house at Crowland: it seemed to stand upon piles driven deep into the marshy ground; the lower part of the building was of stone, brick, and rubble, and very strong; but all the upper part was of wood, even as the wayfaring novice had lamented. A few small round-headed arches, with short thick mullions, showed where was the chapel, and where the hall, which last served as refectory, chapter, and for many other uses. Detached from the chapel was a low thick campanile or bell-tower, constructed like the main building, partly of stone, brick, and rubble, and partly of timber, the upper part having open arches, through which might be seen the squat old bell and the ponderous mallet, which served instead of a clapper. The Welland almost washed the back of the house, and a deep trench, filled by the water of the river, went round the other sides. Without being hailed or seen by any one, the young man walked round from the river-bank to the front of the house, where the walls were pierced by a low arched gateway, and one small grated window a little above the arch. "The brothers are all asleep, and before supper time!" said the novice, "but I must rouse old Hubert." He then blew his horn as loud as he could blow it. After a brief pause a loud but cracked voice cried from within the gates, "Who comes hither, after evening song?"

"It is I, Elfric the novice."

"The voice is verily that of child Elfric; but I must see with my eyes as well as hear with mine ears, for the Norman be prowling all about, and these be times when the wolf counterfeiteth the voice of the lamb."

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'Open, Hubert, open," cried the novice, " open,

in the name of Saint Chad! for I am wet, tired, and a-hungred, and the evening wind is beginning to blow coldly from the meres. Open thy gate, Hubert, and let fall the bridge; I am so hungry that I could eat the planks! Prithee, is supper ready?"

To this earnest address no answer was returned; but after a minute or two the twilight showed a cowled head behind the grates of the window-a head that seemed nearly all eyes, so intensely did the door-porter look forth across the moat and then the voice which before had been heard below, was heard above, saying, "The garb and figure be verily those of Elfric, and the water streams from him to the earth. Ho! Elfric the novice-an thou be he throw back thy hood, and give the sign!"

"Abbat Thurstan and Saint Etheldreda for the East Englanders!" shouted the young man.

Here, another voice was heard from within the building, calling out "Hubert, whom challengest? Is it Elfric returning from Crowland ?"

"Yea," quoth the portarius, "it is Elfric the novice safe back from Crowland, but dripping like a water-rat, and shivering in the wind. Come, help me lower the bridge, and let him in."

The gate was soon opened, and the narrow drawbridge lowered. The youth entered, and then helped to draw up the bridge and make fast the iron-studded door. Within the archway every member of the little community, except those who were preparing the evening repast or spreading the tables in the refectory, and the superior who was prevented by his gout and his dignity from de-. scending to the door-way to meet a novice (be his errand what it might), was standing on tip-toe, and open-mouthed for news; but Elfric was a prac

tised messenger, and knowing that the bringer of bad news is apt to meet with a cold welcome, and that the important tidings he brought ought to be communicated first to the head of the house, he hurried through the throng, and crossing a cloistered court, and ascending a flight of stairs, he went straight to the cell of Father Adhelm, the sub-prior of Crowland Abbey, who ruled the succursal cell of Spalding. The monks followed him into the room; but the novices and lay-brothers stopped short at the threshold, taking care to keep the door ajar so that they might hear whatsoever was said within. "I give thee my benison, oh, my child! and may the saints bless thee, for thou art back sooner than I weened. But speak, oh Elfric! quick! tell me what glad tidings thou bringest from my Lord Abbat and our faithful brethren at Crowland, and what news of that son of the everlasting fire, our evil neighbour Ivo Taille-Bois ?"

After he had reverentially kissed the hand of his superior, Elfric the novice spake and said :

"Father, I bring no glad tidings; my news be all bad news! Ivo Taille-Bois is coming against us to complete his iniquities, by finishing our destruction; and the Abbat and our faithful brethren at Crowland are harassed and oppressed themselves, and cannot help us!"

The faces of the monks grew very long; but they all said in one voice, "Elfric, thou dreamest. Elfric, thou speakest of things that cannot be; for hath not my Lord Abbat obtained the king's peace, and security for the lives of all his flock and the peaceful possession of all our houses, succursal cells, churches and chapels, farms and lands whatsoever, together with our mills, fisheries, stews, warrens,

and all things appertaining to our great house and order?"

One of the primary duties imposed upon novices was to be silent when their elders spake. Elfric stood with his hands crossed upon his breast and with his eyes bent upon the floor, until the superior said "Peace, brothers! let there be silence until the youth hath reported what he hath heard and seen." And then turning to Elfric, Father Adhelm added, "Bring you no missive from our good Abbat?"

"Yea," said the novice, "I am the bearer of an epistle from my Lord Abbat to your reverence; and lo! it is here." And he drew forth from under his inner garment a round case made of tin, and presented it most respectuously to the superior.

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"I am enduring the pains of the body as well as the agony of the spirit," said the superior, "and my swollen right hand refuses its office; brother Cedric, undo the case.'

Cedric took the case, opened it, took out a scroll of parchment, kissed it as if it had been a relic, unrolled it, and handed it to the superior.

66 Verily this is a long missive," said the superior, running his eyes over it, "and alack, and woe the while, it commenceth with words of ill omen! Brethren, my eyes are dim and cannot read by twilight: the body moreover is faint, I having fasted from everything but prayer and meditation since the mid-day refection; and then, as ye can bear witness, I ate no meat, but only picked a stewed pike of the smallest. Therefore, brethren, I opine that we had better read my Lord Abbat's epistle after supper (when will they strike upon that refec

tory bell?), and only hear beforehand what Elfric hath to say."

The cloister-monks gladly assented, for they were as hungry as their chief, and, not being very quick at reading, were glad that the superior had not called for lights in the cell, and called upon them to read the letter.

"Now speak, Elfric, and to the point; tell the tale shortly, and after the evening meal the lamp shall be trimmed and we will draw our stools round the hearth in the hall, and read the abbat's epistle and deliberate thereupon."

Upon this injunction of Father Adhelm, the youth began to relate with very commendable brevity, that the abbey of Crowland was surrounded and in good part occupied by Norman knights and men-at-arms, who were eating the brotherhood out of house and home, and committing every kind of riot and excess; that the abbat had in vain pleaded the king's peace, and shown the letters of protection granted him by Lanfranc, the new foreign primate of the kingdom; that the Normans had seized upon all the horses and mules and boats of the community; and that the abbat (having received disastrous intelligence from the north and from other parts of England where the Saxon patriots had endeavoured to resist the conqueror), had fallen sick, and had scarcely strength to dictate and sign the letter he brought.

"These are evil tidings indeed," said the superior, "but the storm is yet distant, and may blow over without reaching us. It is many a rood from Crowland to Spalding, and there is many a bog between us. Those accursed knights and men-atarms will not readily risk their horses and their