The Mark of the Beast Part 29

"Kill them! Murder them!"

The priest raised his hand, the bugler sounded "Silence." The old hush fell upon the people, instantly, and the priest, with a triumphant note ringing in his voice, and with an equally triumphant smile on his face, cried:

"We have antic.i.p.ated the action of such rebels as these, and have prepared for them. Outside there has been already set up an automatically-locked scaffold--"

With a wave of his hand towards our trio, he cried; "To the block with them, unless they instantly wors.h.i.+p."

Pointing with his long index finger to the three Protesters, he shouted: "Kneel!"

For answer they drew themselves upright, and with a ringing gladness began to sing:

"Crown Jesus Lord of all!"

Instantly they were seized, and hurried out of one of the side entrances. With the utmost difficulty a way was cleared for the pa.s.sage of the priests and the three victims--the bugler going ahead sounding sharp notes of warning on his instrument.

They reached the front of the cathedral, at last. The whole of the s.p.a.ce in the front, at the sides, and far away into "The Fan" was packed with a seething, excited ma.s.s of human life.

Twenty feet high, a light but strong scaffold had been rapidly, and practically silently, erected--the whole structure having all its separate parts fitted with automatic lockings. The scaffold stood just _out_side the railings that fenced the cathedral from the "Fan."

On the platform of the scaffold was a conical-shaped block, enamelled in a brilliant red. A huge fellow, leaning on the handle of a wide-bladed gleaming axe, stood by the side of the block.

The trio of _Protestants_ were taken up the steps of the scaffold. Two priests accompanied them. The chief of the two priests, he who had led the chant in the cathedral, held up before the trio a silver figure of Apleon, about eighteen inches long, and, (amid the intense silence all around, his words were distinctly heard) cried: "Will you wors.h.i.+p G.o.d?"

"We _do_ wors.h.i.+p G.o.d--but we will not wors.h.i.+p either the Anti-christ, Anti-G.o.d, or his image!"

It was Ralph who, in ringing fearless tones, replied, the other two responding with:

"Amen! Amen! to our G.o.d who sitteth on The Throne, and to the Lamb, for ever!"

A savage roar swept upwards from the maddened ma.s.s below.

Ralph was told to bow his head upon the block. He did so, while Rose sang clear and strong:

"Am I a soldier of the cross, A follower of the Lamb, And shall I fear----------"

The chief of the two priests, struck her heavily across the mouth and silenced her. At the same instant the executioner held aloft, by the hair, the severed head of Ralph Bastin.

Yells of delight, mingled with "Long live our G.o.d Apleon!" greeted the sight of the head.

George Bullen's head was now upon the block, while Rose, the light of a holy triumph in her eyes, unable to sing because of her bleeding mouth, shouted, "Jesus! Jesus! Precious Christ!"

She kept her eyes from the block, and turned slightly away, as the head of her dear one was held aloft amid the frantic delighted cries of the murderous ma.s.s below.

It was her turn now, and she turned rapturously towards the block. But before she could lay her head upon the blood-stained horror, the chief of the priests thrust her forward to the near edge of the floor of the scaffold, and, holding his hand up for silence, cried:

"Is she too beautiful for the block?"

He caught her up suddenly in his arms, and held her as high aloft as his strength would permit, as he shouted:

"Does any one want her, if you do, say so, and I will hurl her down!"

"Behead her!" roared a voice in the crowd, and thousands of voices joined in the cry.

The priest dragged her to the block and laid her neck in the hollow of it. There was a flash of steel in the sunlight, and the beautiful head rolled into the basket. The next moment it was being held aloft by the long, lovely hair, the people below yelling with joy.

At a sign from the priest, the bugler sounded for "silence." Then the priest cried:

"So shall die every rebel against our LORD G.o.d, _The Emperor_!"

With a wave of his hand towards the Cathedral behind him, he added:

"Our wors.h.i.+p will be continued in our Temple and, for today, at least, wors.h.i.+p will continue all day."

The fools, the dupes, flocked back to the cathedral--as many as could crowd in. Those who could not get in watched the bodies and heads of the three martyrs for G.o.d hurled down from the scaffold on the stones below.

Someone suggested the river, and six lengths of line were quickly got, and amid the howls of mingled execrations, and the notes of a fiendish joy, the three heads and three trunks were dragged down to the blackfriars end of the embankment.

Here men cut the clothes from the three bodies, and the naked forms were kicked into almost shapeless ma.s.ses, before they were eventually hurled over the embankment into the swirling muddy Thames.

"_He, (The False Prophet) had power . . . to cause that as many as would not wors.h.i.+p the image of the Beast should be killed_."

From this day there began a perfect reign of terror on the earth, for the vast bulk of the people who had yielded utter allegiance to the "Beast," and to his wors.h.i.+p, became heretic-hunters. Natural affection appeared to be actually absent from the world, and sons and daughters betrayed fathers and mothers, husbands betrayed wives, wives husbands, and the friend his friends.

Thousands were beheaded every month, taking the earth over--men, women, and children, who had learned to trust G.o.d, and who waited for the coming Kingdom of Christ, when, having put down all enemies under his feet, he should begin his reign of a thousand years. These saved ones, and martyred ones, were "an innumerable mult.i.tude saved out of T H E great tribulation, from all nations, kindreds, and peoples, and tongues."

[1] This creed, in its essence, and often in its terminology is taken from a book already published, in which the religion of Humanism exalts man to the place of G.o.d. (Author.)

CHAPTER XVII.

A GATHERING UP.

At this stage it seems well to the writer to gather together in a brief--but necessarily very fragmentary fas.h.i.+on--some of the chief events of the second half of Anti-christ's reign, and those immediately preceding the millenial reign of Christ. The object of this little volume, as well as its predecessor--"In the Twinkling of an Eye"--being chiefly to incite in the readers of the two books, a desire to look into the wonders of the "After Events," we can only touch upon these things in the most disjointed fas.h.i.+on, many events, from necessity of s.p.a.ce, being untouched altogether.

The two scenes recorded in previous chapters--the torture and beheading of Isaac Wolferstein and his beautiful _fiancee_, Miriam Cohen, and the beheading of three at St. Paul's--were duplicated many thousands of times, every town and city of the wide world had its own hideous tale of torturing and of death.

The effect upon the bulk of the people was to deepen "the strong delusion," as to Anti-christ, under which they laboured, so that they fed upon "The Lie," and became abject slaves in their wills and wors.h.i.+p of the "Man of Sin."

The effect of the persecution and martyrdoms upon most of the believers--kingdom believers--was to stiffen their faith, and to confirm their hope in the near Coming of the Christ, to take vengeance upon his foes and deliver his people.

The licentiousness and blasphemy of the times was as a veritable atmosphere abroad, so that, affected by it, the love of the many towards G.o.d waxed colder and colder, until they flung off the last semblance of allegiance to Him, in thought, word, or deed, and wholly given up to "The Lie," they ripened rapidly for Judgment.