stacles the world opposes to my vow of consecrating
myself to God without reserve--in return for the property, the
pleasures, and honors here below, of which I abandon my part, obtain me
spiritual good all the course of my life, and eternal happiness after
my death."

Then Bernard retired to sleep, and in a dream Saint Nicholas stood
before him and uttered these words:

"Bernard, servant of God the Lord, who never betrays those who put
their confidence in Him, calls thee to follow Him. An immortal crown
is reserved for thee. Leave at once thy father's house and go to
Aosta. There in the cathedral thou shalt meet an old man called
Pierre. He will welcome thee; thou shalt live with him, and he shall
teach thee the road thou should traverse. For my part, I shall be thy
protector, and will not for an instant abandon thee."

Then Bernard opened his eyes and the vision had disappeared. He was
overcome with joy. His resolution was taken. Though he knew no way
out of the castle, nor from the bedroom in the tower, in which he had
been locked by his thoughtful father, yet he was ready to go.

Taking up a pen, he wrote to his father this letter:

"Very dear parents, rejoice with me that the Lord calls me to His
service. I follow Him to arrive sooner at the port of salvation, the
sole object of my vows. Do not worry about me, nor take the trouble to
seek me. I renounce the marriage, which was ever against my will. I
renounce all that concerns the world. All my desires turn toward
heaven, whither I would arrive. I take the road this minute.

"BERNARD DE MENTHON."

Laying the letter on the table, he soon found himself on the way
outside the castle grounds, and along this path he hurried, over the
mountain passes, toward the city of Aosta. So say the oldest
manuscripts; but in the later stories the details are more fully
described. From these it would appear that Bernard leaped from the
window eighteen or twenty feet, his naked feet striking on a bare rock.
On he ran through the night; on over dark and lonely paths in a country
still uninhabited; over the stony fields and wild watercourses of the
Graian Alps, and when the morning dawned he found himself in the city
of Aosta, a hundred miles from Annecy.

In an old painting the manner of his escape is shown in detail. As he
drops from the window he is supported by Saint Nicholas on the one
side, and an angel on the other, and underneath the painting is