My monk cried bitterly, and then he jumped up, feeling ashamed of himself, and began walking up and down.

Then he went and stood by the great fish stew, where the big carp and tench were growing fatter as they fed by night and basked in the sunshine among the water weeds by day; but no thought came to him as to how he could save the poor fellow lying in the cell." Old Brownsmith stopped to blow his nose on a brown-and-orange silk handkerchief, and stroke two or three cats, while I sawed away very slowly, waiting for what was to come.
"Then he went round by where one apple-tree, like that, had lost a bough, and whose stump he had carefully trimmed--just as you are going to trim that, Grant." "I know," I cried, eagerly; "and then--" "You attend to your apple-tree, sir, and let me tell my story," he said, half gruffly, half in a good-humoured way, and I sawed away with my thin saw till I was quite through, and the stump I had cut off fell with such a bang that the cats all jumped in different directions, and then stared back at the stump with dilated eyes, till, seeing that there was no danger, one big Tom went and rubbed himself against it from end to end, and the others followed suit.
"All at once, as he stood staring at the broken tree, an idea flashed across his brain, Grant." "Yes," I said, pruning-knife in hand.
"He knew that if he had not cut and trimmed off that branch the limb would have gone on decaying right away, and perhaps have killed the tree." "Yes, of course," I said, still watching him.
"Isn't your knife sharp enough, my lad ?" said Old Brownsmith dryly.
"Yes, sir," I said; and I went on trimming.

"Well, he thought that if this saved the tree, why should it not save the life of the man ?" and he grew so excited that he went in at once and had a look at the patient, and then went in to the prior, who shook his head.
"`Poor fellow,' he said; `he will die.' "`Yes,' said the young monk, `unless--' "`Unless--' said the prior.
"`Yes, unless,' said the young monk; and he horrified the prior by telling him all his ideas, while the other monks shook their heads.
"`It could not be done,' they said.

`It would be too horrible.' "`There is no horror in performing an act like that to save a man's life,' said the young monk; `it is a duty.' "`But it would kill the poor fellow,' they chorused.
"`He will die as it is,' said the young monk.

`You said as much when I came in, and I am sure of it.' "`Yes,' said the prior sadly, `he will die.' "`This might save his life,' said the young monk; but the old men shook their heads.
"`Such a thing has never been done,' they said.