en cloister, stood a tall house of grey
stone. In a room looking out upon the graveyard sate two men. The room
had an austere air; its plain whitened walls bore a single picture, so
old and dark that it was difficult to see what was represented in it.
On some shelves stood a few volumes; near the window was a tall black
crucifix of plain wood, the figure white. There was an oak table with
writing materials. The floor was paved with squares of wood.

The two men sate close together. One was an old and weather-worn man
in a secular dress of dark material; the other a young priest in a
cassock, whose pale face, large eyes and wasted hands betokened
illness, or the strain of some overmastering thought. It seemed as
though they had been holding a grave conversation of strange or sad
import, and had fallen into a momentary silence.

The priest was the first to speak. "Well, beloved physician," he said,
in a slow and languid voice, though with a half-smile, "I have told
you my trouble; and I would have your most frank opinion."

"I hardly know what to say," said the Doctor. "I have prescribed for
many years and do not know that I ever heard the like; I must tell you
plainly that such things are not written in our medical books."

The priest said nothing, but looked sadly out of the window; presently
the Doctor said, "Let me hear the tale from the first beginning, dear
Herbert;--it is well to have the whole complete. I would consult with
a learned friend of mine about this dark matter, a physician who is
more skilled than I am in maladies of the mind--for I think that more
ails the mind than the body."

"Well," said the priest a little wearily, "I will tell it you.

"Almost a year ago, on one of the hottest days of the early summer, I
went abroad as usual, about noon, to visit Mistress Dennis who was
ill. I do not think I felt myself to be unwell, and was full to the
brim of little joyous businesses; I stood for a time at the porch to
speak with Master Dennis himself, who came in just as I left the
house, and I stood uncovered at the door; suddenly the sun stabbed and
struck me, as with a scythe, and I saw a whirling blackness before my
eyes and staggered. Master Dennis was alarmed, and would have had me
go within; but I would not, for I had other work to do; so he led me
home; that afternoon I sate over my book; but I could neither read nor
think; I was in pain, I remember, and felt that some strange thing had
happened t