title: Standing In The Breach: A Priest's Reflection On Faith
author:  W. Robert Abstein II 
description: After retiring as the Rector of St. George's Episcopal Church, Nashville, TN in January, 2005, Bob Abstein served as Interim Rector of St. Anns in East Nashville from 2006-2008; St. Johns in Tallahassee in 2010, and presently as Interim Rector of Church of the Resurrection in Franklin, Tennessee. He also served parishes in Florida and Georgia. Bob holds a B.A. from Florida State University and a Masters and a Doctor of Ministry from the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. He and his wife, Roberta, have a son and daughter, eight grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. His leisure time interests include reading mysteries, golf, and travel.
zlib_text: 
  
  
  
  
  
  ## Awful, Terrible Medieval Romance
  
  
    
  
  
  ### Mark Twain
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##
  
  
  **AWFUL, TERRIBLE MEDIEVAL ROMANCE**
  
  
  
  
  
  ##
  
  
  **by Mark Twain**
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##
  
  
  **CHAPTER I.**
  
  
  
  
  
  ##
  
  
  **THE SECRET REVEALED.**
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  It was night. Stillness reigned in the grand old feudal castle of Klugenstein.
  The year 1222 was drawing to a close. Far away up in the tallest of the
  castle's towers a single light glimmered. A secret council was being held
  there. The stern old lord of Klugenstein sat in a chair of state meditating.
  Presently he said, with a tender accent:
  
  
  "My daughter!"
  
  
  A young man of noble presence, clad from head to heel in knightly mail,
  answered:
  
  
  "Speak, father!"
  
  
  "My daughter, the time is come for the revealing of the mystery that hath
  puzzled all your young life. Know, then, that it had its birth in the matters
  which I shall now unfold. My brother Ulrich is the great Duke of Brandenburgh.
  Our father, on his deathbed, decreed that if no son were born