'We know your
courage to be undaunted, and that there is no mortal man that you stand
in awe of; but when it comes to running counter to spirits raised from
the dead, or devils from hell, that is quite another sort of thing, and
a man need be the arch-fiend himself to be without fear.' "'Just so,' replied the brigand chief; 'then, since none of you are able
to accuse me with a lack of human courage, you may know that my
exhortation to you to repent and alter the course of your unholy lives
is not the mere words of a craven soul who fears the law and seeks to
shun the just penalty of his misdeeds, but those of a repentant sinner
miraculously brought to conversion through the intervention of the
blessed Madonna, whom, in her boundless mercy, she had deigned to bring
to a sense of his wickedness, even in the very midst of his crimes. "'Let us turn from our evil ways, oh, my comrades! Take the advice of a
brother sinner, more deeply dyed in iniquity than any of yourselves, and
repent ere it be too late! What can atone for all our past wickedness
save the utter renouncement of our evil ways, a life of rigid penance
and the entire devotion of ourselves to God? Marvel not, then, my
comrades in wickedness, that you hear the man once your chief and
foremost in wrong, exhort you to throw down your arms, divest yourselves
of your trappings, and don the holy convent garb, in order that by a
life of fasting and prayer you may endeavour to open up a communication
with Heaven, and wrest your souls from the hands of the Devil. I myself
will set you the example. "'As I have been the first to incite you to evil, so will I be the first
to exhort you to repentance. Follow me, all ye that have a mind to save
your souls. Yet I no longer command, but entreat you for your own good,
for I aspire no longer to be your chief, but to live humbly as your
fellow labourer in Christ, to whom be all honour and glory, now and for
evermore. Amen.' "As the chief brigand terminated his harangue the pale grey of the
morning sky lighted up the faces of the whole band, so that I could now
distinguish the features of each individual and the various expressions
of their countenances. Several appeared deeply affected, with tears of
repentance standing in their eyes, others sullen and obdurate. Some with
a look of vacant astonishment, others scowling and suspicious, or with a
suppressed grin. "Their chief's harangue seemed to call for a reply, and there was a
silence of some minutes, during which period the members of the band
appeared debating among themselves by means of winking and nudging as to
what their reply should be, and who should take it upon himself to speak
for the rest. I observed that they looked towards a sturdy brigand, whom
next to their chief they honoured with the deepest veneration. To him
they turned as the mouthpiece of the gang, and seemed to intimate that
they would abide by his decision. "This man, who appeared wrapt in thought, finding himself thus appealed
to, and feeling that he represented the sentiments of the whole band, at
length addressed his chief in these words:--

"'Signor Capitano, we are ready as ever to follow you to the very jaws
of death, according to our oath. We have served you long and faithfully
in all your deeds of daring and crime, and we will not abandon you now
in your change of sentiment, knowing, as we do, that you are still the
same brave and generous man as ever, and as such will always remain, in
whatever capacity, whether as the lawless brigand of the mountains, or
as a holy monk in the retirement of the convent cell; therefore, in the
presence of the whole band I repeat my former vows of fidelity and
friendship, and reiterate my protestations of following you through
life, to the utmost ends of the earth, if need be. The discipline of our
monastic life will be merely the exchanging one life of hardships for
another no less hard, therefore we cannot be charged with cowardice or
idleness, since there are duties before us that will call forth all the
courage and endurance of our natures. "'As for learning and psalm-singing, it has never been exactly my
speciality; nevertheless, I quite agree with you, Captain, that the life
we have been in the habit of leading for years past is not the best to
suit us for Heaven, and I am not ashamed to say that I have long had
qualms of conscience for my past misdeeds, and had resolved upon
repentance at some future period, but never did I look back upon the
past with such horror and remorse as at the present moment, having now
been brought to a thorough knowledge of my crimes and of the bountiful
mercy of our blessed Lady to us miserable sinners, as shown in the
undoubted miracle that we all so clearly witnessed. "'After having received so great a proof of the blessed Virgin's love
and care for us, would it not be the blackest ingratitude to continue in
mortal sin? Would it not be the most egregious folly as well, after
having had Divine warning to alter our lives, still to persist in
preferring death and hell to the sublime promises held out to the good? "'Why longer delay, then, my friends? Think of your precious souls, and
repent while there is still breath left in your bodies. It may not be
long ere we shall be captured and executed. How shall we pass our last
moments on earth, or how brook the vengeance of a just God with all our
crimes upon our heads? "'Enough, then, of pusillanimous disbelief and impotent struggling
against Divine will. Let us hasten to the nearest convent, confess our
sins, then, with a clean breast and humble spirit, endeavour to atone
for the past by a life of penitence and prayer, that we may fearlessly
meet our end as men and Christians.' "This exhortation was universally applauded, and as every man is
governed by the public opinion of the little circle wherein he lives and
moves, so even those who had shown themselves obdurate and suspicious
felt themselves forced to yield to the overwhelming tide of changed
opinion, feeling ashamed of being left in the minority. "The chief, doffing his hat, fell upon his knees and thanked the Most
High for his conversion and that of his whole band, in which prayer all
the rest reverently joined. Then rising from their knees, but with heads
still uncovered, they walked on towards the convent, singing an 'Ave
Maria,' by the way. "I did not know what to make of all this, for as yet I had heard nothing
of the miracle, but I had hardly reached home safely with my pig, when I
heard from almost every mouth in the village of the great miracle
wrought on the night of the robbery." The peasant having concluded his narrative, was dismissed with an
assurance from the arch-priest that should his revelation lead to the
capture of the brigands he would be duly rewarded. Nevertheless, he
informed him that he was not the person to apply to, and that he should
mention the affair to the authorities.