t will make when we
shall tell him: 'We are here by the grace of Charles Martel. Vacate the
place, priest of Satan, and give us the key of the cellar and pantry for
us to eat and drink our fill!'"

Being now near the slaves towards whom they had ridden, Berthoald asked
one of them where the abbey of Meriadek was.

"Not far from here, seigneur; the crossroad that you see there down
below, bordered with poplars, leads straight to the abbey."

"Is an abbot or an abbess at the head of the abbey of Meriadek?"

"It is our holy abbess Meroflede."

"An abbess!" repeated Berthoald in surprise. And laughing he asked
again: "Is she young and handsome, this abbess Meroflede?"

"Seigneur, I could not answer your question, never having seen her but
from a distance and enveloped in her veils."

"If she envelops herself in her veils she must be ugly," put in Richulf,
shaking his head doubtfully. "Are the lands of the abbey fertile? Has it
many herds of swine? Does it gather in good wine?"

"The lands of the abbey are very fertile, seigneur ... the herds of
swine and sheep are very large. Two days ago we carried our rent to the
abbey and the colonists their money. It was with difficulty that the
large shed of the monastery could contain all the cattle and provisions
taken there."

"Berthoald," said Richulf, "Charles Martel has dealt generously by us.
But we arrive two days too late. The rents are paid, perhaps also
consumed by the abbess and her nuns. We will find neither pork nor wine
left."

The young chief did not seem to share the apprehensions of his
companion, and said to the slave: "Well, my poor fellow, that road lined
with poplars, there ahead of us, leads to the abbey of Meriadek?"

"Yes, seigneur; you can reach the place in half an hour."

"Thank you for the information."

Berthoald and Richulf were about to turn their horses' heads and rejoin
their troop when the latter, breaking out into a loud guffaw, observed:
"By my beard, I have never seen anyone so kind and civil towards these
dogs as you, Berthoald."

"It pleases me to be so--"

"And that makes you an odd man in everything that concerns these slaves.
One would think that it hurts you to see them.... We have about twenty
female slaves in the carts that we are dragging after us as part of the
booty. Some of them are very beautiful. You never as much as had the
curiosity of looking at them ... yet they belong to you as much as to
the rest of us."

"I