"It can easily be arranged," said he;
"but--pardon me, cavaliere--are you well-advised in mixing yourself in
such matters?"
"I am well-advised in seeking to serve a friend!" Odo somewhat hotly
returned; and de Crucis, with a faint smile of approval, replied
quietly: "In that case I will obtain permission for you to visit your
friend in the morning."
He was true to his word; and the next forenoon Odo, accompanied by an
officer of police, was taken to the prison of the Inquisition. Here he
found his old acquaintance seated in a clean commodious room and reading
Aristotle's "History of Animals," the only volume of his library that he
had been permitted to carry with him. He welcomed Odo heartily, and on
the latter's enquiring what had brought him to this plight, replied with
some dignity that he had been led there in the fulfilment of his duty.
"Some months ago," he continued, "I was summoned hither to profess the
natural sciences in the University; a summons I readily accepted, since
I hoped, by the study of a volcanic soil, to enlarge my knowledge of the
globe's formation. Such in fact was the case, but to my surprise my
researches led me to adopt the views I had formerly combated, and I now
find myself in the ranks of the Vulcanists, or believers in the
secondary origin of the earth: a view you may remember I once opposed
with all the zeal of inexperience. Having firmly established every point
in my argument according to the Baconian method of investigation, I felt
it my duty to enlighten my scholars; and in the course of my last
lecture I announced the result of my investigations.
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