"The artful dog!" said I, smiling. "Now, I'll be bound to say he made all those who imagined themselves cured pay him well." "Oh, they all gave him something, of course, from a _baiocco_ upwards, according to their means. They tell me the worthy man has made a heap of money by his miraculous touch." "Miraculous humbug!" I exclaimed, half-amused and half-angry at the success of such a vagabond. "_Humbug!_ say you still?" cried my hostess. "How can it be humbug, if he really _has_ cured the sick?" "Come now," said I; "perhaps you will oblige me with a list of the diseases that this new saint professes to have cured." "Willingly," she replied. "In the first case, there is old Margherita, who lives at the bottom of the dell, and has been suffering much from nervous headaches; he but touched her forehead, and she walked away declaring herself cured. Then there was poor old Carluccio, who goes about begging from one place to another. He suffered much from rheumatism; but having been touched by Peppe on the parts affected, he immediately pronounced himself much better, if not quite cured. Then the girl Lucia, who lives half-way down the hill, and who used to suffer from the jumps, she likewise has not complained since. Then, again, Pietro, the vignauolo, who was suffering from stomach-ache, felt himself considerably better some few hours after he had been touched by Peppe. Brigida, the daughter of old Angeluccio, has for some time been the victim of a deep melancholy. Since she received the magic touch she has done nothing but laugh and sing, Giacomuccio, the idiot boy, complained of loss of appetite, but after Peppe had touched him he went home and ate up all the _maritozza_ in the house. Then the number of children he has cured is something fabulous; at least, so their parents say." "Well, well, my good woman," said I; "but these are all trifles. Can you give me no great cure that he has effected, such as giving sight to the blind, causing the lame to walk, the dumb to speak, the deaf to hear, and the like?" "One blind man came to be cured," replied my hostess; "but he, so Peppe said, had not sufficient faith, so of course no cure could be effected. It was the same with a cripple who had a withered arm, a man who had the small-pox, as well as several others. He said he could do nothing with them, as they were wanting in faith." "I thought as much," said I. "All those whom he could not induce to believe were cured, he sent away as not having sufficient faith--the wily rascal! Now, my good woman, I really _do_ wonder at your placing faith in such trash. If you knew as much about Peppe's character as I do, you would very soon cease to look upon him as a saint. Besides, what are the diseases you tell me he has cured? Headaches, jumps, nervousness, low spirits, want of appetite, etc.--trifles all of them.