But the church
which he attended was mysteriously robbed; its altar was stripped of
everything precious,--gold, jewels, paintings,--when none but himself
had had access to the church unobserved. That is the story. I do not
vouch for its truth. There was no evidence against him--only suspicions
in this as in everything else. It was shortly afterward that he suddenly
appeared in this country a stanch Protestant; and then almost
immediately the present reign of crime began. Yet he has never been seen
in the company of any known law-breakers. Many mysterious visitors are
said to come to his house over the Wilderness Road, and to go as
mysteriously as they come. But no one claims to know who or what they
are, where they come from, or where they go. It is said that these men
who carry out his orders hardly know him by sight, that he sees only the
leaders, and that they never dare go to his house unless they are sent
for. It is believed that he rarely goes into detail, and does not wish
to know what they do in carrying out his wishes. It is said that he is
sickened by the slightest mention of bloodshed or cruelty, like any
delicate, sensitive woman, but is perfectly indifferent to all sorts of
atrocity that go on out of his sight and knowledge.
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