And the next morning the student who had thrown away his books gathered them together again, and was intent on his work; for next week there was to be a great competition for prizes, and the prizes and praises were precious, and nearer than the Judgment. Where the heart is, the treasure will be also.
But the student Gottfried, who had rejoiced in science as a revealing of God, had arisen first, and was below in the infirmary helping the lay brothers to nurse the sick. For there had been a pestilence in the city, and the beds were full, and he thought, "After that Day, O Master, there will be time to learn of Thy works; but there is little time left to minister to Thee and Thy sick. The time of service is short; I will wait to know!"
And even as he served, he learned many things. Love deepened the capacity for knowledge. The hours in the intervals of work were more fruitful than the whole day had been before.
IV.
So the months passed on, and old habits regained their force. The miser collected the treasure he loved; Gammer Trüdchen's stall still gathered to it the evil reports she welcomed; the student won the honours he toiled for, and toiled for more; the baron delayed his reparation; blind Bruno nursed the bitter sense of his wrongs.
Terror could not break the chains of habit. The dread of a Day could not change the heart.
But all the time mother Margarethe's prayers went up from the hut in the forest, and the maiden Beatrix's from the turret in the castle.
And little Hilda sought in her heart on all sides for the answer to the question, not what will the Day be like? but what is the Judge like, and what pleases Him now?
So it went on until the Holy Week; and then on Good Friday old Christopher the hermit came from his solitude in the pine forest to preach to the people.