f this simple soul, his name has been handed down through the ages as
that of a saint; for the highway of holiness is such that a wayfaring
man, though a fool, shall not err therein.

[Sidenote: _A True Franciscan._]

Leo, whom they called "the little sheep of God," who became Francis'
secretary, was one of the best loved of the disciples. In Leo,
Francis' soul found rest and help and comfort. His nature was simple,
affectionate and refined, and in every respect he was a true
Franciscan.

There are others whose names we find among the early Franciscans, but
the foregoing are those who stand out most prominently.

CHAPTER VII.

FRANCIS--CALLED TO BE A SAINT.

"God's interpreter art thou,
To the waiting ones below
'Twixt them and its light midway
Heralding the better day."

We have seen Francis as a young man, gay, careless, pleasure loving,
kind-hearted, a leader at every feast and revel, known to his
companions as a thorough good fellow. We have watched the first
strivings of the Holy Spirit in his soul, and marked his earnest
attempts to follow the light that then began to penetrate his hitherto
dark soul. We have followed that glimmering light with him, step by
step, seen him persecuted, mocked, stoned, beaten, watched his lonely
wilderness wrestlings when there was no human eye to pity, no human
arm to succour. We have seen, too, how, little by little, this thorny
pathway led to a closer and more intimate acquaintance with God, for
which acquaintance Francis counted his sufferings as nothing, and the
world well lost.

[Sidenote: _"Saint" Francis._]

Francis was not an extraordinary character in any sense of the word. He
was what he was simply and solely by the grace of God, which is ever
free for all men. He was not a man created for the hour. He was a
vessel, cleansed and emptied, and thus fit for the Master's use, and God
used him, as He always uses such vessels. The whole secret of his
sainthood lay in his simple, loving, implicit obedience. Not the
lifeless obedience that one renders to inexorable law, but the
heart-felt, passionate desire to serve, and to anticipate the lightest
want of the One Object of the affections! That baptism of personal love
for God and union with Christ was poured out upon Francis in the black
hour of what looked to him complete failure; when hunted and pursued, he
sought refuge from his angry friends in the caves of the earth. The gift
that he t