found another cloister with their money, in which noble young girls should be educated by good cloister sisters. Walo complied with her wish gladly; for he loved the kingdom of God, and at that time the cloisters were simply the abodes of piety; they were not yet places of idleness, but of diligence; not homes of lawlessness, but of modesty; not of superstition, but of faith. "'About four miles from his place on the river Böhme lay a wide tract of meadow land, bordered by a magnificent thick wood of oaks and beeches. When Walo travelled through the country as graf, he had often been greatly pleased with this spot; and it had occurred to him that such beauty ought not to remain any longer given up to wild beasts, but should become a dwelling-place for men. This thought recurred now vividly to his mind. His wife desired to see the place too. So they went to view it, and decided to build a cloister there, around which then other human dwellings would grow up, but the cloister itself should be the home of pious ladies whose special business should be the bringing up of nobly-born young girls. The wood was rooted up' (_roden_ is to root up); 'and on the _Rode_' (that is, the space cleared) 'the cloister was built, which thereupon was called _Walo's Rode_; about which later the village _Walsrode_ was settled, which still later spread itself out into a little city, having the cloister to thank for its origin. Walo not only built the cloister at his own expense, but also endowed it for its support with the tithes of the Bekedorf village, which belonged to the manor. It is but a little while since the Bekedorfers bought off these tithes. "'I must state, however, that in my extracts from the chronicle there occurs a divergence from the usual dates. That is, I have formerly read under a picture of Graf Walo in the cloister church at Walsrode the number of the year 986. In my extracts, on the other hand, it is said that the cloister was founded by Walo in the year of grace 974, and consecrated by Bishop Landward of Münden. The last can be explained by the fact that the valley of the Oerze belonged to the see of Münden and not to the nearer Verden, and therefore Walsrode also being founded from hence, must be consecrated by the Münden bishop. But as to the difference of the two dates, I can do nothing further to clear that up, since I am no investigator of history, but have singly written down what I have found.'" CHAPTER XIII. "I like that," said Maggie sedately. "How curiously near it seems to bring the Middle Ages!" said Meredith. "The picture of Graf Walo!--and Pastor Harms has seen it." "Why couldn't Walo build a schoolhouse without making a cloister of it?" asked Maggie. "There were really reasons, apart from religious ones," Mr. Murray replied. "You remember your views of old castles on the Rhine, perched up on inaccessible heights?" "It must have been very inconvenient," said Flora. "Imagine it!"