For If The Body Of Such A Leper Be Interred In The
Field Of The Dead, The Disorder Is Forthwith Communicated To All
The Corses Even Below The Earth.
Such, at least, is our idea in
these parts.
Lawsuits are at present pending from the circumstance
of elephantides having been buried with the other dead. Sad is
leprosy in all its forms, but most so when elephantine."
"Talking of corses," said I, "do you believe that the bones of St.
James are veritably interred at Compostella?"
"What can I say," replied the old man; "you know as much of the
matter as myself. Beneath the high altar is a large stone slab or
lid, which is said to cover the mouth of a profound well, at the
bottom of which it is believed that the bones of the saint are
interred; though why they should be placed at the bottom of a well,
is a mystery which I cannot fathom. One of the officers of the
church told me that at one time he and another kept watch in the
church during the night, one of the chapels having shortly before
been broken open and a sacrilege committed. At the dead of night,
finding the time hang heavy on their hands, they took a crowbar and
removed the slab and looked down into the abyss below; it was dark
as the grave; whereupon they affixed a weight to the end of a long
rope and lowered it down. At a very great depth it seemed to
strike against something dull and solid like lead:
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 396 of 809
Words from 109467 to 109730
of 222596
