“That will I soon tell to you.  The spell cast upon the boy is one of evil, and therefore it comes in some sort from the devil, even though, as John says, men may have no visible dealings with him.  Yet, as all sin is of the Evil One, and as the good God and His Holy Saints are stronger than the devil and his angels, it is His help we must invoke when the powers of darkness strive to work in him again.  And we must ask in this the help of some holy man of God, one who has fasted and prayed and learned to discern betwixt good and evil, has fought with the devil and has overcome.  I know one such holy man.  He lives far away from here.  It is a small community between Guildford and Salisbury —­ I suppose it lies some thirty miles from hence.  I could find out something more, perchance, in time to acquaint you farther with the road.  If you once gain possession of the boy, mount without loss of time, and draw not rein till you reach that secluded spot.  Ask to be taken in in the name of charity, and when the doors have opened to you, ask for Father Paul.  Give him the boy.  Tell him all the tale, and trust him into his holy hands without fear.  He will take him; he will cast out the evil spirit.  I misdoubt me if the devil himself will have power over him whilst he is within those hallowed walls.  At least if he can find entrance there, he will not be able to prevail; and when the foul spirit is cast out and vanquished, you can summon his father to him and give him back his son —­ as the son of the father in Scripture was restored to him again when the devil had been cast out by the voice of the Blessed Jesus.”

“I truly think that thou art right,” said John.  “The powers of evil are very strong, too strong to be combated by us unaided by the prayers and the efforts of holy men.

“Raymond, it shall be my work to provide for this journey.  My uncle will be long absent.  In his absence I may do what I will and go where I will.  I would myself pay a pilgrimage to the house where this holy man resides, and make at the shrine of the chapel there my offering of thanksgiving for my recovery from this hurt.  We will go together.  We will take the boy with us; and the boy’s father shall be one of our party.  He shall see that the powers of evil can be vanquished.  He shall see for himself the restoration of his child.”

CHAPTER X. BASILDENE.

It was in the bright moonlight of a clear March evening that the twin brothers of Gascony stood hand in hand, gazing for the first time in their lives upon their lost inheritance of Basildene.  It was not yet wholly dark, for a saffron glow in the sky behind still showed where the sun had lately sunk, whilst the moon was shining with frosty brightness overhead.  Dark as the surrounding woods had been, it was light enough here in the clearing around the house.  Behind the crumbling red walls the forest grew dark and close, but in the front the larger trees had been cleared away, and the long low house, with its heavy timbers and many gables, stood clearly revealed before the eager eyes of the boys, who stopped short to gaze without speaking a single word to one another.