is, each should get
what he has need of. And seeing grown men do not ask for broth, nor
babes for wine, the share of each shall not be the same, but each shall
have the heritage that is fitting for him.

"And labour shall be a joyful thing, when it is no longer paid. 'Tis
gold only, the cursed gold, that makes the sharing uneven. When each man
shall go severally to the Mountain for his stone, and carry his load to
the city on his own back, the stone shall weigh light and it shall be
the stone of cheerfulness. And we will build the house of joy and
gladness, and the new city shall rise from its foundations. And there
shall be neither rich nor poor, but all men will call themselves poor
men, because they will be glad to bear a name that brings them honour."

So spoke the gentle Fra Giovanni, and the unhappy quarryman thought to
himself:

"This man clad in a shroud and girt with a cord has proclaimed new
tidings. I shall not see the end of my miseries, for I am going to die
of hunger and exhaustion. But I shall die happy, for my eyes, before
they close, will have beheld the dawn of the day of Justice."

X

THE FRIENDS OF ORDER

Now in those days there was in the very illustrious city of Viterbo a
Confraternity of sixty old men. These counted among their number many of
the chief men of the place; and their objects were the accumulation of
honours and riches, and the pursuit of virtue. The Brotherhood included
a Gonfalonier of the Republic, Doctors of either faculty, Judges,
Merchants, Money-changers of conspicuous piety, and one or two old
Soldiers of Fortune grown too ancient and feeble for the Wars.

Seeing they were banded together for the purpose of stirring up their
fellow-citizens to goodness and good order, and to bear mutual witness
to the practice of these virtues, they gave themselves the title of _The
Friends of Order_. This name was inscribed on the banner of the
Confraternity, and they were all of one mind to persuade the poor to
follow goodness and good order, to the end no changes might be made in
the Constitution.

Their habit was to meet on the last day of each month, in the Palace of
the Podesta, to make inquiry of each other what of good had been done in
the city during the month. And to such of the poorer citizens as had
done well and orderly, they used to present pieces of money.

Now on a certain day the Friends of Order were holding meeting. At one
end of the Hall was a raised platform co