]-low I First Met Tho?nas Merton                      5

lead the way, hoping that he in innocence and brashncss would be
the one to make the first contact and, somehow, get us in to the
charmed circle.

At the top of the hill, we came to a stop. The climb had left us
 

"'......'^''■""1^^^^^
 

iMerton on the porch of his Hermitage.

breathless (later I learned that there was a rough road by which
one could and did drive up to the Hermitage). Through the trees
before us we could see a small house made of cinder block, very
grey and very stark in that somber gold of late Autumn. There was
a rudimentary porch in front, and between us and the house, close
by a low wire fence, was a tall, handmade cross of two logs, tied
or wired together. It was moving and beautful in its simplicity.
Later I was to see it in a photograph from one of Merton's books,
and again on stationery when I heard occasionally from Merton's
secretary. Brother Patrick Hart.

The door opened. Out came the famous man we had waited so
long to see. Dressed in the biege and brown robe of the order, his