"That my father found himself compelled to conclude a peace, and that--
but read on.--That as a wise man he was forced to ally himself with the
foe."

"The foe to whom he yielded more readily and paid much greater honor than
became him as a Christian!--Does not this discourse convey the idea that
the joys of Paradise solely and exclusively await our damned and blood-
thirsty oppressors?--And the Moslem Paradise! What is it but a gulf
of iniquity, in which they are to wallow in sensual delight? The false
prophet invented it to tempt his followers to force his lying creed,
by might of arms and in mad contempt of death, on nation after nation.
Our Lord, the Word made flesh, came down on earth to win hearts and souls
by the persuasive power of the living truth, one and eternal, which
emanates from Him as light proceeds from the sun; this Mohammed, on the
contrary, is a sword made flesh! For me, then, there is no choice but to
submit to superior strength; but I can still hate and loathe their
accursed and soul-destroying superstition.--And so I do, and so I shall,
to the last throb of this old heart, which only longs for rest, the
sooner the better....

"But you? And your father? Verily, verily, the man who, even for an
instant, ceases to hate unbelief or false doctrine has sinned for his
whole life on this side of the grave and beyond it; sinned against the
only true and saving faith and its divine Founder. Blasphemous and
flattering praise of the piety and moderation of our foes, the very
antichrist incarnate, who kill both body and soul.--With these your
father fouled his heart and tongue. . ."

"Fouled?" cried Orion and the blood tingled in his cheeks. "He kept his