The Reverend Mother's cell was empty.
It was the Reverend Mother who had not returned.
"Good-bye, my Antony. The Presence of the Lord abide with thee in
blessing, while we are gone." Ah, gone! Never to return!
Once again the old lay-sister stood as one that dreamed; but this time
instead of beatific joy, there was a forlorn pathos in the dreaming.
Presently a door opened, and a step sounded, far away in the passage
beyond the Refectory stairs.
Instantly a look of cunning and determination replaced the helpless
dismay on the old face. She quickly closed the cell door, hung up the
crypt key in its accustomed place; then kneeling before the shrine of
the Madonna: "Blessed Virgin," she prayed, with clasped hands uplifted;
"be pleased to sharpen once again the wits of old Mary Antony."
Rising, she found the key of the Reverend Mother's cell, passed out,
closing the door behind her; locked it, and slipped the key into her
wallet.
The passage was empty. All the nuns were spending in prayer and
meditation the time until the Refectory bell should ring.
Mary Antony appeared in the kitchen, only a few minutes later than
usual.
"Prepare _you_ the evening meal," she said to her subordinates. "_I_
care not what the holy Ladies feed upon this even, nor how badly it be
served. Reverend Mother again elects to spend the night in prayer and
fasting. So Mother Sub-Prioress will spit out a curse upon the viands;
or Sister Mary Rebecca will miaul over them like an old cat that sees a
tom in every shadow, though all toms have long since fled at her
approach.
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