"The _Destatore_ did full justice to his poor friend's devotion. He had appointed him his lieutenant--an absurd title in a band which now consisted of only a handful of knaves. He still allowed him to tell him the truth sometimes, and to give him good advice; but as a general rule he drove him away angrily, for the leader's temper became more and more soured from day to day, and the savage virtues which he had acquired in the days of enthusiasm and gallant exploits gave way to the vices of the past, children of despair, ill-omened guests which resumed possession of his storm-beaten soul. "Drunkenness and lust took possession of him, as in the early days of idleness and discouragement. He fell below himself, and one day--an accursed day, which will never be blotted from my memory--he committed a terrible crime, a dastardly, detestable crime! If I had witnessed it, I would have killed him on the spot. But the _Destatore's_ last remaining friend did not learn of it until the next day; and on that next day he left him, after bitterly upbraiding him for his infamy. "Thereupon that poor devil, having no one to love, and being unable to do anything for his unhappy country, began to wonder what was going to become of him. His heart, still ardent and youthful, turned toward religion, and being of the opinion that an honest monk, thoroughly imbued with the ideas of the Bible, might do a good work, preach virtue to the powerful, give instruction and assistance to the poor and the ignorant, he assumed the frock of a Capuchin, received the lesser orders, and retired to this convent. He accepted the duty of mendicancy imposed upon his order, as an expiation of his sins, and found it preferable to pillage, in that he applied thereafter to the rich in behalf of the poor, without violence and without cunning. It is inferior in a certain sense; it is less sure and less expeditious. But, all things considered, a man who wants to do the greatest possible amount of good should be a brigand in his youth; and he who simply wants to do the least possible harm should be a monk in his old age: you said so yourself. "There is my story; do you understand it?" "Perfectly, uncle; it is very interesting indeed, and, in my eyes, the principal hero of the romance is not the Prince of Castro-Reale, but the monk who is speaking to me." [Footnote 1: He who slumbers not.] XXII THE FIRST STEP ON THE MOUNTAIN