The Ancient Witnesses

288 • The Ancient Witnesses: A Journey to Discover Our Sacred Roots

and secret of our unrepeatable experience. That much, anyway, is what I understood from Mentor’s hurried farewell speech. One piece of the puzzle, however, did not fit: everyone we had met at the Athenaeum was an identifiable historical figure, except Mentor. Who was he and where would he go after this? I could see by the look on Cesar’s face that he was struggling with the idea of having to leave the Athenaeum behind. He quietly besieged Mentor with questions as we helped him reshelf his books. When the reading room was in order, Mentor hurried us through the same door we had entered when we first discovered the library. “Come on Cesar,” called Preacher, as we moved into the passageway. “I’m not going,” said Cesar, from the reading room. Mentor, always peaceful and confident, now appeared anxious as Cesar revealed to us what he had learned about our guide. His name was Cornelius Witherspoon and he was born in Scotland in the late 1700s. He had accidently discovered the Athenaeum while on antique buying trip to the Ottoman Empire. Captivated by all the ancient books, he remained within the walls of Nicaea to learn as much as he could from the man who was hosting visitors to the Athenaeum at that time. The host, who was known as Mentor, never explained how he had come to be there. Then one day he simply disappeared, leaving behind a note that read, My tenure is now completed. Please stay until a mature replacement arrives. Otherwise, the door to our ancient witnesses will be forever shut. You, sir, are now the Mentor.