who hast commanded men to keep faith on earth, and didst heal
the leper by Thy word! cleanse now my comrade, for whose love
I have shed the blood of my children.

"Then Amis was cleansed of his leprosy. And Amile clothed his
companion in his best robes; and as they went to the church to
give thanks, the bells, by the will of God, rang of their own
accord. And when the people of the city heard that, they ran
together to see the marvel. And the wife of Amile, when she saw
Amis and Amile coming, asked which of the twain was her
husband, and said, I know well the vesture of them both, but I
know not which of them is Amile. And Amile said to her, I am
Amile, and my companion is Amis, who is healed of his sickness.
And she was full of wonder, and desired to know in what manner
he was healed. Give thanks to our Lord, answered Amile, but
trouble not thyself as to the manner of the healing.

"Now neither the father nor the mother had yet entered where the
children were; but the father sighed heavily, because they were
dead, and the mother asked for them, that they might rejoice
together; but Amile said, Dame! let [15] the children sleep. And
it was already the hour of Tierce. And going in alone to the
children to weep over them, he found them at play in the bed;
only, in the place of the sword-cuts about their throats was as it
were a thread of crimson. And he took them in his arms and
carried them to his wife and said, Rejoice greatly, for thy children
whom I had slain by the commandment of the angel are alive,
and by their blood is Amis healed."

There, as I said, is the strength of the old French story. For the