Maria Grazia lived in a convent of nuns at Velletri, and did their
errands for them. One night one of the nuns who was ill got much
worse towards night, and the factor [257] not being there, the
Superior called up Maria Grazia and said to her,--'Maria Grazia,
Sister Maria such a one [258] is so very bad that I must get you to
go and call the provost to her. I'm sorry to send you out so late,
but I fear she won't last till morning.'
Maria Grazia couldn't say nay to such an errand, and off she set by a
clear moonlight to go to the house of the provost, which was a good
step off and out of the town. All went well till Maria Grazia had
left the houses behind her, but she was no sooner in the open country
than she saw a great procession of white-robed priests and acolytes
bearing torches coming towards her, chanting solemnly. 'What a fine
procession!' thought Maria Grazia; 'I must hasten on to see it. But
what can it be for at this time of night?'
Still she never doubted it was a real procession till she got quite
close, and then, to her surprise, the procession parted in two to
let her go through the midst, which a real procession would never
have done.
You may believe that she was frightened as she passed right through
the midst of those beings who must have belonged to the other world,
dazed as she was with the unearthly light of the flaring torches;
it seemed as if it would last for ever. But it did come to an end at
last, and then she was so frightened she didn't know what to do. Her
legs trembled too much to carry her on further from home, and if she
turned back there would be that dreadful procession again. Curiosity
prompted her to turn her head, in spite of her fears; and what gave
her almost more alarm than seeing the procession was the fact that it
was no longer to be seen. What could have become of it in the midst
of the open field? Then the fear of the good nun dying without the
sacraments through her faint-heartedness stirred her, but in vain
she tried to pluck up courage. 'Oh!' she thought, 'if there were only
some one going the same road, then I shouldn't mind!'
She had hardly formed the wish when she saw a peasant coming along
over the very spot where the procession had passed out of sight. 'Now
it's all right,' she said; for by the light of the moon he seemed a
very respectable steady-looking peasant.
'What did you think of that procession, good man,' said Maria Grazia;
'for it must have passed close by you, too?'
The peasant continued coming towards her, but said nothing.
'Didn't it frighten you? It did me; and I don't think I could have
moved from the spot if you hadn't come up. I've got to go to the
provost's house, to fetch him to a dying nun; it's only a step off
this road, will you mind walking with me till I get there?'
The peasant continued walking towards her, but answered nothing.
'Maybe you're afraid of me, as I was of the procession, that you
don't speak,' continued Maria Grazia; 'but I am not a spirit. I am
Maria Grazia, servant in such and such a convent at Velletri.'
But still the peasant said nothing.
'What a very odd man!' thought Maria Grazia. 'But as he seems to
be going my way he'll answer the purpose of company whether he
speaks or not.' And she walked on without fear till she came to
the provost's house, the peasant always keeping beside her but never
speaking. Arrived at the provost's gate she turned round to salute and
thank him, and he was nowhere to be seen. He too had disappeared! He
too was a spirit!
When the archpriest came he had his nephew and his servant to go
with him, and they carried torches of straw, [259] for it seems in
that part of the country they use straw torches; so she went back in
good company.
And Maria Grazia told me that herself.