"
"But, my son," objected the abbot, "is not your own castle a far
stronger and safer refuge?"
"It may well be that it is stronger, my father," said Kenric; "but since
it is the first place that our enemies will make for, 'tis not more safe
than the abbey, which would be the last place that Christian men would
attack."
"You speak wisely there," said the father; "but still do I doubt your
wisdom in seeking to gather so many women and children together in one
defenceless place. How will it be if our enemies forget the sanctity of
this refuge, and discovering our children assail them all in the mass?
Better it were, methinks, to let each family remain in their own home,
for thus distributed over the island some, if not all, must surely escape."
"Father," said Kenric, "it is not without reason that I propose this
course, and the two years that I passed under the care of the holy
brethren of the abbey gave me some teaching of a practical sort. Wist
you not that under this very chapel there is a strong, large chamber?
And wist you not also that connected with that chamber there is a long
vault running a full four furlongs underground, even unto the inclosed
space that the men of Bute name the Circle of Penance?"
"Even so, my lord," said the abbot; "and now do I well understand your
plan. It is in that underground passage that you would have our helpless
people take refuge.
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