All at once the life of this cloister appeared before him in a wider and nobler aspect.

In the silent monks bent over their desks he saw much more than piety and learning.

They rose to a dignity surpassing that of consul or praefect.
With their pens they warred against the powers of darkness, a grander conflict than any in which men drew sword.

He wished he could talk of this with his cousin Decius, for Decius knew so much more than he, and could look so much deeper into the sense of things.
Days passed.

Not yet did he receive a summons to the abbot's tower.
Rapidly recovering strength, he worked long in the fields, and scrupulously performed his penitential exercises.