f books is to take
place on the morrow at Paul's Cross."

"Ay," spoke Garret, with a grim compression of the lips, "a mighty
burning of forbidden books will take place there. But mark, my
friends; had those books yonder been found in Dr. Barnes's house,
not books alone but the man himself would have been burnt upon the
morrow. The cardinal plainly told him so; and as it is, he has
signed a paper which they call a recantation of heresy. Let us not
judge him harshly. His friends pleaded, and his foes threatened,
and the flesh shrinks from the fiery trial. He will read this
confession or recantation tomorrow at St. Paul's, and help to fling
the precious books upon the devouring flames.

"Ah me! Let us not judge him! Judge nothing before the time, till
the Lord come. Oh, would that Ho would come Himself, to bring to an
end this dark night of persecution and terror, and take the kingdom
and the power and reign!"

And again the voices of the brethren answered, "Amen!"

"Are there any others who take part in this strange pageant on the
morrow?" asked Clarke, after a brief pause.

"Yes; five honest fellows from the Stillyard, who have been
detected in bringing books up the river and landing them. They are
condemned to appear tomorrow, and to assist in the holocaust with
their own hands. Being humbler men, they are dealt with more
lightly; and men all agree in this, that the cardinal would rather
persuade men to escape, and make the way easy for them to abjure
what he calls their errors, than drag them to the stake. But he
will not shrink from that last step, if he think the welfare of the
church demands it; and there are others who bear a yet more cruel
hatred towards all who would be free from the shackles of falsehood
and superstition. And much power belongs to them. God alone knows
what is coming upon this realm."

"But God does know; let that be enough!" spoke Clarke, with the
quick lighting of his clear blue eyes which gave him such power
over his hearers.

He and Garret were men of markedly contrasted types--the one all
fire, restlessness, energy; the other calm, contemplative,
intensely spiritual. Both were alike filled with a deep faith, a
deep zeal; one the man of action, the other the man of meditation
and devotion--yet deeply attached one to the other, as could be
seen by the way they looked and spoke.

"Ay, verily, let that be enough; let us remember that the day must
come that He who will come shall com