It seemed to him incredible, as he looked, that things of such moment should be under way, somewhere beyond that sleeping country; and yet, as his eyes grew accustomed to the night, he could make out at last a faint glow in the sky to the north that marked the outskirts of that enormous city of which he was a citizen, where such matters even now were approaching a decision.

For it was only little by little that he had become aware that a real crisis was at hand.  The Cardinal had told him the facts, indeed, in the dispassionate, tolerant manner that was characteristic of him; but the point of view necessary to take them in as a coherent whole, to see them, not as isolated events, but with the effect of the past upon them and their hidden implications and probabilities for the future—­this needed that the observer should be of the temper and atmosphere of the time.  For prophecy just now was little better than feeling at outlines in the dark.  Facts could be discerned and apprehended by all—­and the priest was well aware of his own capacities in this—­but their interpretation was another matter altogether. . . .  He felt helpless and puzzled. . . .

The General came towards him.

“Well,” he said, “anything to be seen?”

“Nothing.”

“We may as well make our way down again.  There’s nothing to be gained by stopping here.”

As they made their way down again through the covered passage, the General once more began to talk about the crisis.

Monsignor had heard it all before; but he listened for all that.  It seemed to him worth while to collect opinions; and this soldier’s very outspoken remarks cast a sort of sharp clarity upon the situation that the priest found useful.  The establishment of the Church in England was being regarded on the Continent as a kind of test case; and even more by the Anglo-Saxon countries throughout the world.  In itself it was not so vast a step forward as might be thought.  It would make no very radical changes in actual affairs, since the Church already enjoyed enormous influence and complete liberty.  But the point was that it was being taken as a kind of symbol by both sides; and this explained on the one hand the tactics of the Government in bringing it suddenly forward, and the extraordinary zeal with which the Socialists were demonstrating against it.

“The more I think of it,” said the General, “the more——­”

Monsignor stepped suddenly aside into the embrasure at which they had halted on the way up.

“What’s the matter?”

“I thought I saw——­”

The General uttered a sharp exclamation, pressing his head over the priest’s shoulder.

“That’s the second,” whispered the priest harshly.

Together they waited, staring out together through the tall, narrow window that looked towards Rye.

Then for the third time there rose against the far-off horizon, above that faint peak of luminosity that marked where Rye watched over her marshes, a thin line of white fire, slackening its pace as it rose.