n, the accused, and brother ambrose, the accuser. and the
novices?"
"let them bide in the north alley of the cloisters. stay! bid
the sub-chancellor send out to them thomas the lector to read
unto them from the 'gesta beati benedicti.' it may save them
from foolish and pernicious babbling."
the abbot was left to himself once more, and bent his thin gray
face over his illuminated breviary. so he remained while the
senior monks filed slowly and sedately into the chamber seating
themselves upon the long oaken benches which lined the wall on
either side. at the further end, in two high chairs as large as
that of the abbot, though hardly as elaborately carved, sat the
master of the novices and the chancellor, the latter a broad and
portly priest, 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 chamberlain 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 proceedings.
"charges brought upon the second thursday after the feast of the
assumption, in the year of our lord thirteen hundred and sixty-
six, against brother john, formerly known as hordle john, or john
of hordle, but now a novice in the holy monastic order of the
cistercians. read upon the same day at the abbey of beaulieu in
the presence of the most reverend abbot berghersh and of the
assembled order.
"the charges against the said brother john are the following,
namely, to wit:
"first, that on the above-mentioned feast of the assumption,
small beer having been served to the novices in the proportion of
one quart to each four, the said brother john did drain the pot
at one draught to the detriment of brother paul, brother porphyry
and brother ambrose, who could scarce eat their none-meat of
salted stock-fish on account of their exceeding dryness,"
at this solemn indictment the novice raised his hand and twitched
his lip, while even the placid senior brothers glanced across at
each other and coughed to cover their amusement. the abbot alone
sat gray and immutable, with a drawn face and a brooding eye.
"item, that having been told by the master of the novices that he
should restrict his food for two days to a single three-pound
loaf of bran and beans, for the greater honoring and glorifying
of st. monica, mother of the holy augustine, he was heard by
brother ambrose and others to say that he wished twenty thousand
devils would fly away with the said monica, mother of the holy
augustine, or any other saint who came between a man and his
meat. item, that upon br
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