cope with the terrible scourge. It is this you saw, my son, and, had your presence been discovered, you would never again have greeted the light of day." At last Tristan found his tongue. "God forbid that there should be such a thing, that men should worship the Fiend." "Nevertheless they do," Odo replied, "and other things too awful for mortal mind to credit." The perspiration came out on Tristan's brow. Although he was prepared for matters of infinite moment and knew that this interview might well be one of the decisive moments of his life, he yet possessed the detached attitude of mind which was curious of strange learning and information, even in a crisis. "And you have known this, Father?" he said at last, "and you have done nothing to check the evil?" "We are living in evil times, my son," Odo replied. "I have long known of the existence of this black heresy, which has slowly spread its baleful cult, until it has reached our very shores. But that they would dare to establish themselves in the city of the Apostle, this I was not prepared to accept, until the terrible crime at the Lateran removed the last doubt. And now I know that the foul thing has obtained a footing here, and more than that, I know that some high in power are affiliated with this society of Satan, that would establish the reign of Lucifer among the Seven Hills. Did you not tell me, my son, of one, terrible of aspect, who peered through the panel in the Capella Palatina on the night of that first and most horrible outrage?" "One who looked as the Fiend might look, did he assume human guise," Tristan confirmed with a nod. "The high priest of Satan," Odo returned, "a familiar of black magic--the most terrible of all heinous crimes against Holy Church. A wave of crime is rolling its crimson tide over the Eternal City such as the annals of the Church have never recorded. It started in the reign of Marozia, and Theodora is leagued with the fiend, as was her sister before her." Odo paused for a moment, breathing deep, while Tristan listened spellbound. "Have you ever pondered," he continued with slow emphasis, "why the Lord Alberic entrusted to you, a stranger, so important a post as the command of the Emperor's Tomb? That there may be one he does not trust and who that one may be?" Tristan gave a start. "There is one I do not trust--one who seems to wrap himself in a poison mist of evil--the Lord Basil." "Be wary and circumspect. Has he of late come to the Tomb?" "Three days ago--in company with a stranger from the North--one I may not meet and again look upon heaven." "The woman's husband?" Odo queried with a penetrating glance. Tristan colored. "How these two met I cannot fathom." "Remember one thing, my son, their alliance portends evil to some one. What did they in the crypts?"