dly peril of his life, and to save him from the
malice of his foes must be the first consideration now. The
existence of the secret chamber was not known even to their father.
Not a soul in the house or in the world knew of it save the three
brothers and Warbel. Warbel was absolutely to be trusted. He owed
too much himself to that retreat to wish to betray its existence to
others, and he loathed and hated the whole household of Mortimer;
and it was very plain to all concerned that Mortimer was working
hand in hand with the prior in this matter--the one to obtain
possession of the person of the offending monk, the other to find
cause of accusation against the owner of Chad for harbouring and
concealing a suspected person, in defiance of the laws of the land
and of the Church.

That there was conspiracy afoot against Chad and its master Edred
did not for a moment doubt; but the first consideration must now be
the safe hiding of Brother Emmanuel, and the boys dashed eagerly
through the empty house, to find him in the little chantry, where
so many of his hours were spent.

He was reading the office of vespers without any congregation to
assist. Instinctive reverence caused the boys to kneel in silence
till the brief service concluded, and then, after prostrating
themselves before the altar, they beckoned vehemently to the monk
to follow them, and conducted him up a narrow winding stair, but
little used, to the large sleeping chamber which the three brothers
had shared ever since their early childhood.

Once there Julian carefully locked the door, whilst Edred in brief
and graphic words told the story of that day's spectacle. Brother
Emmanuel listened calmly, with his features set into an expression
which the boys were beginning to know well, although they did not
read its meaning aright. Sternness and resolve were strangely
blended with an infinite compassion and a look of almost divine
tenderness; his words were few, and carried little of their meaning
home to the hearts of the boys.

"And thus they strive, thus they think to check the growth of the
evil weed by fire and by the sword! Yet even nature may teach them
that the burned field only yields the richer crop, and that the
plough tearing its way along is a fertilizer of the earth. Would to
heaven they would send forth evangelists from the Church, not with
fire and sword, but with the sword of the Spirit--the Word of
God--with the lamp of life in their hands; not