_How the Fort was Cleansed._
On a certain promontory overhanging the aforementioned town of Empthor
was erected a fort, the ruins of whose walls may yet be traced. And
the governor thereof had reduced the nurse of Saint Patrick under the
yoke of slavery, and compelled her to be a servant unto him. And among
other servile works enjoined to her, he had commanded her to clean with
shovels all the offices within the fort, and to carry forth the soil
from the stables. But the woman, having an ingenuous mind, and
understanding that all power was from God, and that all things were
ordained of God, made of her necessity a virtue, and patiently bore the
servitude imposed on her. Then the boy Patrick, compassionating his
nurse's affliction, besought the Lord that he would vouchsafe to set
her free from the labor of this servile work; and behold, as he prayed,
all the dwelling-places therein were cleansed without an human hand,
and neither within nor without could any remains of the soil be found.
And the governor and all who saw or heard this miracle marvelled; and
the nurse was released from slavery through the merits of her
foster-child. Nor is this miracle beheld only at stated seasons, or
once in every year; for even to this day does it appear to be
continued. And the dwellers and the neighbors bear witness that if
within the precincts of the fort as many cattle as the place could hold
were gathered to abide there together, not even the least portion of
soil could therein be found. And the place, being in the Valley of
Clud, is called in the language of that people Dunbreatan--that is, the
Mountain of the Britons; and the miracle cannot be unknown to those who
desire to be informed thereof, inasmuch as so often it is published
abroad by all the dwellers in that country.