Gabriel could not help but see, however, that it took him some time to regain the interest he had felt in his work, and it was not until the afternoon was half-gone that he seemed to forget his troubles enough really to have heart in the pages he was making.
When dusk fell, Gabriel picked up and arranged his things in order, and bidding Brother Stephen good night, trudged off home.
CHAPTER III.
GABRIEL INTERVIEWS THE ABBOT
HE next day of Gabriel's service passed off much the same as the first, and so it went for almost a week; but the boy saw day by day that Brother Stephen's chain became more and more unbearable to him, and that he had long fits of brooding, when he looked so miserable and unhappy that Gabriel's heart fairly ached for him.
At last the lad, who was a sympathetic little fellow, felt that he could stand it no longer, but must try and help him in some way.
"If I could only speak to the Abbot himself," thought Gabriel, "surely he would see that Brother Stephen is set free!"