father,' and like a noisome and dangerous animal he crept back in
the shadow of the hedge and disappeared.

'Aha!' chuckled Cargrim, as he walked towards the park gates, 'it has to
do with the police, then, my lord bishop. So much the better for me, so
much the worse for you.'

CHAPTER X

MORNING SERVICE IN THE MINSTER

The cathedral is the glory of Beorminster, of the county, and, indeed,
of all England, since no churches surpass it in size and splendour, save
the minsters of York and Canterbury. Founded and endowed by Henry II. in
1184 for the glory of God, it is dedicated to the blessed Saint Wulf of
Osserton, a holy hermit of Saxon times, who was killed by the heathen
Danes. Bishop Gandolf designed the building in the picturesque style of
Anglo-Norman architecture; and as the original plans have been closely
adhered to by successive prelates, the vast fabric is the finest example
extant of the Norman superiority in architectural science. It was begun
by Gandolf in 1185, and finished at the beginning of the present
century; therefore, as it took six hundred years in building, every
portion of it is executed in the most perfect manner. It is renowned
both for its beauty and sanctity, and forms one of the most splendid
memorials of architectural art and earnest faith to be found even in
England, that land of fine churches.

The great central tower rises to the height of two hundred feet in
square massiveness, and from this point springs a slender and graceful
spire to another hundred feet, so that next to Salisbury, the great
archetype of this special class of ecclesiastical architecture, it is
the tallest spire in England. Two square towers, richly ornamented,
embellish the western front, and beneath the great window over the
central entrance is a series of canopied arches. The church is cruciform
in shape, and is built of Portland stone, the whole being richly
ornamented with pinnacles, buttresses, crocketted spires and elaborate
tracery. Statues of saints, kings, queens and bishops are placed in
niches along the northern and southern fronts, and the western front
itself is sculptured with scenes from Holy Scripture in the quaint
grotesque style of mediaeval art. No ivy is permitted to conceal the
beauties of the building; and elevated in the clear air, far above the
smoke of the town, it looks as fresh and white and clean cut as though
it had been erected only within the last few years. Spared by Henry