upon it but a very thin paillasse, a black blanket (the colour of the
wool), and a little bolster. Upon a nail hung a small cat-o'-nine-tails of
knotted whipcord.

'How often do you administer to yourselves the discipline?' I asked.

'Every Friday,' said the monk.

To other questions that I put to him he replied that about ten members
of the community were priests, and that fathers and brothers used the
dormitory in common. There was no distinction between the two classes as
regards the vows that were taken.

We passed into the cloisters, which were very plain, without any attempt
at architectural ornament; but the garden that filled the centre of the
quadrangle was carefully kept, and the many flowers there were evidently
watered and otherwise tended by hands that were gentle to them. Then I
asked if it was true that the members of the community, when they passed
one another in their ordinary occupations, were allowed to break the rule
of silence only to say, 'Remember death!'

'No,' replied the monk, 'it is a legend that originated with
Chateaubriand.'

We reached the chapter-house, a plain room with benches along the walls and
a case containing a small collection of books. I saw nothing of interest
here excepting a genealogical tree of the order of Reformed Cistercians,
called Trappists, showing its descent from the Abbey of Citeaux, and a
portrait of Pere Dom Sebastien, Abbot-General of the Trappists, who was a
pontifical zouave before he put on the monastic habit.