from a whited sepulchre."

And Fra Giovanni said again:

"Brother Marcian, I am indeed capable of every infamy--but for God's
good help."

Meantime the General was pondering over the strange behaviour of Fra
Giovanni, and he besought the Holy Spirit to inspire the judgment he was
to give. And lo! as he prayed, his anger was changed into admiration. He
had known St. Francis in the days when that Angel of Heaven, born of a
woman, was a sojourner in this world, and the ensample of the favourite
follower of Christ had taught him the love of spiritual perfection.

So his soul was enlightened, and he recognized in the works of Fra
Giovanni a divine innocency and beauty.

"My brethren," he said at length, "far from blaming our Brother, let us
admire the grace he receives so abundantly from God. In very truth he is
a better man than we. What he has done, he has done in imitation of
Jesus Christ, who 'suffered the little children to come unto Him,' and
let the Roman soldiers strip Him of His garments."

Then he thus addressed the kneeling Fra Giovanni:

"This, Brother, is the penance I lay upon you. In the name of that holy
obedience you owe St. Francis, I command you go forth into the country,
and the first beggar you meet, beg him to strip you of your tunic. Then,
when he has left you naked, you must come back into the city, and play
in the Public Square With the little children."