One day, it happened that the priest was sent for in great haste to see a favorite maid of the countess, who was taken suddenly and violently ill. (I learned all this long afterward, for of course I was not told it at the time.) He returned in the afternoon, and we saw him going in a great hurry to the superior's apartment. In about half an hour, Mother Prudentia came out, looking a good deal excited, and summoned the whole family to a conference. It was in recreation time, I remember, and we were almost all busy in capturing a vagrant brood of half-grown chickens, which had escaped from their proper quarters, as it seemed, for the express purpose of scratching up a newly planted bed of salad. We were in a great frolic over the chase, for nuns are like children in their hours of recreation—a little thing serves to amuse them. It was therefore with considerable surprise that we obeyed the summons to the superior's presence. We found the lady pale and evidently much disturbed, though she preserved her usual calmness of voice and demeanor. In a few words, she told us of the danger that was impending over us. She had received sure intelligence that the convent was to be attacked that very night by a band of robbers, pillaged and perhaps burned to the ground. Even the strict habits of convent discipline could not repress a universal cry of dismay from the sisterhood; but I must say, that after the first alarm, they all behaved wonderfully well. The Reverend Mother raised her hand to impose silence, and was at once obeyed. "We have no means of defending ourselves, and no time to send to the Bishop for assistance before our foes will be upon us!" said she. "I have taken council with our Reverend Father, and he agrees with me, that our only chance of safety is, to take refuge in the vaults under the old part of the house." She paused a moment, and some of the sisters looked at each other as if the prospect of spending the night in the vaults was almost as dreadful as that of the robbers themselves. "The buildings above these vaults are solid and there is little in them to burn," continued the Superior. "So that even should the house be set on fire, we may hope to escape—and the caverns themselves are such, that should the entrance to them be discovered, no one could find our hiding place without the clue; that clue is known at present only to Mother Assistant and myself. Let us then hasten to convey to this place of safety all our most precious treasures, all the sacred vessels and ornaments; and enough of food and lights to serve us if needful for several days; of water there is an abundant supply. Let us all be calm and collected, and let each one obey orders implicitly and without any questions."