efactorium for the melting of the lead, he had been told by one
of the men; and the church, as he had seen for himself, was full of
workmen.

"And the Blessed Sacrament?" asked Chris.

"A priest was sent for this morning to carry It away to a church; I know
not which."

Sir James described the method of destruction.

They were beginning with the apse and the chapels behind the high altar.
The ornaments had been removed, the images piled in a great heap in the
outer court, and the brasses had been torn up. There were half a dozen
masons busy at undercutting the pillars and walls; and as they excavated
the carpenters made wooden insertions to prop up the weight. The men had
been brought down from London, as the commissioners were not certain of
the temper of the Lewes people. Two of the four great pillars behind the
high altar were already cut half through.

"And Ralph?"

The old man's face grew tense and bitter.

"I saw him in the roof," he said; "he made as if he did not see me."

They were half-through dinner before Nicholas joined them. He was
flushed and dusty and furious.

"Ah! the hounds!" he said, as he stood at the door, trembling. "They
say they will have the chapels down before night. They have stripped the
lead."

Sir James looked up and motioned him to sit down.

"We will go down again presently," he said.

"But we have saved our luggage," went on Nicholas, taking his seat; "and
there was a parcel of yours, Chris, that I put with it. It is all to be
sent up with the horses to-night."

"Did you speak with Mr. Ralph?" asked Dom Anthony.

"Ah! I did; the dog! and I told him what I thought. But he dared not
refuse me the luggage. John is to go for it all to-night."

He told them during dinner another fact that he had learned.

"You know who is to have it all?" he said fiercely, his fingers
twitching with emotion.

"It is Master Gregory Cromwell, and his wife, and his baby. A fine
nursery!"

* * * * *

As the evening drew on, Chris was again at the window alone. He had said
his office earlier in the afternoon, and sat here again now, with his
hands before him, staring down at the church.

One of the servants had come up with a message from Sir James an hour
before telling him not to expect them before dusk; and that they would
send up news of any further developments. The whole town was there, said
the man: it had been found impossible to keep them out. Dom