136 ^f}t JLittlt iFIoujcrs of 



yourfelf while you live, and then when you 

 die, ftill you will be damned ? " And fud- 

 denly Brother Rufus replied to the Devil, 

 " Open thy mouth that I may fpit upon 

 thee." At which the Devil, waxing wrath, 

 llraightway departed thence with fuch a 

 tempeft of wind and fo great a rain of 

 fbones from Mount Subaffio, which was in 

 that neighborhood, that the noife of the 

 ftones which fell down was heard for a 

 great fpace round about ; and fo great was 

 the tumult that they made, together with 

 the rumbling, that horrid flames of fire 

 flafhed through the valleys, and at the 

 found that they made, Saint Francis with 

 his Companions came out from the Con- 

 vent in great amaze, to fee what ftrange 

 thing this might be ; and even unto this 

 day men may fee that exceeding great wafte 

 of ftones. Then Brother Rufus faw plainly 

 that this was the Devil which had mifled 

 him. And returning again to Saint Fran- 

 cis, again he fell before him on the ground 

 and confeffed his fault. Saint Francis com- 

 forted him with fweet words, and fent him 

 again confoled to his cell, wherein he, pray- 

 ing moft devoutly, Chrift the Bleffed ap- 

 peared to him, and fired all his foul with 



Divine 



