the rage of the devil. I must assuage my pains at all costs, and regret
that my balm must be your bane. But since you elect to be a prisoner it
seems reasonable that you should taste prison discipline--and I, O
Heaven! inflict it." I marked his infernal purpose in his eyes--no need
that he should bare his iron arm!--and determined to endure, even unto
death, sooner than give way to him. He came towards me, his arm bare to
the shoulder; I clenched my teeth, shut my eyes and waited, not for
long. The cords writhed about me like snakes of fire, biting so deeply
that my very heart seemed torn and raw. The blood surged into my head,
beat at my ears and nose, and (as it seemed) gushed out in a flood,
drowning me in wet heat. So, presently, I lost my senses, neither knew
nor felt any more. "Blessed art thou, Death! Aurelia hath surely sent
thee!" were my last thoughts as I swooned. Waking once more, I was
alone, lying bound on the edge of a little oak wood. Before me were
brown fields and stretches of flickering heat, and far below, in the
valley, I could see Pistoja, pale red and white in the full sun. It was
near noon; the sun was directly overhead in a cloudless sky, and his
rays burned me up. My head throbbed desperately, my body felt one free
wound; I was sick with hunger, clogged with drouth. I made sure that I
had been left there to die, and waited momently for the summoning angel,
commending my simple soul to the advocacy of the Blessed Virgin and the
merits of my patron St. Francis of Assisi. I thought, with a pang, of my
mother, who might be praying for me now; beside her hallowed image even
Aurelia's was dim. Then all visions faded out. Out of the midst of that
glaring sky there beamed, as it appeared to me, a ray of intense light,
which grew steadily to an intolerable radiancy. I believed it to be the
sword of God in St. Michael Archangel's hand, held out to give me the
accolade, and make me Cavalier of Paradise. "God and our Lady!" my
soul's voice cried. An unearthly note of trumpet-music responded to my
call, beginning very far away, and swelling in volume of sound until all