clung to existence, and preferred to pass many years of penance on earth
for the sake of atoning for their sins before called upon to appear
before their Maker.

"If you are pursued, it will be safer for you to take up your abode here.
I am known to all the inhabitants of this country, who look upon me as
mad, and respect me accordingly. None ever interfere with me, or with the
two or three other hermits, the remains of what was once almost an army,
who now alone survive. I can offer you no hospitality beyond that of a
refuge; but there is water in the river below, fruits and berries in
abundance on the shrubs. What would you have more?"

Cuthbert accepted the invitation with thanks; for he thought that even at
the worst the presence of this holy man would be a protection to him from
any Arabs who might discover him.

For three or four days he resided with the hermit, who, although he
stretched his long lean body upon the hard stones of his bed, and passed
many hours of the night kneeling on the stone floor in front of his
alter, yet had no objection to Cuthbert making himself as comfortable as
he could under the circumstances.

At the end of the fourth day Cuthbert asked him how long he had been
there, and how he came to take up his abode in so desolate and fearsome a
place. The hermit was silent for a time, and then said,--

"It is long indeed since my thoughts have gone back to the day when I was
of the world. I know not whether it would not be a sin to recall them;
but I will think the matter over to-night, and if it appears to me that
you may derive good from my narrative, I will relate it to you