"Teaching," Brother Gregory replied mildly. He had heard that the Abbot had been called away early that morning, after the usual Chapter meeting and before Mendel left for the Realshcule, but, since his return, had not heard why.

"A prisoner! A common thief is treated better than I. They wouldn't listen to my side of the story. No one believed me - no one! I was condemned before I opened my mouth. There is no justice!" Klacel was raging in full force, but calmed down when Brother Gregory offered him some of his precious brandy and one of his cigars.

He lit one for himself, his tenth that day, and pushed his friend into a chair. "What are you talking about?" he asked.

"I've been accused of treason," Brother Matthew said between sips of brandy, then, less dramatically, "Have you heard about the carts?"

Being told 'no', Klacel informed his friend about the previous evening's incident of sabotage and the attack on the military supply carts. "Apparently a police informer saw me in the same area and those cloth-heads put two and two together and came up with five."

He bit deeply into his cigar and the ash flew across Mendel's scrap of carpet. "We are a country with a standing army, used to keep the people on their knees, by means of informers that crawl on their bellies everywhere. Phah!" he coughed loudly, then recovered himself and went on to describe the very painful interview he had just kept with his Abbot and Msgnr. Schrattenbach.

"I have been accused of being a Czech nationalist ringleader, a terrorist and a traitor to my country," he went on. "To the first I am proud to admit, but the second and third I adamantly deny and denied. Not that it did me any good. The secret police think I organized the attack last night - I was seen in the area - and they want the Church to turn me over to them for punishment."

At this Brother Gregory became alarmed for his friend, but Klacel hushed him, and went on with his story. "Don't worry, I was able to show them that I had a good and ample reason to be near the namesti Svobody last night, the Abbot himself had asked me to take some books to the binders, and I was returning from my mission when the attack started. All I did was watch. True, I did nothing to help the soldiers, but it all happened so quickly. There was nothing I could do."

"But you must admit, you have been an outspoken proponent of Czech nationalism in the past," Brother Gregory murmured. His fiend had often been in trouble because of his writings and his opinions, but this was the first time he had been accused of plotting a violent and criminal action.

"That I do admit, but I draw the line at destroying State property," Brother Matthew forced himself to say. "Fortunately the Abbot believed me, as he has done in the past, and made Schrattenbach agree that the pitiful dregs of evidence against me were both circumstantial and came from informers, which neither of them liked. So they had to give me the benefit of the doubt and not turn me over to the police. However, Schrattenbach forced the Abbot into confining me to the Monastery until the soldiers have left - so I am a prisoner!"

He flung himself across the room, and Mendel feared for his furniture. "That is hardly a punishment, you rarely go out anyway," he pointed out, less than tactfully.

"That is not the point, my good name has been stained and I have been convicted of a crime without evidence or a trial. I take this very seriously."

"As you should," Brother Gregory assured him hurriedly, "It is an awful thing to stand accused this way and not be given a chance to clear your name, but there is little you can do about it. There is no way to prove a negative."

"Huh!" Klacel snorted, "any more of this brandy?" Then, when his glass had been refilled, "But I did pick up another bit of news. Abbot Napp's nephew is going to pay us a visit! It turns out that our Cyrill is related to the Oberstleutnant of the battalion of troops camping just to our north. He is coming to join his soldiers, and has decided to stay with his favorite Uncle while he is in the area. He and his staff will be staying in the Monastery while they finish their conscription and until they all move onto Olomouc."