"Father Pope," he began simply; but he could say no more. "My son," said Innocent at last, moved by the suffering eyes, "why have you come to us again?" "Father Pope," answered Francis in a sweet, almost shrill voice, "when you sent me from you, you did not bid me not to come again." He smiled as he spoke, very simply, winningly, a smile that was almost a caress. Some hint of softening in the eyes of the Pope gave him more confidence. "Most Holy Father," he began again, "I have come to you once more, because you have not yet granted my request. You are a great person, whom God has exalted above all men, and I think that perhaps you had not time to listen to me, who am the meanest of God's creatures; so that you did not understand the excellence of that life which the Lord hath commanded us to follow. Or perchance it was that the Lord wished to try my faith, and, lest I was over-confident in myself, to show me that without his will I am capable of nothing, and to humiliate my pride. Father Pope, I think this last is the true reason: for how could you not see the excellence of the way God hath chosen for us, which is a pattern of the way the disciples themselves followed?" And the Pope, having no answer to this candour, sat immobile. "It is a little thing that we ask of you," continued Francis; "only that you should approve of our vow to follow a life like that which the disciples led on the shores of the Lake of Galilee." "My son," said Innocent, "search well your heart. Is it not pride which makes you think that God hath chosen you for this work?" And Francis lowered his head until it touched the floor. "Why," continued Innocent, "should God have chosen you among the multitudes of men?" And Francis raised his head again. "God looked down upon this earth," he answered humbly, "and he explored all the ways thereof, and searched into all the souls of men. And in the whole earth he found no man so poor in mind, so mean of stature, so foul with sins, so weak and utterly worthless, as Francis, the son of Pietro Bernardone; and for that reason he hath chosen me. For if folk see that one so miserable as I am can be uplifted by the grace of God, they will hope again for themselves; and many who are caught in the snares of Satan and despair of their salvation will be freed by this means." "Is it not pride, my son," the Pope asked of him after a pause, "that hinders you from accepting the modifications which I suggest in your rule?" "I shall reason with you," answered Francis; "tell me one." "That you should not be entirely without possessions, without a little money."