that He should first go in.'

'Holy Virgin! As you say, that is very true.--Oh! But might He
not have been born in the Abbey?'

Elvira smiled.

'Why, not very easily.'

'Stay, Stay! Now I recollect how it was. He was put into the
Abbey quite a Child; The common People say that He fell from
heaven, and was sent as a present to the Capuchins by the
Virgin.'

'That was very kind of her. And so He fell from heaven, Antonia?

He must have had a terrible tumble.'

'Many do not credit this, and I fancy, my dear Mother, that I
must number you among the Unbelievers. Indeed, as our Landlady
told my Aunt, the general idea is that his Parents, being poor
and unable to maintain him, left him just born at the Abbey door.
The late Superior from pure charity had him educated in the
Convent, and He proved to be a model of virtue, and piety, and
learning, and I know not what else besides: In consequence, He
was first received as a Brother of the order, and not long ago
was chosen Abbot. However, whether this account or the other is
the true one, at least all agree that when the Monks took him
under their care, He could not speak: Therefore, you could not
have heard his voice before He entered the Monastery, because at