CHAPTER III.
GABRIEL INTERVIEWS THE ABBOT
THE next day of Gabriel's service passed off much the same as the first,and so it went for almost a week; but the boy saw day by day thatBrother Stephen's chain became more and more unbearable to him, and thathe had long fits of brooding, when he looked so miserable and unhappythat Gabriel's heart fairly ached for him.
At last the lad, who was a sympathetic little fellow, felt that hecould stand it no longer, but must try and help him in some way.
"If I could only speak to the Abbot himself," thought Gabriel, "surelyhe would see that Brother Stephen is set free!"
The Abbot, however, was a very stately and dignified person; and Gabrieldid not quite see how a little peasant boy like himself could find anopportunity to speak to him, or how he would dare to say anything evenif he had a chance.
Now it happened the very morning that Gabriel was thinking about allthis, he was out in the Abbey kitchen beating up the white of a nicefresh egg which he had brought with him from home that day. He had theegg in an earthen bowl, and was working away with a curious woodenbeater, for few people had forks in those days. And as he beat up thewhite froth, the Abbey cooks also were very busy making pasties, androasting huge pieces of meat before the great open fireplace, and bakingloaves of sweet Normandy bread for the monks' dinner.
But Gabriel was not helping them; no, he was beating the egg for BrotherStephen to use in putting on the gold in the border he was painting. Forthe brothers did not have the imitation gold powders of which we see somuch to-day; but instead, they used real gold, which they ground up veryfine in earthen mortars, and took much trouble to properly prepare. Andwhen they wanted to lay it on, they commonly used the white of a freshegg to fasten it to the parchment.
"_He saw the Abbot walking up and down_"]
So Gabriel was working as fast as he could, for Brother Stephen waswaiting; when all at once he happened to look out the kitchen door,which opened on a courtyard where there was a pretty garden, and he sawthe Abbot walking up and down the gravel paths, and now and thenstopping to see how the tulips and daffodils were coming on.
As Gabriel looked, the Abbot seated himself on a stone bench; and thenthe little boy, forgetting his awe of him, and thinking only of BrotherStephen and his chain ran out as fast as he could, still holding hisbowl in one hand and the wooden beater in the other.
As he came up to where the Abbot was sitting, he courtesied in suchhaste that he spilled out half his egg as he eagerly burst out:
"O reverend Father! will you not command Brother Stephen to be set freefrom his chain?"
The Abbot at first had smiled at the droll figure made by the littleboy, whom he supposed to be one of the kitchen scullions, but at thisspeech he stiffened up and looked very stern as Gabriel went onbreathlessly:
"He is making such a beautiful book, and he works so hard; but the chainis so dreadful to him, and I was sure that if you knew they had put iton him, you would not allow it!"
Here the Abbot began to feel a trifle uncomfortable, for he saw thatGabriel did not know that he himself had ordered Brother Stephen to wearthe chain. But he mentioned nothing of this as he spoke to Gabriel.
"Boy," he said, severely, "what affair of thine is this matter aboutBrother Stephen? Doubtless if he is chained, it is a punishment he hathmerited. 'Tis scarcely becoming in a lad like thee to question thesethings." And then, as he looked sharply at Gabriel, he added, "DidBrother Stephen send thee hither? Who art thou?"
At this Gabriel hung his head, and, "Nay, sir," he answered, simply, "hedoes not know, and perhaps he will be angry with me! I am hiscolour-grinder, and I was in the kitchen getting the egg for hisgold,"--here suddenly Gabriel remembered his bowl, and looking down indismay, "Oh, sir," he exclaimed, "I have spilled the egg, and it wasfresh-laid this morning by my white hen!" Here the boy looked sohonestly distressed that the Abbot could not but believe that he spokethe truth, and so he smiled a little as he said, not unkindly:
"Well, never mind about thy hen,--go on; thou wast in the kitchen, andthen what?"
"I saw you in the garden," answered Gabriel, "and--and--I thought thatif you knew about the chain, you would not like it;" (here the Abbotbegan to look very stern again); "and," Gabriel added, "I could not bearto see Brother Stephen so unhappy. I know he is unhappy, for whenever henotices the chain, he frowns and his hand trembles so he can hardlypaint!"
"Ah," said the Abbot to himself, "if his hand trembles, that is anothermatter." For the Abbot knew perfectly well that in order to dosuccessfully anything so delicate as a piece of illumination, one musthave a steady hand and untroubled nerves; and he began to think thatperhaps he had gone a little too far in punishing Brother Stephen. Sohe thought a minute, and then to Gabriel, who was still standing beforehim, not quite knowing what to do, he merely said:
"Go back to thy work, lad, and mind thy colours; and," he added withhaughty dignity, "I will do as I think best about Brother Stephen'schain."
So Gabriel went back to the kitchen feeling very uncomfortable, for hewas afraid he had displeased the Abbot, and so, perhaps, done more harmthan good to Brother Stephen. While he was quite sure he had displeasedBrother Stephen, for he had kept him waiting a long while, and worsestill, had spilled the best egg there was in the kitchen! However, thelad begged one of the cooks to let him have another egg, and, whiskingit up as quickly as he could, made haste to carry it to thechapter-house.
As he pushed open the door, Brother Stephen said, sharply, "How now! Ithought they had chained thee to one of the tables of the kitchen!"
"I am so sorry," said Gabriel, his face very red,--"but--I--I spilledthe first egg and had to make ready another."
He hoped Brother Stephen would not ask him how he happened to spill it;for by this time he began to realize that the high-spirited monkprobably had reasons of his own for submitting to the punishment of thechain, and that very likely he would be displeased if he knew that hislittle colour-grinder had asked the Abbot to free him. So Gabriel feltmuch relieved when, without further questions, Brother Stephen went onwith his work, in which for the moment he was greatly absorbed.
And thus the day went quietly on, till early in the afternoon; when, tothe great surprise of both of them, the door slowly opened, and inwalked the Abbot himself.
The Abbot was haughty, as usual, and, as Brother Stephen saw him comein, he raised his head with an involuntary look of pride and resentment;but neither spoke as the Abbot stepped over to the table, and examinedthe page on which the monk was working.
This particular page happened to be ornamented with a wide border ofpurple flag-flowers, copied from some Gabriel had gathered the daybefore in a swampy corner of one of the wayside meadows. Their freshgreen leaves and rich purple petals shone with royal effect against thebackground of gold; while hovering over them, and clinging to theirstems, were painted honey-bees, with gauzy wings, and soft,furry-looking bodies of black and gold.
As the Abbot saw how beautiful it all was, and how different from anyother of the Abbey illuminations, he smiled to himself with pleasure.For the Abbot, though he never said a great deal, yet very well knew agood piece of artistic work when he saw it. Instead of merely smiling tohimself, however, it would have made Brother Stephen much happier if hehad taken the trouble to say aloud some of the nice things he wasthinking about the work.
For Brother Stephen felt very bitter as he thought over all he had beenmade to bear; and even as the Abbot looked, he saw, sure enough, thathis hand trembled as Gabriel had said; for the poor monk had hard workto control his feelings.
Now the Abbot really did not mean to be unkind. It was only that he didnot quite know how to unbend; and perhaps feeling this, he soon wentout.
Gabriel, who had been very much afraid he might say something to himabout their conversation of the morning, felt greatly relieved when thedoor closed behind him; and the rest of the afternoon he and BrotherStephen worked on in silence.