“There was a spy overhead who drank in every word.  He had no notion mine eyes had seen him, for he was marvellous well concealed, and I never should have found his hiding place had I not chanced one day to see him climbing into it.  Nobody will suspect now that we have had a hand in the hiding of the good brother.  But let us make all haste, for no man knows when the bloodhounds may be upon us to strive to take him away.”

Edred’s face was very pale, but steady and resolved.  He understood, better perhaps than his younger brother, the peril of the enterprise upon which they had embarked.  But he did not shrink from that one whit, only he did hope and trust that his father would never be implicated by their conduct; for if, after all, the priest were to be found hidden within the precincts of Chad, it was easy to prophesy a great reverse of fortune to all who dwelt therein.

However, even that consideration did not move him at this moment.  Brother Emmanuel, their preceptor and friend and comrade (for he had been all three to his pupils during his residence beneath their roof), stood in deadly peril of his life, and to save him from the malice of his foes must be the first consideration now.  The existence of the secret chamber was not known even to their father.  Not a soul in the house or in the world knew of it save the three brothers and Warbel.  Warbel was absolutely to be trusted.  He owed too much himself to that retreat to wish to betray its existence to others, and he loathed and hated the whole household of Mortimer; and it was very plain to all concerned that Mortimer was working hand in hand with the prior in this matter—­the one to obtain possession of the person of the offending monk, the other to find cause of accusation against the owner of Chad for harbouring and concealing a suspected person, in defiance of the laws of the land and of the Church.

That there was conspiracy afoot against Chad and its master Edred did not for a moment doubt; but the first consideration must now be the safe hiding of Brother Emmanuel, and the boys dashed eagerly through the empty house, to find him in the little chantry, where so many of his hours were spent.

He was reading the office of vespers without any congregation to assist.  Instinctive reverence caused the boys to kneel in silence till the brief service concluded, and then, after prostrating themselves before the altar, they beckoned vehemently to the monk to follow them, and conducted him up a narrow winding stair, but little used, to the large sleeping chamber which the three brothers had shared ever since their early childhood.

Once there Julian carefully locked the door, whilst Edred in brief and graphic words told the story of that day’s spectacle.  Brother Emmanuel listened calmly, with his features set into an expression which the boys were beginning to know well, although they did not read its meaning aright.  Sternness and resolve were strangely blended with an infinite compassion and a look of almost divine tenderness; his words were few, and carried little of their meaning home to the hearts of the boys.