g away what she possessed in order to test Mahin; but
afterwards she wanted to do so for her own sake, for the sake of her own
soul. She began by simply giving money to any one who wanted it. But her
father stopped that; besides which, she felt disgusted at the crowd of
supplicants who personally, and by letters, besieged her with demands
for money. Then she resolved to apply to an old man, known to be a
saint by his life, and to give him her money to dispose of in the way
he thought best. Her father got angry with her when he heard about it.
During a violent altercation he called her mad, a raving lunatic, and
said he would take measures to prevent her from doing injury to herself.

Her father's irritation proved contagious. Losing all control
over herself, and sobbing with rage, she behaved with the greatest
impertinence to her father, calling him a tyrant and a miser.

Then she asked his forgiveness. He said he did not mind what she said;
but she saw plainly that he was offended, and in his heart did not
forgive her. She did not feel inclined to tell Mahin about her quarrel
with her father; as to her sister, she was very cold to Lisa, being
jealous of Mahin's love for her.

"I ought to confess to God," she said to herself. As all this happened
in Lent, she made up her mind to fast in preparation for the communion,
and to reveal all her thoughts to the father confessor, asking his
advice as to what she ought to decide for the future.

At a small distance from her town a monastery was situated, where an old
monk lived who had gained a great reputation by his holy life, by his
sermons and prophecies, as well as by the marvellous cures ascribed to
him.

The monk had received a letter from Lisa's father announcing the visit
of his daughter, and telling him in what a state of excitement the young
girl was. He also expressed the hope in that letter that the monk would
influence her in the right way, urging her not to depart from the golden
mean, and to live like a good Christian without trying to upset the
present conditions of her life.

The monk received Lisa after he had seen many other people, and being
very tired, began by quietly recommending her to be modest and to submit
to her present conditions of life and to her parents. Lisa listened
silently, blushing and flushed with excitement. When he had finished
admonishing her, she began saying with tears in her eyes, timidly
at first, that Christ bade us leave fath