iest, with dark mirthful eyes and a
thick outgrowth of crisp black hair all round his tonsured head. Between
them stood a lean, white-faced brother who appeared to be ill at ease,
shifting his feet from side to side and tapping his chin nervously with
the long parchment roll which he held in his hand. The Abbot, from his
point of vantage, looked down on the two long lines of faces, placid and
sun-browned for the most part, with the large bovine eyes and unlined
features which told of their easy, unchanging existence. Then he turned
his eager fiery gaze upon the pale-faced monk who faced him.

"This plaint is thine, as I learn, brother Ambrose," said he. "May the
holy Benedict, patron of our house, be present this day and aid us in
our findings! How many counts are there?"

"Three, most holy father," the brother answered in a low and quavering
voice.

"Have you set them forth according to rule?"

"They are here set down, most holy father, upon a cantle of sheep-skin."

"Let the sheep-skin be handed to the chancellor. Bring in brother John,
and let him hear the plaints which have been urged against him."

At this order a lay-brother swung open the door, and two other
lay-brothers entered leading between them a young novice of the order.
He was a man of huge stature, dark-eyed and red-headed, with a peculiar
half-humorous, half-defiant expression upon his bold, well-marked
features. His cowl was thrown back upon his shoulders, and his gown,
unfastened at the top, disclosed a round, sinewy neck, ruddy and corded
like the bark of the fir. Thick, muscular arms, covered with a reddish
down, protruded from the wide sleeves of his habit, while his white
shirt, looped up upon one side, gave a glimpse of a huge knotty leg,
scarred and torn with the scratches of brambles. With a bow to the
Abbot, which had in it perhaps more pleasantry than reverence, the
novice strode across to the carved prie-dieu which had been set apart
for him, and stood silent and erect with his hand upon the gold bell
which was used in the private orisons of the Abbot's own household. His
dark eyes glanced rapidly over the assembly, and finally settled with a
grim and menacing twinkle upon the face of his accuser.

The chancellor rose, and having slowly unrolled the parchment-scroll,
proceeded to read it out in a thick and pompous voice, while a subdued
rustle and movement among the brothers bespoke the interest with which
they followed the proceeding