The Secret Chamber at Chad by Evelyn Everett Green

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Brother Emmanuel's eyes were fixed with a tender gaze upon the
faces of the bold, generous boys. He took their hands in his, and
they bent the knee to receive his blessing. His words were few and
brief, but each lad as he rose resolved deep down in his heart that
he would suffer the penalty of death itself sooner than betray the
secret hiding place and give the brother up to his foes.

Then with a few more last words respecting the hiding place and the
arrangements made for the comfort of its occupant, the pair stole
away, and soon found themselves safely within the walls of their
own room, the door of which was still safely locked. They looked
each other in the face with a proud, glad smile.

"It is done!" cried Edred, drawing a long breath.

"Nay, not altogether," answered Julian, with eyes that flashed with
excitement; and drawing a step nearer his brother, he said in
changed tones, "Now must that rascally priest have fled, and it
behoves us to search the precincts of the place with all diligence.
We must not leave a nook or a cranny unvisited, and must make a
mighty coil. Thou takest me, brother, dost thou not?"

Edred made a quick, eager sign of assent.

"Ay, Julian, I do; and when we have done all that, let us back to
the priory again. We must whisper in our father's ear that Brother
Emmanuel is safe. Then will he act with a freer hand. And it were
better, perchance, that we were all there to ride back with him
when he takes his leave."

Julian assented at once to this proposition; and forth went the
boys, at first calling aloud the name of their tutor, and then
halting, always within earshot of one of the spies, to debate where
he could have concealed himself, darting hither and thither, as if
suddenly remembering some new place, and ever returning
disappointed and vexed.

"He is a veritable fox!" cried Julian, flinging his cap on the
ground in a well-assumed tempest of chagrin. "He must have left
Chad altogether, for not a trace of him is here; and I looked to
have the pleasure of bringing him ourselves before the reverend
prior, to atone for having helped that other pestilent fellow to
avoid for a while the hand of the law. A plague upon him and his
cunning ways! Unless he have found the secret chamber our father
knows of, and which he once took us to see, there be no other place
in all Chad where he can be lurking, unless he has been moving from
spot to spot at our approach. A pest upon the crafty rogue!"

"We shall do no good loitering here, since he be really gone,"
remarked Edred, in a tone of vexation very like his brother's;
"perchance he may have fallen into the hands of the prior through
the watch of which he spoke. I trust it may be so. But for us, I
trow we had better go back to see the end of the day's spectacle.
We can do no more at Chad. If he is hiding he will not dare come
forth now, with all the folks returning so soon; and if he has got
clean away, nothing we can do will bring him back."

Julian grumbled in the finest phrases he could think of as the two
pursued their way back towards the priory, increasing their speed
as they left Chad behind, and very quickly gaining the meadow,
where the servants were already beginning to collect the horses and
get them ready for their masters.

The day's proceedings were over. Refreshments were being served in
the refectory to all of the better sort. Sir Oliver's two younger
sons had never been missed; but Edred contrived to slip into the
hall, and in passing beside his father's chair to whisper in his
ear the four simple words:

"Brother Emmanuel is safe!"

None heard the whisper, not even Bertram, who was sitting next his
father, though he read it in his brother's eye the next moment.
Edred had affected to catch the clasp of his belt against his
father's chair as he passed by, and in pausing to free it had bent
his head and spoken the brief message.

No change passed over Sir Oliver's face. Not a creature present
observed the trifling by-play. Wine had circulated freely, and much
laughing and talking were going on. The prior had unbent from his
judicial severity, and even the Lord of Mortimer was smiling and
bland, although there was something in his aspect that suggested
the fierce feline play of a man-eating creature biding its time and
toying with its victim.

Just before the close of the feast Sir Oliver rose to his feet.

"My lord prior, and you knights and gentlemen," he said suddenly,
addressing all those who sat at the board in one comprehensive
glance round the table. "I have been not a little disturbed and
astonished today by hearing that there is ill known of one who has
been long a member of my household--Brother Emmanuel--whom the
reverend prior himself sent forth to be the instructor of my sons,
and who has always comported himself right reverently and seemly in
my house. But inasmuch as there is cause of offence in him, and
that he has this day refused obedience to his lawful superior, and
has not come at the bidding of the prior, I cannot but own him in
fault, and decline to have further dealings with him. I do not know
whether he is yet at Chad. I have not seen him since his farewell
last evening. But if he be yet there, let the Lord of Mortimer, or
you, holy father, send a company of servants to bring him thence.

"I have heard it whispered around that he is hiding within the
walls of Chad, and that we of that household know where he lurks.
My reply to that whisper is a denial (which I will take upon oath
if need be) that I know aught whatever about him; and furthermore,
I will throw open my house, upon any day and at any time, to
whatever persons shall be sent to seek him, and will aid them in
every possible way in the finding of the offender."

A murmur of approval went round the company. The prior looked
pleased, and a smile crossed his face.

The only person who did not seem gratified by this openness was the
Lord of Mortimer, whose face contracted sourly, and who gave a keen
glance at his rival, as though he would have read his very soul.
But the calm gaze with which Sir Oliver returned this look did not
appear to restore his equanimity, and he flashed a glance at his
son-in-law which plainly betokened surprise and chagrin.

"Well spoken, Sir Oliver," said the prior; "and since I have
excellent reason to know that the brother has not left Chad, and
cannot do it without my knowledge, it is plain to me that he is
hiding in some place there, albeit all unknown to you and yours.
Wherefore, on the morrow, I myself, together with my good friend
the Lord of Mortimer, will present ourselves at Chad, and make full
search, and we shall no doubt find the heretic monk cowering away
in some undreamed-of hiding place, and will drag him thence to the
fate he so well merits.

"Chad has its secrets, has it not? I have heard of them in days
gone by."

"It has several cunning nooks and crannies, but all of these will I
myself display to you upon the morrow," replied the knight calmly;
and the Lord of Mortimer arose with a crafty smile upon his face,
and addressed the prior in these words:

"Reverend father, I do not willingly speak ill of my neighbours,
least of all of one who is now near akin to me through the marriage
of my daughter with Sir Edward, who comes of the old stock of Chad.
Yet I cannot but state here, in this place, that I hold Sir Oliver
to have drawn down suspicion upon himself by failing to give up
Brother Emmanuel a week ago when it was demanded of him. There be
something to my mind strange and unworthy in such an act; and I
here call upon all men to witness that I verily believe we shall
find this traitor monk sheltering within the walls of Chad, and
that if this be so I shall openly accuse Sir Oliver before all the
world--before the king himself--of harbouring traitors and
heretics, and shall make petition that Chad and all that pertains
to it be forfeit, as the penalty for such evil courses, and be
given to the rightful lord by inheritance--Sir Edward Chadwell."

The partisans of Mortimer raised a cheer; those of Chad received
the challenge with groans and curses. Sir Oliver spoke not a word,
but sat with his head proudly erect, and his eyes gleaming somewhat
dangerously; whilst the prior commanded silence by a gesture of his
hand, and spoke to quell the tumult.

"My Lord of Mortimer, I have far more trust than you in the
integrity of good Sir Oliver. I trow he will be able to clear
himself of whatever suspicions lie upon him; and if the monk be
found within his house, he shall have every opportunity of
explaining his presence there. At the same time, I will not deny
that it will look ill for him if he be found there; and that the
tongues of all suspicious persons may be silenced, so that none
shall say there has been opportunity for him to get the monk
secretly away from the place, I will double the watch that has
already been set around Chad, and I will send thither with Sir
Oliver and his family two of my trustiest sons, Brother Fabian and
Brother Nathaniel, to keep strict watch within doors, that there be
no cause for any enemy to say that any there have aided an unlawful
escape, or have striven to hide a miscreant from those who justly
demand him."

Sir Oliver bent his head.

"Any brother coming from Chadwater will be an honoured guest at
Chad," he said. "I was about to ask if Brother Fabian was to be
sent thither to instruct my sons."

"Ay, and to find out what germs of heresy yon false monk may not
have implanted!" cried Lord Mortimer, losing control of himself as
he saw the calmness of his enemy, and felt that the prey he had so
confidently looked to be his might even now slip from his grasp.
"It was those lads from Chad who strove to protect yon miserable
hunchback who will be burned to ashes for his sins ere three more
days have gone by. How explain you such conduct as that, Sir
Oliver? Are you and your dame rearing up a heretic brood, to cumber
the land in days to come?"

But the prior here interposed somewhat sternly. He had no intention
of allowing his table to be made the scene of a disturbance that
might lead to bloodshed. He turned somewhat sternly upon the
haughty baron, and his words were few and plain.

"My Lord of Mortimer, Sir Oliver has answered to me for that
offence. You take something too much upon yourself in thus striving
to sit in judgment, and that in mine own presence.

"And now, gentlemen, the sun will be shortly setting, and some of
you have many miles to ride. We have done the day's work in a
thorough and righteous fashion; and I will now give you my
blessing, and dismiss you to your homes. I trust this may be the
last time that I have to assemble you together to drive from
amongst us those who are tainted by the curse of heresy."

Half an hour later the party for Chad were riding quietly homeward
through the forest with two cowled monks in their company. The last
charge to these from the prior had been:

"Thou, Brother Fabian, keep a sharp eye by night and by day upon
the boys; and thou, Brother Nathaniel, upon the knight and his
lady. If any of those are in the secret, be it your mission to find
out and bring it home to them."

Chapter IX: The Search.

"If Brother Emmanuel is found, Chad will be forfeit."

Such was the burden of Edred's thoughts as he rode homeward at his
brothers' side, just behind their father and mother, at the close
of that eventful day's proceedings.

It was a thought that could not but be fraught with some terror to
the boy, who knew that he had been instrumental in hiding the
threatened monk, and that if by some gruesome chance the secret
were to be discovered, their bitter enemy would make it an excuse
for prosecuting his malicious and covetous purpose towards Chad
with redoubled ardour, and with every prospect of success. At
present the prior was standing neutral betwixt the two foes; at
present the king was well disposed towards Sir Oliver. But should
it be proved beyond dispute that he had set the Church at defiance,
and had harboured a suspected heretic within his walls, then the
prior would at once turn against him, and representations would be
made to the king which would almost force him to turn away his
favour. The Lord of Chad would be a disgraced and suspected person,
whilst in all probability the wiles of the ambitious Mortimer would
prove successful, and the claim of Sir Edward Chadwell would be
admitted, and the estate pass into his hands.

The thought was maddening. The bare idea of being forced to leave
the old home sent the hot blood coursing through the boy's body. If
such a thing as that were to befall them, it would break their
father's heart. And how should he ever hold up his head again,
knowing that in some sort he had been the author of the mischief?

All the brothers had been heart and soul together in their desire
to hide the brother from the wrath and unjust tyranny of the prior;
but Edred felt as though the greatest responsibility had been his,
though he could scarcely have said why.

Julian had certainly taken the lead in the final act of the drama;
but Julian was yet a boy, and did not thoroughly realize the perils
which might follow such a course. Edred did, and his face was grave
and thoughtful; and when from time to time he stole a glance at
Bertram, he saw that his elder brother's face was overcast and
anxious, too.

They did not dare to exchange a single word upon the subject
nearest to their hearts as they rode decorously behind their
parents and the two monks. The whole train had to restrain their
horses to the ambling pace of the steed bestridden by the monks,
who were by no means skilled riders; and dusk had fallen ere they
all rode into the courtyard of Chad, where the bustle of
dismounting afforded the brothers the chance of escaping for a few
minutes to their upper chamber together.

"We must not stay a minute; the spies will be after us!" whispered
Bertram. "But one question I must ask. Is he there?"

"Yea, verily; and none need visit him for many days. It were better
not.

"But, brothers both, lend me your strong arms here. I would move
this great chest across the fireplace. Ask no question; I will show
you why anon."

Edred was the speaker, and he indicated an enormous carved oak
chest quite twelve feet in length, which was kept in this room to
hold the clothing of the three lads. They did from time to time
change its position in the room, so that no remark would be excited
by the fact that it had been moved. As Edred wished to place it
now, it would stand right across the fireplace, blocking entirely
the secret door; but Bertram looked a little doubtfully at it when
it was in place, saying tentatively:

"Thou dost not think it would draw attention to the carved pillars
of the fireplace? We shall have cunning and crafty men to deal with
on the morrow."

Edred smiled slightly.

"Wait till the morrow comes, and thou shalt see," he answered; and
then the brothers hastened down again, knowing that any sudden
disappearance on their part might be marked and held as suspicious.

They had not, however, been gone long enough to be missed, and the
two monks who had been told off to keep watch within this house had
but just made their way into the hall, where hot spiced wine was
being dispensed, and the table set out for supper.

Notwithstanding the feast recently partaken of at the priory, the
brothers appeared by no means loath to sit down once again, and
Edred could not but observe how differently they comported
themselves from Brother Emmanuel, and how thoroughly they
appreciated the dainty viands which were brought out in their
honour.

He did not mean to sit in judgment--he scarcely knew that he was
doing so; yet as be watched their deep potations, and marked how
they chose the best portions, and stinted themselves in no good
thing, his stern young mind could not but rise up in revolt, the
more so that these very men were actually here on purpose to strive
to capture a brother of their own order, and deliver him over to
death. And so far as the youth understood the matter, the offence
for which it was resolved he should suffer was that he was too
faithful to the vows he had taken upon himself, and too ardent in
striving to enforce upon others the rules he held binding upon
himself.

But at least if these brothers ate and drank merrily, they were not
therefore the better watchers. They had smiled a little scornfully
as he contrasted their good feeding and deep drinking and
subsequent visible sleepiness with the spare and frugal meal always
taken by Brother Emmanuel, to be followed as often as not by a long
night vigil in the chantry. There was small look of watchfulness
about these men. Any vigil kept by them would be but a mockery of
the term. It was all they could do to stumble through the office of
compline when the meal was ended and the household about to retire,
and there was no suggestion on their part of wishing to remain to
keep vigil.

But Edred resolved that he would watch again that night. He had
done so the previous night with Brother Emmanuel, both thinking
that it might be the last watch they would ever hold together. Now
the boy felt that he could not sleep, at least for many hours; and
since their mother had whispered to them that Brother Fabian was to
share their room, since he said it was his duty to keep watch upon
the boys till next morning, it seemed well to leave his bed for the
drowsy monk, aid keep vigil himself in the silent chantry.

The brother looked puzzled when he heard what one of his young
charges proposed to do. Edred looked him full in the face as he
answered:

"Brother Emmanuel taught us that it were not well that all within
the house should be sleeping. We know not when the Lord may
appear--at midnight, at cock crowing, or in the morning; and
methinks whenever He may come, He would gladly find one soul
holding vigil and waiting for His appearing. Lock the door of the
chantry upon me, my father. Thou canst see that there is but the
one door by which we may come or go. If thou fearest to leave me
here, lock the door upon me until such time as it pleases thee to
release me."

The brother regarded the boy with perplexed looks, and slowly shook
his head, as though such an attitude of mind were wholly
incomprehensible. But he did not oppose his resolve. It would not
do to appear astonished at the idea of keeping vigil. He passed out
of the chantry muttering to himself, and Edred prostrated himself
before the altar, above which the solitary lamp burned clear and
bright, and offered up most earnest prayers for the safety of
Brother Emmanuel, for the failure and discomfiture of his foes, and
for his safe escape when the time was ripe into some country where
his enemies were not like to find him.

How the hours of the night passed he scarcely knew. He might
perhaps have slept at his post awhile, or have remained in a dreamy
and passive state; for it did not seem long before the morning sun
came glinting in at the eastern window, and the boy saw that the
day had come which was to be a momentous one to Chad.

Before very long, sounds of life about, and later on within the
house, warned him that he was not the only watcher now; and feeling
very drowsy and weary, he resolved to creep upstairs and share
Julian's couch for the remaining hours before the working day
should commence.

He had not been locked into the chantry. Perhaps Brother Fabian
felt a little shame in his suspicions, or perhaps he forgot to take
the precaution. The door yielded to his touch, and he found himself
at liberty to go where he would.

But before turning his steps to his room upstairs, he made an
expedition to an outhouse on what appeared to be a curious errand.
It was a dirty, neglected place, and was full of dust and flue and
cobweb. The boy began deliberately collecting masses of this flue
and web, and presently he swept up carefully a good-sized heap of
dust, which he as deliberately placed in a wooden box, and
proceeded to make in one end a number of small holes.

Carefully carrying away this strange load, and bearing it with
great secrecy, the boy mounted the stairs very softly, and put down
the handkerchief in which the flue was placed in the small unused
room beside their sleeping chamber. With the box still in his hands
he stole on tiptoe into the room and looked carefully round him.

His brothers were sleeping lightly, looking as though they would be
easily and speedily aroused. But the monk was snoring deeply, and
the bloated face which was turned towards him displayed that
abandonment of repose which bespeaks a very sound and even sottish
slumber.

The boy looked with repulsion at the flushed face, the open mouth,
and dropped jaw. Something in the expression of that sleeping face
filled him with scorn and loathing. No danger of this man's
awakening; his half-drunken sleep was far too heavy and sodden.

Edred stepped lightly across the room towards the chest which he
had had moved the previous evening, and lying at full length along
the floor, he proceeded to shake his box after the manner of a
pepper pot until he had made beneath the chest a soft layer of dust
which looked like the accumulation of weeks. It was deftly and
skilfully done, and although he looked critically at the after
effect, to make sure there was nothing artificial about the aspect,
he could not detect anything amiss.

The next step was to carry away his box, empty it out of a window,
and break in pieces the perforated part, that there might be no
tracing his action in this matter. Then gaining possession of his
handkerchief full of flue, he stole softly back again, and laid
great flakes between the legs of the chest and the wall, stuffed
light fragments into the interstices of the carving, and laid them
upon any projecting ledge that was likely to have caught such light
dirt as it filtered through the air.

A soft movement in the room told him that his brothers were awake
and watching him, though the monk still snored on in his stertorous
fashion. One after the other the pair stole from their beds and
looked for a moment at this skilful travesty of nature's handiwork,
and both nodded in token of approval and congratulation.

Edred had an artist's eye for effect, and did not spoil his
handiwork by overdoing it. The result produced was exactly as if
the chest had stood for some time in its present position, so that
the dust had gathered beneath it and the flue had clung to the wall
behind it. No one looking at its position there could doubt that it
had been there for a period of some weeks.

Satisfied with the result of his manoeuvre, the boy flung away the
rest of his spoil, and throwing himself upon one of his brothers'
beds was soon lost in healthy sleep.

When he awoke the sun was high in the sky, and he found himself
alone with Father Fabian, who appeared likewise only just to have
awakened.

Brother Emmanuel would long ago have held early mass in the
chantry, but this new inmate appeared by no means disposed to
follow in the footsteps of his predecessors. He rubbed his eyes,
and seemed scarce to know where he was; but he accepted Edred's
offers of assistance, and was soon ready to leave the room in
search of the meal to which he was accustomed.

All Chad was in a stir of expectation. It was known throughout the
house that a great search was to be instituted after the missing
priest, who had, as it were, disappeared into thin air.

Everybody knew that he had been within the precincts of Chad upon
the previous day. Some amongst the few servants who had been left
behind to take care of the house had seen him moving quietly about
from the chantry to the courtyard and back. It was now well known
that spies were lurking in the forest round Chad with a view of
intercepting any attempt at flight, and it was plain they had seen
nothing of him. Therefore, unless he had escaped their vigilance by
cunning and artifice, he must still be somewhere within the
precincts of the house; and on the whole this appeared the most
probable theory. In a place like Chad, where there were all manner
of outbuildings, sheds, and lofts; to say nothing of all the
corners and hiding places within the house itself, it would be very
tempting to take refuge in one of these nooks and crannies, and to
trust to the chance of concealment rather than run the gauntlet of
meeting foes in the open.

Brothers from the monasteries, to say nothing of hunted heretics,
had the reputation of being marvellous cunning in their methods. It
was like enough that Brother Emmanuel had long been planning some
such concealment for himself, and had made his plans cleverly and
astutely. Such was the prevailing opinion at Chad, and scarcely a
member of the household but hoped and trusted his hiding place
would not be detected, even though they did not know how seriously
the fortunes of their master might be affected were the monk to be
found hidden in his house.

They all loved Brother Emmanuel for his own sake, and hated the
Lord of Mortimer. And it was well known that that haughty baron was
making common cause with the prior of Chadwater in this matter,
doubtless in the hope of disgracing Sir Oliver in the eyes of the
ecclesiastical powers.

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