n my face and in my bosom? As thou art
good and holy through thy faith in that symbol in yonder shrine,
hearken to me, for I will tell thee of the wretch whom thou hast
succored. Then, if it be thy will, give me thy curse and send me on my
way."

Much marvelled the Father Miguel at these words, and he deemed the old
man to be mad; but he made no answer. And presently the old man,
bowing his head upon his hands, had to say in this wise:--

"Upon a time," he quoth, "I abided in the city of the Great
King,--there was I born and there I abided. I was of good stature, and
I asked favor of none. I was an artisan, and many came to my shop, and
my cunning was sought of many,--for I was exceeding crafty in my trade;
and so, therefore, speedily my pride begot an insolence that had
respect to none at all. And once I heard a tumult in the street, as of
the cries of men and boys commingled, and the clashing of arms and
staves. Seeking to know the cause thereof, I saw that one was being
driven to execution,--one that had said he was the Son of God and the
King of the Jews, for which blasphemy and crime against our people he
was to die upon the cross. Overcome by the weight of this cross, which
he bore upon his shoulders, the victim tottered in the street and
swayed this way and that, as though each moment he were like to fall,
and he groaned in sore agony. Meanwhile about him pressed a multitude
that with vast clamor railed at him and scoffed him and smote him, to
whom he paid no heed; but in his agony his eyes were alway uplifted to
heaven, and his lips moved in prayer for them that so shamefully
entreated him. And as he went his way to Calvary, it fortuned that he
fell and lay beneath the cross right at my very door, whereupon,
turning his eyes upon me as I stood over against him, he begged me that
for a little moment I should bear up the weight of the cross whilst
that he wiped the sweat from off his brow. But I was filled with
hatred, and I spurned him with my foot, and I said to him: 'Move on,
thou wretched criminal, move on. Pollute not my doorway with thy
touch,--move on to death, I command thee!' This was the answer I gave
to him, but no succor at all. Then he spake to me once again, and he
said: 'Thou, too, shalt move on, O Jew! Thou shalt move on forever,
but not to death!' And with these words he bore up the cross again and
went upon his way to Calvary.

"Then of a sudden," quoth the old man, "a horror f