Then he turned his eager fiery gaze upon the pale-faced monk who faced him.
"This plaint is thine, as I learn, brother Ambrose," said he.

"May the holy Benedict, patron of our house, be present this day and aid us in our findings! How many counts are there ?" "Three, most holy father," the brother answered in a low and quavering voice.
"Have you set them forth according to rule ?" "They are here set down, most holy father, upon a cantle of sheep-skin." "Let the sheep-skin be handed to the chancellor.

Bring in brother John, and let him hear the plaints which have been urged against him." At this order a lay-brother swung open the door, and two other lay-brothers entered leading between them a young novice of the order.
He was a man of huge stature, dark-eyed and red-headed, with a peculiar half-humorous, half-defiant expression upon his bold, well-marked features.

His cowl was thrown back upon his shoulders, and his gown, unfastened at the top, disclosed a round, sinewy neck, ruddy and corded like the bark of the fir.

Thick, muscular arms, covered with a reddish down, protruded from the wide sleeves of his habit, while his white shirt, looped up upon one side, gave a glimpse of a huge knotty leg, scarred and torn with the scratches of brambles.