In the little town they lay, indoors and out, and it was now that the Abbot got himself the name of the Great-hearted.  For he gave his monks orders that all should be fed and cared for; and daily from his own table he sent food for thirty wanderers whom he named his guests, and daily in memory of the love of Christ he washed the feet of twelve others, and never shrank from the unhappy lepers among them.  But for all his care the people died lamentably from grief and sickness--on no day fewer than five or six between prime and compline; and these poor souls were buried by the brethren.  Of the little children that were left to the mothering of the east wind, some were adopted by the canons and priests of the Abbey church, and others by the monks.