distance ahead of him a man standing by a door. Just as he arrived the
door opened, and a glow of light from within fell on the road, showing
that the person entering was a monk.

Without a moment's hesitation Cuthbert rushed through the door, shouting
"Sanctuary!" and sank almost fainting on the ground.

The monks, accustomed to wild pursuits and scenes of outrage in those
warlike days, hastily closed the door, barring it securely. In a moment
there was a rush of men against it from without.

One of the monks opened a lattice above the door.

"What mean you," he said, "by this outrage? Know ye not that this is the
Monastery of St. John, and that it is sacrilege to lay a hand of violence
even against its postern? Begone," he said, "or we'll lodge a complaint
before the king."

The assailants, nothing daunted, continued to batter at the door; but at
this moment the monks, aroused from their beds, hastened to the spot, and
seizing bill and sword--for in those days even monks were obliged at
times to depend upon carnal weapons--they opened the door, and flung
themselves upon the assailants with such force that the latter, surprised
and discomfited, were forced to make a hasty retreat.

The doors were then again barred, and Cuthbert was carried up to a cell
in the building, where the leech of the monastery speedily examined his
wound, and pronounced, that although his life was not in danger by it, he
was greatly weakened by the loss of blood, that the wound was a serious
one, and that it would be some time before the patient would recover.