gaily sup.'

"But the girl replied, as if in fear:

"'But if the rope should break away,
Oh, then there'd be the devil to pay,
Oh, holy father, first for thee--
But most especially for me!
For if by evil luck I'd cracked your
Connecting cord, my limbs I'd fracture!'

"The friar sang:

"'The rope is good, as it is long,
The basket's tough, my arms are strong,
Have thou no fear upon that score,
T'as hoisted many a maid before;
For often such a basket-full
Did I into a convent pull,
And many more I trust will I
Draw safely up before I die.'

"And at midnight the girl was there walking beneath the windows awaiting
the hour to rise--_Ascensionem expectans_--truly not to heaven, nor from
any great liking for the monks, but for a great fondness for
roast-chickens and good wine, having in her mind's eye such a supper as
she had never before enjoyed, and something to carry home with her.

"So at last there was a rustling sound above, as a window softly opened,
and a great basket came vibrating down below; and the damsel, well
assured, got into it like a hen into her nest, while the lusty friar
above began to draw like an artist.

"Now the _Beato frate_ Dyonisio, knowing all that passed round about by
virtue of his holy omniscience, determined to make manifest to the monks
that things not adapted to piety led them into the path of eternal
punishment.

"Therefore, just as the basket-full of girl touched the window of the
convent, it happened by the virtue of the holy Dyonisio that the rope
broke and the damsel came with a _capi tombola_ somerset or first-class
tumble into the street; but as she, poor soul, had only sinned for a
supper, which she greatly needed and seldom got, she was quit for a good
fright, since no other harm happened to her.

"But it was far otherwise with the wicked monk, who had only come into
that holy monastery to stir up sin; for he, leaning too far over at the
instant, fell with an awful howl to the ground, where he roared so with
pain that all the other monks came running to see what was the matter.
And they found him indeed, more dead than alive, terribly bruised, yet in
greater agony of mind than of body, saying that Satan had tempted him,
and that he would fain confess to the Beato Dyonisio, who alone could
save him.

"Then the good monk tended him, and so exhorted him that he left his evil
ways and became a worthy servant of Go