第538页 / 共1118页

"Why! my dear woman! the father provincial knows, if any one

does; but when one of our preachers has taken his flight, it is

impossible to say on what branch he will rest. They want him

here; they want him there; for we have convents in the four

quarters of the world. Father Christopher will make a great noise

at Rimini, with his Lent sermon; the fame of this great preacher

will resound every where, and it is our duty to give him up,

because we live on the charity of others, and it is but right we

should serve all the world."

"Oh! misery! misery!" cried Agnes, weeping; "what shall I do

without this good man? He was a father to us; what a loss! what a

loss!"