rs pursued their pastime, with now and then an audible oath, or
muttered imprecation, which belied that docility mine host had boasted
of. The troubadour played and the morio yet listened. Several of a
group who had been singing now sat in sullen silence. Suddenly one of
them muttered a broken sentence and his fellows immediately turned
their eyes toward the corner where were fool and jestress. This ripple
of interest did not escape the young girl's attention, who said
uneasily:

"Why do those men look at us?"

"One of them spoke to the others," replied the jester. "He called
attention to something."

"What do you suppose it was?" she asked curiously.

"_Gladius gemmatus!_" ["The jeweled sword."]

Whence came the voice? Near the couple, in a shadow, sat a woebegone
looking man who had been holding a book so close to his eyes as to
conceal his face. Now he permitted the volume to fall and the jester
uttered an exclamation of surprise, as he looked upon those pinched,
worn, but well-remembered features.

"The scamp-student!" he said.

Immediately the reader buried his head once more behind the book and
spoke aloud in Latin as though quoting some passage which he followed
with his finger; "Did you understand?"

"Yes," answered the _plaisant_, apparently speaking to the jestress,
whose face wore a puzzled expression.

The scamp-student laid the volume on the table. "These men are outlaws
and intend to kill you for your jeweled sword," he continued in the
language of Horace.

"Why do you tell me this?" asked the fool in the same tongue, now
addressing directly the scholar.

"Because you spared my life once; I would serve you now."

"What's all this monk's gibberish about?" cried an angry voice, as the
master of the boar stepped toward them.

"A discussion between two scholars," readily answered the scamp-student.

"Why don't you talk in a language we understand?" grumbled the man.

"Latin is the tongue of learning," was the humble response.

"I like not the sound of it," retorted the other, as he retired. From
a distance, however, he continued to cast suspicious glances in their
direction. Bewildered, the girl looked from one of the alleged
controverters to the other. Who was this starveling the jester seemed
to know? Again were they conversing in the language of the monastery,
and their colloquy led to a conclusion as unexpected as it was
startling.

"What if we leave the inn now?" asked th