well as by sails; and
after three days they came not to Scotland, but the shore of France,
landing in a wild and desolate region where no human habitation was to
be seen. Their provision had run low and they were in danger of dying
of hunger, when the captain, who had closely watched Saint Patrick
during the voyage and observed his piety, asked him to pray to the
Christian god to bring them food, for the captain himself was not a
Christian and believed that his own prayers would be worthless on this
account. And Saint Patrick knelt and prayed, and before he had risen to
his feet again a wild boar ran from the thicket and then another and
still a third, all of which were promptly slain and the meat roasted on
sticks.

Then Saint Patrick bade farewell to his shipmates, and made his way to
the city of Tours, where to his joy he met Bishop Martin, who was his
own great uncle. And he stayed at the home of the Bishop for four
years.

After this time he tried again to reach Scotland, to which he was drawn
every hour by ties of blood and affection; and at last he embarked on a
vessel bound to a port very near his own native town. He found his
father and mother still living and they rejoiced mightily to see him,
for to them he was as one who had returned from the dead. In place of
the boy they had lost there appeared a tall and finely built man with a
face hardened by toil but made noble by thought and suffering. And they
had a feast to celebrate his return and wept for joy because they had
their son again.

But the dreams that Saint Patrick had experienced in Ireland once more
came to him, and in his sleep he heard the Heavenly voice telling him
that he had been rescued from slavery for no mean or ordinary purpose,
but must go again into Ireland as a priest, and teach the Christian
religion to the savage Irish clans. So Saint Patrick knew that he must
return to Ireland, and, bidding his parents farewell, he departed to
become a priest in preparation for the labor that lay before him.

He studied to such purpose that he became a Bishop, celebrated for his
learning and famous among the clergymen; and when this was accomplished
he set sail once more for Ireland with a retinue of priests and
clergymen accompanying him. But although he was going to a savage land
where he had already experienced much bitterness and sorrow, he went
unarmed, and among his entire company there was not so much as a single
sword or lance.

He came