arbouring a heretic is little short
of that of heresy itself. Have a care you do not lose all just for
the caprice of the moment, which in time to come you will have
leisure bitterly to repent."

The prior, too, was eying him sternly.

"Lord Mortimer gives good counsel, Sir Oliver," he said. "Thou
knowest I am no enemy of thine. What has this day passed must have
shown thee that. Thou knowest that there be some here who might
have been called before me today to answer for their deeds who have
been spared for their youth and gentle birth. Thou hast had proof
that I am no enemy of thine. But the walls of Chad must not harbour
a heretic. Brother Emmanuel is there; he hath been there, and hath
not sallied forth this many days, showing that a guilty conscience
keeps him within. He cannot go forth without my knowledge; and if
thou wilt not give him up to me, I must obtain authority and have
the house searched and the man dragged forth. And I tell thee
freely, if it be found that thou hast lent thine aid in harbouring
a heretic and disobedient monk, thy lands will be forfeit, if not
thy life, and the Lord of Mortimer will be likewise Lord of Chad."

At that moment, had any person had eyes to heed it, it might have
been observed that Edred and Julian slipped like veritable shadows
through the packed crowd. The next moment they had reached the
gateway, had passed under it without exciting any observation, and
as soon as they reached the cover of the forest, they set off to
run towards Chad as fast as their legs could carry them--far faster
than their horses could have borne them through the narrow paths of
the tangled wood.

Chapter VIII: Hidden Away.

Fleetly, silently, untiringly ran the two brothers, without
exchanging a single word of their purpose even to each other. The
distance from the priory to the house was a matter of some two
miles, but to the trained and hardy limbs of the country-bred lads
a two miles' run was a trifle, and they were only slightly flushed
and winded when they paused, by mutual consent, a short distance
from Chad, at a point where the tall turrets and battlements became
visible over the treetops.

Julian, who was a few paces in advance, pulled up short, and caught
his brother by the arm.

"Hist!" he whispered cautiously. "I trow the prior's spies be still
on the watch. We must not be seen coming in this guise. Let us wait
a few moments till our breath be returned; then we will go for