“Where are we?” he asked.
“At a place where you will be in safety and well tended,” returned Peregrine.
“You will be with me?” asked the child very anxious. And the Abbot waited for the answer.
“Nay,” responded Peregrine. “I have further to travel. But you need have no fear. An’ I were not assured of your welfare I would not leave you. You will bide here.”
There was finality in the words which the child did not gainsay. Too long had command been known to him for him to be unwitting of its tone. Peregrine felt him tremble in his arms, but no word came from his lips.
The Abbot knocked upon the Mercy Door. It opened, showing a lay brother standing within.
“Take the horse,” said the Abbot to him after a word of greeting.
The brother departed with it, the Abbot turned to Peregrine.
“You are determined to continue your journey?”
“I am determined,” replied Peregrine briefly.