And when they were nigh, the Soldan cried and said, “What folk are ye?” And Ursula spake in answer, “We are Christian folk: our feet are turned to the blessed tomb of our Lord Jesus Christ, for the saving of our souls, and that we may win grace to pass into eternal life, in the blessed Paradise.” And the Soldan answered, “Either deny your God, or I will slay you all with the sword. So shall ye die a dolorous death, and see your land no more.” And Ursula answered, “Even so we desire to be sure witnesses for the name of God, declaring and preaching the glory of His name; because He has made heaven and earth and the sea by His Word; and afterward all living things; and afterward has willed, Himself, to die, for our salvation and glory. And who follows Him shall go to rejoice in His Fatherland and in His Kingdom.” Then she turned to her people: “My sisters and my brothers, in this place God has given us great grace. Embrace and make it sure, for our death in this place will be life perpetual, and joy, and sweetness never-ending. And there, above, we shall be with the Majesty and the angels of Paradise.” Then she called her spouse to comfort and teach him. And he answered her with these words, “To me it appears three thousand years that death is a-coming, so much have I already tasted of the sweetness of Paradise.” Then the Soldan gave commandment that they should all be slain with the sword. And so was it done. Yet when he saw Ursula standing, in the midst of all that slaughter, like the fairest stalk of corn in harvest, and how she was exceeding lovely, beyond the tongues of this earth to tell, he would have saved her alive, and taken her for wife. But when she would not, and rebuked him, he was moved with anger. Now there was a bow in his hand, and he set an arrow on the string, and drew it with all his strength, and it pierced the heart of the glorious maiden. So she went to God. And one maiden only, whose name was Corbula, through fear hid herself in the ship. But God, who had chosen all that company, gave her heart, and with the dawn of the next day she came forth willingly, and received the martyr’s crown. Thus all were slain, and all are gone to Paradise, and sing the glad and sweet songs of Paradise. Whosoever reads this holy history, let him not think it a great thing to say an Our Father, and a Hail Mary, for the soul of him who has written it. Thus far the old myth. You shall hear now in what manner such a myth is re-written by a great man, born in the days of a nation’s strength. Carpaccio begins his story with what the myth calls a dream. But he wishes to tell you that it was no dream,—but a vision;—that a real angel came, and was seen by Ursula’s soul, when her mortal eyes were closed. “The Angel of the Lord,” says the legend. What!—thinks Carpaccio;—to this little maid of fifteen, the angel that came to Moses and Joshua? Not so, but her own guardian angel.