"No robin was there, but a most splendid Knight, in shining armour,
kneeled upon his knees before the shrine of our Lady. A blood-red cross
was on his breast. His dark head was uplifted. On his noble face was a
look of pleading and of prayer.
"Marvelling, but unafraid, I crept in, and kneeled behind that splendid
Knight. The look of pleading upon his face, inclined me also to prayer.
His lips moved, as I had seen at the first; but while I stood upon my
feet, I could hear no words. As soon as I too kneeled, I heard the
Knight saying: 'Give her to me! Give her to me!' And at last: 'Mother
of God, send her to me! Take pity on a hungry heart, a lonely home, a
desolate hearth, and send her to me!'"
Mary Antony paused, fixing her eyes upon the rosy strip of sky, seen
through her narrow window. Absorbed in the recital of her vision, she
appeared to have forgotten the presence of the Prioress. She paused; and
there was silence in the cell, for the Prioress made no sound.
Presently the old voice went on, once more.
"When the splendid Knight said: 'Send her to me,' a most wondrous thing
did happen.
"Our blessed Lady, lifting her head, looked toward the door. Then
raising her hand, she beckoned.
"No sooner did our Lady beckon, than I heard steps coming along the
passage--that passage which I knew to be empty. The Knight heard them,
also; for his heart began to beat so loudly that--kneeling behind--I
could hear it.
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