Hilarius made straight for the ale-house.
As he crossed the green, the door opened and Dickon stumbled
blindly down the steps. At sight of a monk he cried out, and
suddenly sobered, dropped on his knees, while the topers and
roysterers staring from the open doorway fell into silence.
Hilarius pushed back his cowl and stood bareheaded in the scorching
sun of that windless day; it came to his mind that he was very
weary.
"Hear, O my children, the Lord hath sent me to succour you, lest ye
go down quick into the pit. Return, every one of you, for the arms
of His love are still stretched wide upon the Rood, and the very
hairs of your head are numbered. Repent ye, therefore, and confess
each one of you his sins, that I may prepare him for the work of
the Lord; and take comfort also, for they that are with us are
mighty."
One by one the men, sobered by the shock of great surprise,
confessed and were shriven under the summer sun: only the man
Dickon was not among them. Then the Prior bade them get to work as
he should direct; and he set a watch that no man should flee the
village; and all obeyed him.
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