'They say he has had another vision, War, Pestilence!'
'The horsedealer in Vallombrosa said that a night or two agone great hosts fought in the sky over the city, and one could hear the clash of swords and the dinting of armour.'
'And it is a certainty, good folk, that on the Nunziata in the Chiesa dei Servi has been seen a bloody sweat.'
'Go to! And tears run nightly from the Madonna on the Rubaconte bridge. Lucia, my aunt, saw it herself!'
'And it means no good, rest assured. The Lord have mercy on us, miserable sinners!'
Meanwhile, among the women, there was a disturbance. An old woman fainted, and when lifted up, still did not recover her senses. The whole multitude indeed was worn by the interminable waiting; the pale carpenter seemed unable to sustain himself longer.
But suddenly a wave stirred the sea of heads, and a whisper ran through the church.
'He is coming!'
'Nay, 'tis not he, 'tis Fra Domenico da Pescia.'
'I tell you, yea, 'tis he! He has come.'