carelli met with a
very miserable end. He was prosecuted for sacrilege and sentenced, in
1708, to row in the galleys for seven years."

"These frightful stories seem to have taken away your appetite," said
Mme. Carhaix. "Come, Monsieur des Hermies, a little more salad?"

"No, thanks. But now we've come to the cheese, I think it's time to open
the wine," and he uncapped one of the bottles which Durtal had brought.

"It's a light Chinon wine, but not too weak. I discovered it in a little
shop down by the quay," said Durtal.

"I see," he went on after a silence, "that the tradition of unspeakable
crimes has been maintained by worthy successors of Gilles de Rais. I see
that in all centuries there have been fallen priests who have dared
commit sins against the Holy Ghost. But at the present time it all seems
incredible. Surely nobody is cutting children's throats as in the days
of Bluebeard and of abbe Guibourg."

"You mean that nobody is brought to justice for doing it. They don't
assassinate now, but they kill designated victims by methods unknown to
official science--ah, if the confessionals could speak!" cried the
bell-ringer.

"But tell me, what class of people are these modern covenanters with the
Devil?"

"Prelates, abbesses, mission superiors, confessors of communities; and
in Rome, the centre of present-day magic, they're the very highest
dignitaries," answered Des Hermies. "As for the laymen, they are
recruited from the wealthy class. That explains why these scandals are
hushed up if the police chance to discover them.

"Then, let us assume that the sacrifices to the Devil are not preceded
by preliminary murders. Perhaps in some cases they aren't. The
worshippers probably content themselves with bleeding a foetus which had
been aborted as soon as it became matured to the point necessary.
Bloodletting is supererogatory anyway, and serves merely to whet the
appetite. The main business is to consecrate the host and put it to an
infamous use. The rest of the procedure varies. There is at present no
regular ritual for the black mass."

"Well, then, is a priest absolutely essential to the celebration of
these offices?"

"Certainly. Only a priest can operate the mystery of Transubstantiation.
I know there are certain occultists who claim to have been consecrated
by the Lord, as Saint Paul was, and who think they can consummate a
veritable sacrifice just like a real priest. Absurd! But even in default
of real