"One would think there had been a mighty battle there, my squire."
"It reminds me of the field of Armageddon, of which I heard the Chaplain talk. I wonder whether it will come soon."
"Dost thou believe in all those priestly pratings?"
"My grandfather taught me to do so."
"And the rough life of a castle has not yet made thee forget his homilies?"
"No," sighed Osric.
The sigh touched the hardened man.
"If he has faith, why should I destroy it?" Then he added as if almost against his will—
"Keep thy faith; I would I shared it."
The fortifications of the town, the castle on the Oxford road, the gateway hard by, came in sight at the next turn of the road, but Brian avoided them, and sought a gate lower down which admitted to the abbey precincts, where he was not so likely to be asked inconvenient questions.