The House of Whispers | Page 8

mind. "We were
just about to look at those seals Professor Moyes sent you to-day,
weren't we? Here they are;" and she placed them before the helpless
and afflicted man, endeavouring to remain undisturbed, and taking a
chair at his side, as was her habit when they sat together.
"Yes," he said cheerfully. "Let us see what they are."
The first of the yellow sulphur-casts which he examined bore the
full-length figure of an abbot, with mitre and crosier, in the act of
giving his blessing. Behind him were three circular towers with pointed
roofs surmounted by crosses, while around, in bold early Gothic letters,
ran the inscription
+ S. BENEDITI . ABBATIS . SANTI . AMBROSII . D'RANCIA +
Slowly and with great care his fingers travelled over the raised letters
and design of the oval cast. Then, having also examined the battered
old bronze matrix, he said, "A most excellent specimen, and in
first-class preservation, too! I wonder where it has been found? In Italy,
without doubt."
"What do you make it out to be, dad?" asked the girl, seated in the chair
at his side and as interested in the little antiquity as he was himself.
"Thirteenth century, my dear--early thirteenth century," he declared
without hesitation. "Genuine, quite genuine, no doubt. The matrix
shows signs of considerable wear. Is there much patina upon it?" he

asked.
She turned it over, displaying that thick green corrosion which bronze
acquires only by great age.
"Yes, quite a lot, dad. The raised portion at the back is pierced by a
hole very much worn."
"Worn by the thong by which it was attached to the girdle of successive
abbots through centuries," he declared. "From its inscription, it is the
seal of the Abbot Benedict of the Monastery of St. Ambrose, of Rancia,
in Lombardy. Let me think, now. We should find the history of that
house probably in Sassolini's Memorials. Will you get it down,
dear?--top shelf of the fifth case, on the left."
Though blind, he knew just where he could put his hand upon all his
most cherished volumes, and woe betide any one who put a volume
back in its wrong place!
Gabrielle rose, and, obtaining the steps, reached down the great
leather-bound quarto book, which she carried to a reading-desk and at
once searched the index.
The work was in Italian, a language which she knew fairly well; and
after ten minutes or so, during which time the blind man continued
slowly to trace the inscription with his finger-tips, she said, "Here it is,
dad. 'Rancia, near Cremona. The religious brotherhood was founded
there in 1132, and the Abbot Benedict was third abbot, from 1218 to
1231. The church still exists. The magnificent pulpit in marble,
embellished with mosaics, presented in 1272, rests on six columns
supported by lions, with an inscription: "_Nicolaus de Montava
marmorarius hoc opus fecit._" Opposite it is the ambo (1272), in a
simple style, with a representation of Jonah being swallowed by a
whale. In the choir is the throne adorned by mosaics, and the Cappella
di San Pantaleone contains the blood of the saint, together with some
relics of the Abbot Benedict. The cloisters still exist, though, of course,
the monastery is now suppressed.'"

"And this," remarked Sir Henry, turning over the old bronze seal in his
hand, "belonged to the Abbot Ambrose six hundred and fifty years
ago!"
"Yes, dad," declared the girl, returning to his side and taking the matrix
herself to examine it under the green-shaded reading-lamp. "The study
of seals is most interesting. It carries one back into the dim ages. I hope
the Professor will allow you to keep these casts for your collection."
"Yes, I know he will," responded the old Baronet. "He is well aware
what a deep interest I take in my hobby."
"And also that you are one of the first authorities in the world upon the
subject," added his daughter.
The old man sighed. Would that he could see with his eyes once again;
for, after all, the sense of touch was but a poor substitute for that of
sight!
He drew towards him the impression of the second of the oval seals.
The centre was divided into two portions. Above was the half-length
figure of a saint holding a closed book in his hand, and below was a
youth with long hands in the act of adoration. Between them was a
scroll upon which was written: "Sc. Martine O.P.N.," while around the
seal were the words in Gothic characters:
+ SIGIL . HEINRICHI . PLEBANI . D' DOELSC'H +
"This is fourteenth century," pronounced the Baronet, "and is from
Dulcigno, on the Adriatic--the seal of Henry, the vicar of the church of
that place. From the engraving and style," he said,