“We tell thee again, oh Thurstan! that Harold lies buried in Waltham Abbey, and that there be those who have seen...” “Brother,” quoth the prior to the chamberlain, “brother, we but lose our time in this idle and angry talk with a man who was ever too prone to wrath, and too headstrong. The moments of time are precious! Let us put the question.” “Do it thyself, oh prior,” said the chamberlain, who then sat down, looking very pale. “It is a painful duty,” said the prior, “but I will do it.” And having so said, the prior stood up, right before the Lord Abbat, though not without fear and trembling, and, after stammering for some time, he spoke in this strain, looking rather at the abbat’s feet than in his face:—“Thurstan, it is better that one man should suffer a temporary evil than that many men should perish! It is better that thou shouldest cease to rule over this house than that the house, and all of us in it, should be destroyed! I, the prior, and next in authority unto thee, and with the consent and advice of all the chief obedientiarii of the convent, do invite and intreat thee voluntarily to suspend thyself from all the duties of thine office!” “Chick of the fens, art so bold as this?” cried Thurstan, “hast thrown thy respect for the canons of the church and the rules of this order of St. Benedict into the same hell-pit where thou hast thrown the rest of thy conscience? Children! brothers! ye, the ancient members of the convent, what say ye this?” Three monks who had grown grey in the house, without ever acquiring, or wishing to acquire, any of the posts of eminence, to wit, Father Kynric, Father Elsin, and Father Celred, raised their voices and said, that such things had not been heard of before; that the prior, unmindful of his vows, and of the deep debt of gratitude he owed unto the Lord Abbat, was seeking to thrust him from his seat, that he might sit upon it himself; and that if such things were allowed there would be an end to the glory of the house of Ely, an end to all subordination and obedience, an end to the rule under which the house had flourished ever since the days of King Edgar, _Rex piissimus_. Thus spoke the three ancient men; but no other monks supported them, albeit a few of the younger members of the convent whispered in each other’s ears that the prior was dealing too harsh a measure to the bountiful Lord Thurstan.