For the Faith | Page 8

thou hast power to do and dare. But now let us
say farewell, for I must carry my flowers within doors; and thou--it is
time thou wert away. Thou hast a long journey to prepare for."
And so, with one kiss, gravely given and taken, the lovers parted, and
Anthony went on his way as one who treads on air.
Some three days later, with eager eyes and bated breath, Anthony
Dalaber was following his friend John Clarke up the landing stairs of a
certain wharf in the city of London, and gazing earnestly about him at
the narrow, dark street in which he found himself, where the shades of
night seemed already to have fallen.
He knew whither they were bound--to the house of a priest, Thomas
Garret by name, well known to Clarke, and known by name to Dalaber,
too. He was one of the most active of the little band now engaged in the
perilous task of receiving and distributing the translated Scriptures and
the pamphlets issued by Martin Luther and other reformers. He was an
ex-fellow of Magdalen College, now a curate of Allhallows, near
Cheapside. Dalaber had often had a wish to see this man, having heard

of him in many quarters.
And now they stood knocking at the door of his house, which opened
only a few hundred paces from the riverside.
They had to wait some little time; but Clarke was not impatient, though
he gave a peculiar knock more than once upon the door. Presently it
was opened a very little way, and a voice asked:
"Who are you, and what is your errand?"
"Crede et manducasti [i]," spoke Clarke, in a low voice; and at once the
door was opened wider.
He stepped within, and Dalaber followed him. They found themselves
in a very narrow entry hall, and could only see in the gloom that a
serving man stood before them.
"Tell your master that John Clarke from Oxford has come to lodge with
him for a few nights, if he can give him house room."
The man vanished, but almost immediately reappeared and beckoned to
them to follow. He took them down some steps, lighting the way by a
lantern; and after they had descended some score they reached a door,
which he pushed open, revealing a roomy, cellar-like vault, in which
some half-dozen men were busily employed; but so scanty was the
illumination that Dalaber could not for the moment see upon what task
they were bent.
One figure detached itself from the rest and came forward. Dalaber
found himself gazing at a small, wiry-looking man in the frock of a
priest, whose head was slightly bald in addition to the tonsure, and
whose face was thin and lined, as though with vigils and fasting and
prayer. It was the face of an ascetic--thin featured and thin lipped, pale
almost to cadaverousness, but lighted as though with a fire from within.
The extraordinary power of the shining eyes riveted Dalaber's gaze
from the first moment. Their glance was turned full upon him after the

priest had given greeting to Clarke, and the thin, resonant voice asked
quickly:
"Whom have you brought? Is he to be trusted?"
"To the death!" answered Dalaber, speaking for himself. "Try me, and
you shall see."
"It is my young friend, Anthony Dalaber," said Clarke, his hand upon
the youth's shoulder. "He is very earnest in the study of the Scriptures
and in the desire for a better state of things within the church. Methinks
he is stanch and true, else would I not have brought him. As we
journeyed hither I told him of the work of the Association of Christian
Brothers, and he would fain share their toil and peril."
"Is that so?" asked the priest, again shooting a fiery glance towards the
young student. "Canst thou drink of the cup we may be called upon to
drink, and share the fiery baptism with which we may be baptized
withal?"
And Dalaber, his quick enthusiasm kindling to the spark which seemed
to leap towards him from the other, answered without a moment's pause
of hesitation, "I can."
Then Garret stretched forth his hand and took that of Dalaber in the
clasp of brotherhood, and Anthony felt the magnetic thrill tingling
through his whole frame.
"God be with you, my son, and keep you steadfast," said he; and the
other men, who had left their tasks and come forward to greet Clarke
and his companion, murmured a deep "amen."
Then all turned to the work in hand; and Dalaber saw that they were
engaged in hiding beneath the flagstones of the cellar, which had
carefully been removed for the purpose, a number of bales and packets,
whose contents could easily be guessed at. The earth from