"I could have wished thee a better school, but doubtless thou art leaving them in disgust with their evil deeds of which we hear daily; in fact, we are told that the townspeople cannot sleep for the shrieks of the captives in the towers."
"It is in order to atone for ever having shared in their deeds that I have left them, and the very penance laid on me is to fight for the Cross of Christ in atonement for my error."
"And what will Brian think of it?"
"I must not let him get hold of me."
"Then tarry here till I return to Reading, and assuming the palmer's dress, travel in our train out of his country; he will not dare to assail us."
It was wise counsel.
On the morrow Mass was said in the chapel, which occupied the upper story of the house, over the dormitories, under a high arched roof, which was the general arrangement in such country houses of the monks;[28] and at the offertory Osric offered himself to God as a Crusader, took the vow, and the Abbot bound the red cross on his arm.
FOOTNOTES:
[27] This cruelly ingenious contrivance of thumbscrew, lock, and steel chain may be seen at the house of John Knox, at Edinburgh, amongst other similar curiosities.
[28] The author has twice seen the remains of such chapels in the upper stories of farmhouses—once monastic granges.