loads.

The Banker could not believe his eyes; but the glorious Archangel said
solemnly:

"See, Nicolas Nerli; you are good neither for Heaven nor Hell. Begone!
Go back to Florence! multiply through the city the loaves you gave last
night with your own hand, in the dusk, when no man saw you--and you
shall be saved. It is not enough that Heaven open its doors to the thief
that repented and the harlot that wept. The mercy of God is infinite,
and able to save even a rich man. Do this; multiply the loaves whose
weight you see weighing down my balances. Begone!"

Then Nicholas Nerli awoke in his bed. He resolved to follow faithfully
the counsel of the Archangel, and multiply the bread of the poor, and
so enter into the kingdom of Heaven.

For the three years he spent on earth after his first death, he was very
pitiful to the unfortunate and a great giver of alms.




THE MERRY-HEARTED BUFFALMACCO

TO EUGÈNE MÜNTZ