"BretHarte-LegendsAndTales" - читать интересную книгу автора (Harte Bret)

of the boat. But even this accident did not disturb the gravity of
the rest of the ghastly boat's crew.

When, as it seemed to the Padre, ten minutes had elapsed, the
outline of a large ship loomed up directly across their bow.
Before he could utter the cry of warning that rose to his lips, or
brace himself against the expected shock, the boat passed gently
and noiselessly through the sides of the vessel, and the holy man
found himself standing on the berth deck of what seemed to be an
ancient caravel. The boat and boat's crew had vanished. Only his
mysterious friend, the stranger, remained. By the light of a
swinging lamp the Padre beheld him standing beside a hammock,
whereon, apparently, lay the dying man to whom he had been so
mysteriously summoned. As the Padre, in obedience to a sign from
his companion, stepped to the side of the sufferer, he feebly
opened his eyes and thus addressed him:--

"Thou seest before thee, reverend father, a helpless mortal,
struggling not only with the last agonies of the flesh, but beaten
down and tossed with sore anguish of the spirit. It matters little
when or how I became what thou now seest me. Enough that my life
has been ungodly and sinful, and that my only hope of absolution
lies in my imparting to thee a secret which is of vast importance
to the holy Church, and affects greatly her power, wealth, and
dominion on these shores. But the terms of this secret and the
conditions of my absolution are peculiar. I have but five minutes
to live. In that time I must receive the extreme unction of the
Church."

"And thy secret?" said the holy father.

"Shall be told afterwards," answered the dying man. "Come, my time
is short. Shrive me quickly."

The Padre hesitated. "Couldst thou not tell this secret first?"

"Impossible!" said the dying man, with what seemed to the Padre a
momentary gleam of triumph. Then, as his breath grew feebler, he
called impatiently, "Shrive me! shrive me!"

"Let me know at least what this secret concerns?" suggested the
Padre, insinuatingly.

"Shrive me first," said the dying man.

But the priest still hesitated, parleying with the sufferer until
the ship's bell struck, when, with a triumphant, mocking laugh from
the stranger, the vessel suddenly fell to pieces, amid the rushing
of waters which at once involved the dying man, the priest, and the
mysterious stranger.