"Christian! and what sort of man must your father have been? There are no stones out of that quarry nowadays."
"And how should there be? My father—heaven rest him!—used to say that the guillotine war of the French upset the cart. Men nowadays are a pack of idlers, with no more devotion than that of San Korro, the patron of drunkards. But to come back to what I was telling you—a thing his worship once told me, that happened in this very convent.
"All the people of the barrier used to send to the friars for assistance to enable them to die in a Christian fashion. In these times the majority go to the other world like dogs or Jews. Every night, therefore, one of the fathers remained up, so as to be ready in case his services should be wanted. Each kept watch in his turn. One night, when it was the turn of a priest named Father Mateo, who was well known and liked in the town, three men knocked and asked for a religious to succor a person who was at the point of death. The porter informed Father Mateo, who came down immediately. Hardly was the door of the convent closed after him, when they told him that, whether it pleased him or not, they were going to bandage his eyes. It pleased him as much as it would have pleased him to have his teeth pulled. There was nothing for it, however, but to drop his ears; for although he was young, and as tall as a foremast, with a good pair of fists to defend himself with, the others were men of brass, all armed. Besides, neither could his reverence neglect his ministry; and only God knew the intentions of those who had come for him.
"So he said to himself, 'Rome will have this matter to look after;' and let them blindfold him.
"No one can know what streets they made him walk; into this and out of that, till they came to a miserable den, and led him up a flight of stairs, pushed him into a room, and locked the door.
"He took off the bandage; it was as dark as a wolfs mouth, but in the direction of one corner of the room he heard a moan.
"'Who is in distress?' asked Father Mateo.
"'I am, sir,' answered the doleful voice of a woman; 'these wicked men are going to kill me as soon as my peace is made with God.'
"'This is an iniquity!'
"'Father, by the love of the Blessed Mother, by the dear blood of Christ, by the breasts that fed you, save me!'