charges the Hegumen prefers against me. You remember I promised to speak
to you about them frankly, and I think it better to do so now; for with
my confessions always present you cannot be surprised by
misrepresentations, nor can doubt take hold of you so readily. You shall
go hence possessed of every circumstance essential to judge how guilty I
am."

"They must do more than talk," the monk returned, with emphasis.

"Beware, Sergius! Do not provoke them into argument--or if you must
talk, stop when you have set them to talking. The listener is he who can
best be wise as a serpent.... And now, dear friend, lend me your good
sense. Thanks to the generosity of a kinsman, I am mistress of a
residence in the city and this palace; and it is mine to choose between
them. How healthful and charming life is with surroundings like
these--here, the gardens; yonder, the verdurous hills; and there, before
my door, a channel of the seas always borrowing from the sky, never
deserted by men. Guilt seeks exclusion, does it not? Well, whether you
come in the day or the night, my gate is open; nor have I a warder other
than Lysander; and his javelin is but a staff with which to steady his
failing steps. There are no prohibitions shutting me in. Christian,
Turk, Gypsy--the world in fact--is welcome to see what all I have; and
as to danger, I am defended better than with guards. I strive diligently
to love my neighbors as I love myself, and they know it.... Coming
nearer the accusation now. I find here a freedom which not a religious
house in the city can give me, nor one on the Isles, not Halki itself.
Here I am never disturbed by sectaries or partisans; the Greek and the
Latin wrangle before the Emperor and at the altars; but they spare me in
this beloved retiracy. Freedom! Ah, yes, I find it in this retreat--this
escape from temptations--freedom to work and sleep, and praise God as