"Speak low, dear Sister Antony; partly to spare thy strength; and partly because, though I have sent all the White Ladies to their cells, our good Mother Sub-Prioress, in her natural anxiety for thy welfare, may be outside the door, even now." Mary Antony chuckled.
"If we could but thrust a nail through into her ear," she whispered.
Then suddenly serious, she put the question which already her eyes had asked: "Did I succeed in keeping from them the flight of the Reverend Mother, until you arrived, Reverend Father ?" "Yes, faithful heart, wise beyond all expectation, you did." Again Mary Antony chuckled.
"I locked them out," she said, with a knowing wink, "but I also took them in.

Yea, verily, I took them in! Scores of times they called me 'Reverend Mother.' 'Open the door, I humbly pray you, Reverend Mother,' pleaded Mother Sub-Prioress at the keyhole.

'_Dixi: Custodiam vias meas_,' chanted Mary Antony, in a beauteous voice!.

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