And best of all knights alive;
And all that thou doest from this day forth,
Whate’er it be, shall thrive.
“‘For dearer to Heaven is one pitying word
Than rich minsters or abbey-lands broad;
And the path of kindness to suffering man
Is the nearest way to God!’”
CHAPTER II
Facing a Monster
As the song proceeded, the moody lad bent forward to listen with a visibly brightening face, though in an attitude of reverent awe; for his first thought was one that would have occurred to any man of that age in his place—that the voice he heard was that of his patron saint, or of an angel sent down from heaven to comfort him in his distress.
But ere he could utter the devout thanksgiving that rose to his lips, he was checked by the sudden appearance of the singer himself.