ine. "For," says he, "as the Egyptians
had not only idols to be detested by Israelites, but also precious
ornaments of gold and silver, to be carried off by them in flight, so
the science of the Gentiles is not only composed of superstitions to be
abhorred, but of liberal arts to be used in the service of truth."'

They walked a short distance without further speech, then the prior
stopped.

'Many there are,' he said, with a gesture indicating the world below,
'who think that we flee the common life only for our souls' salvation.
So, indeed, it has been in former times, and God forbid that we should
speak otherwise than with reverence of those who abandoned all and
betook themselves to the desert that they might live in purity and
holiness. But to us, by the grace bestowed upon our holy father, has
another guidance been shown. Know, my son, that, in an evil time, we
seek humbly to keep clear, not for ourselves only, but for all men, the
paths of righteousness and of understanding. With heaven's blessing we
strive to preserve what else might utterly perish, to become not only
guardians of God's law but of man's learning.'

Therewith did the prior take his leave, and Basil pondered much on what
he had heard. It was a new light to him, for, as his instructor
suspected, he shared the common view of coenobite aims, and still but
imperfectly understood the law of Benedict. All at once the life of
this cloister appeared before him in a wider and nobler aspect. In the
silent monks bent over their desks he saw much more than piety and
learning. They rose to a dignity surpassing that of consul or praefect.
With their pens they warred against the powers of darkness, a grander
conflict than any in which men drew sword. He wished he could talk of
this with his cousin Decius, for Decius knew so much more than he, and
could look so much deeper into the sense of things.

Days passed. Not yet did he receive a summons to the abbot's tower.
Rapidly recovering strength, he worked long in the fields, and
scrupulously performed his penitential exercises. Only, when he had
finished his daily reading of the appointed psalms, he turned to that
which begins: 'Blessed is every one that feareth the Lord, that walketh
in His ways.' How could he err in dwelling upon the word of God? One
day, as he closed the book, his heart was so full of a strange,
half-hopeful, half-fearful longing, that it overflowed in tears; and
amid his weeping came a memo