Transcribed from the 1912 John Murray edition by David Price, email
ccx074@coventry.ac.uk
THE GATHERING OF BROTHER HILARIUS
PART I--THE SEED
CHAPTER I--BLIND EYES IN THE FOREST
Hilarius stood at the Monastery gate, looking away down the smooth,
well-kept road to the highway beyond. It lay quiet and serene in
the June sunshine, the white way to the outer world, and not even a
dust cloud on the horizon promised the approach of the train of
sumpter mules laden with meats for the bellies and cloth for the
backs of the good Brethren within. The Cellarer lacked wine, the
drug stores in the farmery were running low; last, but not least,
the Precentor had bespoken precious colours, rich gold, costly
vellum, and on these the thoughts of Hilarius tarried with anxious