6 io THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



the chests, which had no locks;* and, taking ont portions of each of the hodies 

 which were thus exposed, he closed the chests and connected the burned ends of 

 the threads with the seals again, so that they appeared not to have been touched ; 

 and, no one having seen him, he returned to his place. (Cap. iii, 23.) 



Hildoin went on to tell Eginhard that Hunus at first declared 

 to him that these purloined relics belonged to St. Tiburtius ; "but 

 afterward confessed, as a great secret, how he had come by them, 

 and he wound up his discourse thus : 



They have a place of honor beside St. Medardus, where they are worshiped 

 with great veneration by all the people ; but whether we may keep them or not is 

 for your judgment. (Cap. iii, 23.) 



Poor Eginhard was thrown into a state of great perturbation 

 of mind by this revelation. An acquaintance of his had recently 

 told him of a rumor that was spread about, that Hunus had con- 

 trived to abstract all the remains of SS. Marcellinus and Petrus 

 while Eginhard's agents were in a drunken sleep ; and that, while 

 the real relics were in Abbot Hildoin's hands at St. Medardus, the 

 shrine at Seligenstadt contained nothing but a little dust. Though 

 greatly annoyed by this " execrable rumor, spread everywhere by 

 the subtlety of the devil," Eginhard had doubtless comforted him- 

 self by his supposed knowledge of its falsity, and he only now 

 discovered how considerable a foundation there was for the scan- 

 dal. There was nothing for it but to insist upon the return of the 

 stolen treasures. One would have thought that the holy man, 

 who had admitted himself to be knowingly a receiver of stolen 

 goods, would have made instant restitution and begged only for 

 absolution. But Eginhard intimates that he had very great diffi- 

 culty in getting his brother abbot to see that even restitution was 

 necessary. 



Hildoin's proceedings were not of such nature as to lead any 

 one to place implicit trust in anything he might say ; still less 

 had his agent, priest Hunus, established much claim to confidence ; 

 and it is not surprising that Eginhard should have lost no time 

 in summoning his notary and Lunison to his presence, in order 

 that he might hear what they had to say about the business. 

 They, however, at once protested that priest Hunus's story was a 

 parcel of lies, and that after the relics left Rome no one had any 

 opportunity of meddling with them. Moreover, Lunison, throwing 

 himself at Eginhard's feet, confessed with many tears what actu- 

 ally took place. It will be remembered that, after the body of St. 

 Marcellinus was abstracted from its tomb, Ratleig deposited it in 

 the house of Deusdona, in charge of the latter's brother, Lunison. 

 But Hunus, being very much disappointed that he could not get 



* The words are scrinia sine clave, which seem to mean " having no key." But the cir- 

 cumstances forbid the idea of breaking open. 



