"Well, Brother Lawrence, what do you say?"
Brother Lawrence stuck out his lower jaw and assumed the expression of the good boy in a Sunday School class.
"St. Joseph was the foster-father of Our Blessed Lord, Reverend Brother," he said primly. "I think it would be most disrespectful both to Our Blessed Lord and to Our Blessed Lady if we didn't keep his feast-day, though I am sure St. Joseph would have no objection to daffodils. No objections at all. His whole life and character show him to have been a man of the greatest humility and forbearance."
The Prior rocked with laughter. This was the kind of speech that sometimes rewarded his teasing.
"We always kept St. Joseph's day at the Visitation, Hornsey," Brother Nicholas volunteered. "In fact we always made it a great feature. We found it came as such a relief in Lent."
The Prior nodded his head mockingly.
"These young folk can teach us a lot about the way to worship God, Brother Birinus," he commented.
Brother Birinus scowled.
"I broke three shares ploughing that bad bit of ground by the fir trees," he announced gloomily. "I think I'll drill in the oats to-morrow in the ten-acre. It's no good ploughing deep," he added reproachfully.
"Well, I believe in deep ploughing," the Prior argued.