"Perfectly true, Reverenza," was the reply. "Only the night before last we were assaulted by at least a dozen banditti armed to the teeth, and my passengers, six of whom were English gentlemen, along with myself." "Stay," said the arch-priest. "You are perfectly sure there were a dozen of them?" "A dozen at the very least, your Reverence, I could swear." "Tell me," said the arch-priest, "did you see Antonio the prisoner amongst them." "Antonio?" inquired the _vetturino_, in extreme surprise. "Ay," replied the arch-priest. "He that hath been accused of robbing the church and is now at Gennazzano awaiting his trial. You will have heard the tale by this time." "I certainly did hear a wonderful story, Reverenza, but did not know how far to credit it," replied the _vetturino_. "The night was very dark and I could recognise no faces. "But, _Corpi di Bacco_! Antonio! Why I always considered Antonio as an honest man, a simple _vignauolo_ who earned his bread by the sweat of his brow, and whom, for his steady plodding, the saints had awarded by granting him a better share of this world's goods than most of his fellows." "Ay, ay," said several bystanders at once, "we all thought so, too, Signor Arciprete. Still, what we all saw with our own eyes, only yesterday morning, made us change our opinion." The arch-priest looked thoughtful, and then enquired of Luigi if he knew anything of Peppe, the man who had been raised from the dead. "Peppe!" exclaimed the _vetturino_, laughing, "ay, do I, and a greater rascal never walked God's earth. That is why I was so cautious in believing a story in which Peppe the goatherd was mixed up. I never yet heard any tale in which he figured but had some devilry at the bottom of it." "You do not believe, then, in the miracle?" "Not upon such testimony," replied Luigi. "I should believe _you_, Signor Arciprete, if you had seen it with your own eyes," he added, respectfully. "All I can declare is," replied the priest, "that I saw the man Peppe, apparently dead, and decked out as a corpse, placed within the church upon his bier, and the morning after, as I entered the church to say mass, I saw him as alive as ever again, still in his shroud, and appearing to dispute the treasure with Antonio. As for the rest, it was communicated to me by Ricardo, my sacristan. Do you know Ricardo?" "I do," replied Luigi, in a tone of deep meaning. "Well," said the arch-priest, "what do you think of him?" "Well, Signor Arciprete," said the _vetturino_, hesitatingly, "as he is your sacristan, perhaps you would not like to hear _what_ I think of him." "Speak out, man," said the arch-priest. "If I find him unworthy of his post, I shall discharge him. Come, now, what do you know about him?"