Dom Anthony looked at it, turned and looked at Chris; and without a word the two passed out into the cloister and turned up the dormitory stairs.  To both of them it was a sign that the end was at hand.

* * * * *

On the following afternoon Mr. Morris ran in to Chris’s carrel, and found him putting the antiphonary and his implements up into a parcel.

“Master Christopher,” he said, “Sir James and Sir Nicholas are come.”

As he hurried out of the cloister he saw the horses standing there, spent with fast travelling, and the two riders at their heads, with the dust on their boots, and their clothes disordered.  They remained motionless as the monk came towards them; but he saw that his father’s face was working and that his eyes were wide and anxious.

“Thank God,” said the old man softly.  “I am in time.  They are coming to-night, Chris.”  But there was a questioning look on his face.

Chris looked at him.

“Will you take the horses?” said his father again.  “Nick and I are safe.”

Chris still stared bewildered.  Then he understood; and with understanding came decision.

“No, father,” he said.

The old man’s face broke up into lines of emotion.

“Are you sure, my son?”

Chris nodded steadily.

“Then we will all be together,” said Sir James; and he turned to lead his horse to the stable.

* * * * *

There was a little council held in the guest-house a few minutes later.  Dom Anthony hurried to it, his habit splashed with whitewash, for he had been cleaning the dormitory, and the four sat down together.

It seemed that Nicholas had ridden over from Great Keynes to Overfield earlier in the afternoon, and had brought the news that a company of men had passed through the village an hour before, and that one of them had asked which turn to take to Lewes.  Sir Nicholas had ridden after them and enquired their business, and had gathered that they were bound for the priory, and he then turned his horse and made off to Overfield.  His horse was spent when he arrived there; but he had changed horses and came on immediately with Sir James, to warn the monks of the approach of the men, and to give them an opportunity of making their escape if they thought it necessary.

“Who were the leaders?” asked the elder monk.

Nicholas shook his head.

“They were in front; I dared not ride up.”

But his sturdy face looked troubled as he answered, and Chris saw his father’s lips tighten.  Dom Anthony drummed softly on the table.

“There is nothing to be done,” he said.  “We wait till we are cast out.”

“You cannot refuse admittance?” questioned Sir James.

“But we shall do so,” said the other tranquilly; “at least we shall not open.”

“But they will batter the door down.”