“Brother Antony!” exclaimed the monk. “There is no such person here. I am the porter, and no one but me has opened this door for the last twenty years.”
For a moment poor Alfus stood on the threshold as if petrified. Then he beheld two monks slowly passing along the corridor. They, too, were strangers, but he reached forward and clutched one of them by the gown.
“Brethren,” he cried in agony, “I beseech you speak. Tell me what has happened. Only a few hours ago I left the monastery for a quiet walk in the woods, and now when I come back, behold, all is changed. Where is the Abbot? Where are my companions? Is there no one here who remembers Alfus?”
“Alfus—Alfus,” repeated one of the monks thoughtfully to himself. “There has been no one of that name here for a hundred years. There was once a man by that name in the monastery, but he disappeared long ago. I remember hearing about him when I was a small lad, but whether the story is true or not, I cannot tell.
“He went one morning, as was often his custom, to walk in the forest alone,” the monk went on, “and they never heard from him afterward. The monks sought for him throughout the forest day after day, but no trace of him could be found. He seemed to have vanished from the earth. The Abbot thought that God must have borne him up to Heaven in a chariot of fire like Elijah. He was a very holy man, indeed. But all this happened so long ago, that it may be simply a story.”
At these words a sudden light seemed to shine in the face of poor Alfus. He sank to his knees and clasped his trembling hands as if in prayer.
“Now I understand, O God, that a thousand years are but as a day in thy sight. A whole century passed while I held my breath to listen to the song of the bird—the bird which sings at the gate of Paradise. Forgive my doubts, O Lord, and grant that I may enter into thy rest.”
As the monks looked at Alfus they saw that a great calm had settled upon his face. A radiant smile played about his lips. He sank back gently upon a settle and the wondering monks crowded about him, but to their astonishment he did not move, and when they looked more closely they saw that his pure soul had flown away to his Heavenly mansion, there to enjoy endless ages of unchanging happiness.