"Truly, I assure you that even beyond the corporal fatigue which explains that state in the morning, there is then an aggression of the demon, an incessant temptation to make us recite the office badly."
"And you all undergo this strife?"
"All; and this does not hinder," concluded the monk, whose face was radiant, "this does not hinder us from being very happy here.
"Because all these trials are nothing beside the deep and intimate joys which our good God gives us. Ah! He is a generous Master; he pays us a hundred-fold for our poor sorrows."
As they spoke, they had passed through the corridor and had arrived at its other end.
The monk opened the door, and Durtal was astounded to find himself in a vestibule just opposite his own cell.
"I did not think," he said, "that I was living so near you."
"This house is a regular labyrinth—but M. Bruno will take you to the library where the Father prior is waiting for you; for I must go to my business. We shall meet presently," he said, with a smile.
The library was situated on the other side of the staircase by which Durtal reached his chamber. It was large, furnished with shelves from top to bottom, occupied in the middle by a sort of counter table on which also were spread rows of books.
Father Maximin said to Durtal,