“We generally Test awhile and chew the cud after our midday meal, for our craft keeps us awake a great deal by night; and perhaps your tramp through the woods has made you tired also.  Rest, and after the sun has sunk beneath the branches of yon pine you may deliver the message you spoke about.”

Then the hoary chieftain retired to the shade of his hut, as did some of the others to theirs, but the majority reclined under the spreading beeches, as did our two brethren.

They slept through the meridian heat.  One sentinel alone watched, and so secure felt the outlaws in their deep seclusion that even this precaution was felt to be a mere matter of form.

And at length a horn was blown, and the whole settlement awoke to active life.

“Call the brethren of Saint Francis,” said the chief.  “Now we are ready.  Sit round, my merrie men.”

It was a picture worthy the pencil of that great student of the wild and picturesque, Salvator Rosa; the groups of brawny outlaws, with their women and children, all disposed carelessly on the grass, with the background of dark hill and wood, or of hollow rock, while Martin, standing on a conspicuous hillock, began his message.

With wondrous skill he told the tale of Redeeming Love.  His enthusiasm mounting as he spoke.  The bright colour reddening his face, his eyes sparkling with animation, is beyond our power to tell, and the result was such as was common in the early days of the Franciscan missions.  Women, yea, and men too, were moved to tears.

But in the most solemn appeal of all, suddenly a woman’s voice broke the intensity of the silence in which the preacher’s words were received: 

“My son—­my own son—­my dear son.”

The speaker had not been at the dinner, and had only just returned from the woods, wherein she often wandered.  For this was Mabel, the chieftain’s wife, or “Mad Mab,” as they flippantly called her, and only on hearing from afar the unwonted sound of preaching in the camp had she been drawn in.  The voice thrilled upon her memory as she drew nearer, and when she entered the circle—­we may well say the charmed circle—­she stood entranced, until at last conviction grew into certainty, and she woke the enchantment of the preacher’s voice by her cry of maternal love.

She was not far beyond the prime of life.  Her face had once been strikingly handsome; Martin inherited her bright colour and dark eyes; but time had set its mark upon her, and often had she felt weary of life.

But now, after one of her monotonous rambles, like unto one distraught in the woods, had come this glad surprise.  A new life burst upon her—­something to live for, and, rushing forward, she threw her arms around the neck of her recovered boy.

“My mother,” said he in an agitated voice.  “Nay, she has been long dead.”

But as he gazed, the same instinct awoke in him as in her, and he lost self control.  The sermon ended abruptly, the preacher was conquered by the man.  The hearers gathered in groups and discussed the event.