No one noticed Damien, who was engaged in a larcenous act. He had just stolen Chaplain Budman's Bible.

There were no Bibles in the boys' rooms. The school might have thought to provide them with books on football plays, but not with the Word of God. And the long arm of Gideon did not reach as far as Davidson. The first place Damien had gone to look for a Bible was the library, which seemed the most logical place to start. But he had been unable to locate one even there. He assumed he was working in the wrong stacks or under the wrong titles in the card index, but he was much too cautious to ask for help. He wanted no one to know.

But, being an intelligent and resourceful boy, he realized that the staff member most likely to have a copy of the Bible in his office was, of course, the chaplain. It was simply a matter of finding it.

And so he waited until the midafternoon break when most cadets and staff retired to their rooms, and when the band would be making lots of noise. Then he stole into the chaplain's office, which, in keeping with the honor system at Davidson, was never locked.

There were several copies of the King James version of the Bible on the shelf behind Budman's desk. Damien took the drabbest-looking volume hoping it would be the one least likely to be missed. He was counting on reading it that afternoon and having it back the same night.

As he moved along the balcony toward his room, the blood was racing through his veins. He shoved aside the curtain that took the place of a door to his room ('A fella who needs a lock is a fella with something to hide,' the Colonel liked to say) and sat down to collect himself. He held his head in his hands to keep it from spinning with the dizziness and excitement of the moment.

He was about to find out who he was.

It was a terrifying prospect. How many people, if told a particular book held the answer to the riddle of their existence, would have the courage to open its pages?

Damien, for one, did. Tearing the blanket and sheets off his bed and piling them below the curtained door to block out the light that was evidence of his presence, he pulled the stolen Bible from under his military tunic, stretched himself full-length on his taut belly on the bare mattress, and set the book on the floor, where the light from the single tensor lamp would best hit it. He opened the Bible to the Book of Revelation and began to read.

And all the world wondered after the Beast. And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the Beast. And they worshipped the Beast, saying, 'Who is like unto the Beast? Who is able to make war with him?’