in
his, and looked down into my eyes. And I said "Father" for the first
time thus, knowing that this was he of whom the vicomtesse told me.

"Thy father indeed," he said, "but ruined these many years by follies
more than by crimes, as this Augustine, mine old schoolfellow, will
tell."

"Father," said I, "Duke William and the vicomte will feel kindly to thee
for thy lot in this matter."

"It matters not," he answered; "I have long ago done with courts, and
now I have done with fighting. A quiet resting-place is all I want. And
in those solitary days Augustine and I have made our determination. Have
many brethren died in the siege?" he asked of Hugo, who nodded sadly.

"Then here is one to fill an empty hood," said my father. And I knew
that the priest of St. Apolline's had persuaded him to become a monk.

"Thou wilt go forth," he said to me, "to wars, and courts, and princes,
and may God shield thee still from all evil, as He hath so marvellously
done these perilous days. From Vale Cloister will I look out on thee in
pride of thy knightly fame, if such a small taint of earth as pride in
thee be there permitted."

In such a manner were we made known to one another, the son and the
father, and ere long Ralf de Bessin became Brother Francis of the Vale.

But I, ere that, had left my pupilage behind, and was numbered in the
retinue of my uncle the vicomte as he followed the ever-conquering
banner of William.

THE END.

HISTORICAL NOTES.

The chief authorities for the history and antiquities of Guernsey are:--

Du Moulin: "History of Normandy." [1631].
Thomas Dicey: "Historical Account of Guernsey."
William Berry: "History of the Island of Guernsey."
F.B. Tupper: "History of Guernsey."

Extracts bearing on the foregoing pages are quoted in these notes from
the above, but Du Moulin seems to be the writer on whom the later
authors have depended.

NOTE A.

_Archbishop Maugher_.--"William succeeded Robert A.D. 1035. One of his
most powerful opponents was his uncle Maugher, Archbishop of Rouen, who,
after William was settled in his Duchy of Normandy, excommunicated him
on pretence that his wife Matilda was too nearly related. William, in
1055, deposed and banished Maugher in consequence to the Isle of
Guernsey.... Insular tradition has fixed his residence near Saints Bay.

"Du Moulin says: 'Maugher, thus justly deposed, was banished to the
island of Guernsey, near Coutances, where, says Walsingham,