"There must be some egress. How did they escape? How could they escape?"
he cried; and he sought in vain for the exit, for they had closed the
door again, and he knew not where to look; in vain he lifted the
tapestry, he could not discover the secret; and at last, overpowered by
the heat, he sprang again to the window, and drank in deep draughts of
fresh cool air to appease the burning feeling in his throat.

Crash! crash! part of the roof had given way, and the whole chamber
trembled; then a single tongue of flame shot up through the floor, then
another; the door had caught outside. Even in that moment he beheld his
men, his faithful followers, madly seeking death from the swords of the
foe; they had lowered the drawbridge, and dashed out without a leader.

"Would I were with them!" he cried. "Oh, to die like this!"

"Behold," cried a voice without, "he hath digged and graven a pit, and
is fallen himself into the destruction he made for others."

It was Father Swithin, who had observed the face at the window, and who
raised the cry which now drew all the enemy to gaze upon him, for they
had no longer a foe to destroy.

The flames now filled the room, but still he clung to the window, and
thus protracted his torments; his foes, even the stern monk, could but
pity him now, so marred and blackened was his visage, so agonised his
lineaments; like, as they said, the rude pictures of the lost, where the
last judgment was painted on the walls of the churches. Yet he uttered
no cry, he had resolved to die bravely; all was lost now. Another
moment, and those who watched saw the huge beams which supported the
building bend and quiver; then the whole framework collapsed, and with a