eight o'clock
If war breaks out I fear that , some day , he will be missing . `` He will , of course , go down south , where he will be unknown ; and where , when the hair on his tonsure has grown , he can well pass as a man-at-arms , and take service with some warlike lord . I trust that it may not be so , but he will assuredly make a far better man-at-arms than he will ever make a good monk . '' The next morning , after practising for two hours with sword and pike , Oswald went down , at eight o'clock , to the monastery , and was conducted to friar Roger 's cell . The latter at once began his instruction , handing him a piece of blackened board , and a bit of chalk . `` Now , '' he said , `` you must learn to read and write , together . There are twenty-six letters , and of each there is a big one and a little one .