tery. As he and
his companion went into an anteroom and were given broad collars from
which were suspended metal badges called "jewels," he felt a good deal
like a spy. They walked into the lodge-room where twenty-five or thirty
men with similar "jewels" sat smoking and chatting. All seemed to know
him, but (much to his relief) before he could be included in the
conversation, the gavel fell; certain ones with more elaborate "jewels"
and more ornate collars than the rest took higher-backed and more highly
upholstered chairs at the four sides of the room, another stood at the
door; and still another, in complete uniform, with sword and belt, began
hustling the members to seats.

"The Deacon Militant," said the wielder of the gavel, "will report if
all present are known and tested members of our Dread and Mystic
Conclave."

"All, Most Sovereign Pontiff," responded the Deacon Militant, who proved
to be the man in the uniform, "save certain strangers who appear within
the confines of our sacred basilica."

"Let them be tested," commanded the Sovereign Pontiff, "and, if
brethren, welcomed; if spies, executed!"

Amidon started, and looked about for aid or avenue of escape. Seeing
none, he warily watched the Deacon Militant. That officer, walking in
the military fashion which, as patristic literature teaches, was adopted
by the early Christians, and turning square corners, as was the habit of
St. Paul and the Apostles, received whispered passwords from the two or
three strangers, and, with a military salute, announced that all present
had been put to the test and welcomed. Then, for the first time
remembering that he was not among the strangers, so far as known to the
lodge, Amidon breathed freely, and rather regretted the absence of
executions.

"Bring forth the Mystic Symbols of the Order!" was the next command. The
Mystic Symbols were placed on a stand in the middle of the room, and
turned out to be a gilt fish about the size of a four-pound bass, a jar
of human bones, and a rolled-up scroll said to contain the Gospels. The
fish, as explained by the Deacon Militant, typified a great many things
connected with early Christianity, and served always as a reminder of
the password of the order. The relics in the jar were the bones of
martyrs. The scroll was the Book of the Law. Amidon was becoming
impressed: the solemn and ornate ritual and the dreadful symbols sent
shivers down his inexperienced and unfraternal spine. Brea