labour--as if indeed every man, however high in rank, had not his share of
labour and care--I fear, then, that if there should be a rising of the
peasantry we may have such scenes as those that took place during the
Jacquerie in France, and that many who would, were things different, be in
favour of giving more extended rights to the people, will be forced to
take a side against them."

"I can hardly think that they would take up arms, Father. They must know
that they could not withstand a charge of armour-clad knights and men-at-
arms."

"Unhappily, my son, the masses do not think. They believe what it pleases
them to believe, and what the men who go about stirring up sedition tell
them. I foresee that in the end they will suffer horribly, but before the
end comes they may commit every sort of outrage. They may sack monasteries
and murder the monks, for we are also looked upon as drones. They may
attack and destroy the houses of the better class, and even the castles of
the smaller nobles. They may even capture London and lay it in ashes, but
the thought that after they had done these things a terrible vengeance
would be taken, and their lot would be harder than before, would never
occur to them. Take your own house for instance--what resistance could it
offer to a fierce mob of peasants?"

"None," Edgar admitted. "But why should they attack it?"

The Prior was silent.

"I know what you mean, good Father," Edgar said, after a pause. "They say
that my father is a magician, because he stirs not abroad, but spends his
time on his researches. I remember when I was a small boy, and the lads of