" And he told out eight-and-thirty
pieces.
"Thank God and all his saints!" cried Brand, weeping abundantly for joy;
for he had acquired, by long devotion, the _donum lachrymarum_,--that
lachrymose and somewhat hysterical temperament common among pious monks,
and held to be a mark of grace.
"Blessed St. Peter, thou art repaid; and thou wilt be merciful!"
Brand believed, in common with all monks then, that Hereward had robbed,
not merely the Abbey of Peterborough, but, what was more, St. Peter
himself; thereby converting into an implacable and internecine foe the
chief of the Apostles, the rock on which was founded the whole Church.
"Now, uncle," said Hereward, "do me one good deed in return. Promise me
that, if you can help it, none of my poor housecarles shall suffer for my
sins. I led them into trouble. I am punished. I have made restitution,--at
least to St. Peter. See that my father and mother, if they be the
Christians they call themselves, forgive and forget all offences except
mine."
"I will; so help me all saints and our Lord. O my boy, my boy, thou
shouldst have been a king's thane, and not an outlaw!"
And he hurried off with the news to the Abbot.
When Hereward returned to his room, Martin was gone.
"Farewell, good men of Peterborough," said Hereward, as he leapt into the
saddle next morning.
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