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The White Company

By SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE Condensation by A. J. STAFFORD THE Abbot of Beaulieu sat in a lofty room, before him his thirty monks. All were labor-stained and weary, for the abbot was a hard man. A big, red-haired youth, the black sheep of the fold, stood awaiting punishment. His sins were many, the worst being that he had "conversed with a maiden.. and did carry her across a stream, to the infinite relish of the devil." The abbot rose in wrath. "John of Hordle!" he thundered, "thou shalt be cast into the outer world! Seize him and scourge him from the precincts!" But the culprit had different plans. Lifting the big oaken desk, he hurled it at his accusers, sprang through the open door, and escaped. "He is possessed of a devil!" they shouted.