"But I never was at Mass before."
"Stupid creature!" said the sexton, angry now, "what are you doing here then?" And he boxed the boy's ears so hard that the little fellow went off crying. At this Don Bosco turned around and reproved the astonished sexton for his crossness.
"But what difference does that make to your reverence?"
"It makes a great deal of difference to me, for that boy is my friend. Call him back at once; I must talk to him."
The sexton did so and the poor boy came back; Don Bosco asked him kindly if he had never heard Mass before, and he said "No."
"Then," said Don Bosco, "stay for this Mass which I am going to celebrate, and when it is over I shall talk to you a little while, if you will wait."
The boy, whose heart had been won by Don Bosco's kindly manner, gladly agreed to stay.
After Mass, Don Bosco said to him: "What is your name, my little friend?"
"Bartolomeo Garelli."
"Where are you from?"