The words of his petition do not matter.  He prayed for their Church; he prayed for their country that it might be made strong and free; he even prayed for the Emperor, the carnal, hare-lipped, guzzling, able Hapsburg self-seeker.  Then he prayed for themselves and all who were dear to them, and lastly, that light might be vouchsafed to Dirk in his present difficulty.  No, not quite lastly, for he ended with a petition that their enemies might be forgiven, yes, even those who tortured them and burnt them at the stake, since they knew not what they did.  It may be wondered whether any human aspirations could have been more thoroughly steeped in the true spirit of Christianity.

When at length he had finished they rose from their knees.

“Shall I open the Book at a hazard,” asked Dirk, “and read what my eye falls on?”

“No,” answered Brant, “for it savours of superstition; thus did the ancients with the writings of the poet Virgilius, and it is not fitting that we who hold the light should follow the example of those blind heathen.  What work of the Book, brother, are you studying now?”

“The first letter of Paul to the Corinthians, which I have never read before,” he answered.

“Then begin where you left off, brother, and read your chapter.  Perhaps we may find instruction in it; if not, no answer is vouchsafed to us to-night.”

So from the black-letter volume before him Dirk began to read the seventh chapter, in which, as it chances, the great Apostle deals with the marriage state.  On he read, in a quiet even voice, till he came to the twelfth and four following verses, of which the last three run:  “For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband:  else were your children unclean; but now they are holy.  But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart.  A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases; but God has called us to peace.  For what knowest thou, O wife, whether thou shalt save thy husband? or how knowest thou, O man, whether thou shalt save thy wife?” Dirk’s voice trembled, and he paused.

“Continue to the end of the chapter,” said Brant, so the reader went on.

There is a sound.  They do not hear it, but the door of the bedchamber behind them opens ever so little.  They do not see it, but between door and lintel something white thrusts itself, a woman’s white face crowned with black hair, and set in it two evil, staring eyes.  Surely, when first he raised his head in Eden, Satan might have worn such a countenance as this.  It cranes itself forward till the long, thin neck seems to stretch; then suddenly a stir or a movement alarms it, and back the face draws like the crest of a startled snake.  Back it draws, and the door closes again.