Free Manly Wade Wellman - John Thunstone 02 by The School of Darkness (v1.1)

middle rose a sort of obelisk.
                 “I
wonder what that monument commemorates,” said Thunstone.
                 “I
wonder the same thing,” said Father Bundren, “but I’d better get back to the
auditorium. I’m due to speak, and I hope speak to some purpose, in about ten
minutes.”
                 They
returned and went inside together. Father Bundren moved purposefully along the
aisle toward the stage. Lee Pitt came past him to meet Thunstone.
                 “I
want to invite you to a sort of potluck dinner before the Shakespearean
performance tonight,” he said. “I can’t invite all the guests, there won’t be enough for everybody.”
                “I’m afraid that I must have dinner
with Countess Monteseco here,” said Thunstone.
                 Pitt
looked at her, smiling his admiration. “Bring her along, too. It will be simple, I say—-just a big pot of minestrone and some garlic
bread. Let me find you in the lobby of the Inn , say a quarter to six . We’ll eat early and then go watch Grizel
Fian’s show.”
                 “That
will be a pleasure,” said Sharon . “Thank you, Professor.”
                 Pitt
went away. Reuben Manco came to join Thunstone and Sharon.
                 “Might
we sit together?” he said. “I looked for Shimada while I was speaking, but I
never spotted him. And I can’t see him anywhere now.”
                 They
found seats. Around them, voices jabbered.
                 “Why
would Shimada want to miss your speech?” Thunstone wondered.
                 “You’ll
have to ask him. The mysterious East, you know.”
                 Pitt
and Father Bundren were on stage. As Pitt spoke into the microphone, the babble
of voices died down. Pitt introduced Father Bundren, who took his place at the
lectern. His head bowed for a moment; perhaps he was praying. Then he looked
up. His eyes quested over the well-filled auditorium.
                 “I’ve
been introduced here as a priest of the Roman Catholic Church,” he began, “but
I won’t try to preach a sermon. For some years I’ve been occupied in the study
of world history, particularly in that bracket that deals with diabolism. At
present I’m at work on what I hope will be an informative book on the subject.
Perhaps some day it will be published and will be found worth inclusion in your
fine library here. But while you wait for that, there is already a good
assortment of books on creepy supernatural subjects in that same library of
yours. You’ll find, for instance, the works of Father Montague Summers on
witchcraft and devil worship, as well as on the werewolf and the vampire. He is
tremendously erudite, he quotes authorities in various
languages which he expects you to translate for yourself. And he believes
implicitly in witches, monsters, magical phenomena and ghosts—indeed, he claims
to have seen a ghost. I recommend his books to you.”
                 Again
he studied his audience. Sitting beside Thunstone, Manco made notes on a pad of
paper. Thunstone saw that he wrote in the Cherokee alphabet.
                 “Devil
worship goes back to prehistoric times,” Father Bundren went on. “We find laws against
it in the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Old Testament, at one time
ascribed to Moses. Ancient Greece and ancient Rome recognized and feared diabolism. That
interesting, perverse worship came in strongly with Gnosticism, almost as the
Christian era began. The Twelve Apostles opposed it, fought it, not with entire
success—Gnosticism still exists here and there. But when you’re told that there
was bloody persecution of witch belief and witch organization from the
beginning of the Church—that’s an oversimplification, and a false one.”
                 He
waited for his words to sink in. Thunstone and