enerous; he liked these
good folks, and knew nothing whatever to their discredit. He was
sure that, whatever they might privately believe, they were good
and trustworthy folks, and he gave his word to do all that he
could, if chance offered, with an emphasis that won him the hearty
thanks of the farmer.

Nor was the chance very long in coming: for only on the afternoon
of the next day a portly monk jogged up to the farm on his sleek
palfrey; and Paul, who was seated near to the door, rose and bent
his knee, asking the customary blessing; after which the monk
dismounted, and made his way into the kitchen to give some order to
the good mistress of the house.

The monks of those days were regular gossips, and loved a chat, as
they sat in the chimney corner enjoying a cup of the best wine the
house afforded, or a substantial meal of the choicest products of
the larder. Brother Lawrence was no exception to this rule; and the
farmer's wife bestirred herself to get him everything he could
fancy, whilst he sat and questioned Paul as to his history and the
adventure which had brought him to this homestead. Very much did he
enjoy hearing of the discomfiture of the robbers, and laughed quite
merrily to think how they had been overcome by the handsome
stripling before him.

Presently, when Mistress Devenish had gone away to make some
inquiries respecting the flitches of bacon required for the Priory,
Brother Lawrence beckoned Paul somewhat nearer, and said, in a low
voice, in his ear:

"Be in no haste to depart from hence, my son. It may be that there
is work for you here for the Holy Church. It is whispered by one
and another that yon good woman, as I would fain believe her to be,
is somewhat tainted with the damnable heresy they call Lollardism,
and that she has in her possession one of those Bibles which that
arch-heretic Wycliffe translated into the vulgar tongue for the
undoing of the unlearned, who think that they can thus judge for
themselves on matters too high for them. You, my son, as a true son
of the Church, may do us great service by keeping open both ears
and eyes, and telling if you see or hear ought amiss. I would fain
learn that no such evil is done among these good folks; but if it
be that the leaven is working, it will be your duty to tell us
thereof, and we will see if the evil may not be stamped out ere it
has spread to others, or much corrupted even them that are tainted.
We trust that the days are dawn