tom before dinner, then spake he of the cross which he had
seen, and of the place where he beheld it. Then Saint Patrick, the
preacher of the cross, leaving his meal prepared, went forth of his
dwelling, and returned unto the place on the road which he had passed
along. And diligently he sought for the sign of life, and he found
nigh unto it a certain sepulchre. And drawing near, he prayed in the
sight of the Lord, and enquired who therein was sepultured. And a
voice answered from within, that he had been a heathen, and that a
Christian man was buried at his side, whose mother had been absent when
her son died, and when he was returned into the bosom of the common
mother: and that after some days she had come hither to wail, but
knowing not the burial-place of her son, had placed over him the
Christian sign. Therefore the man of God averred that he could not
behold the cross, because it was placed over a heathen who had been an
enemy of the cross of Christ. And removing the cross, he placed it at
the head of the baptized man, and commending his soul to God, he walked
back unto his own dwelling.

CHAPTER CXLVIII.

_A Goat bleateth in the Stomach of a Thief._

The blessed Patrick had a goat, which carried water for his service;
and to this the animal was taught, not by any artifice but rather by a
miracle. And a certain thief stole the goat, and eat, and swallowed
it. And the author or instigator of the theft is enquired: and one who
by evident tokens had incurred suspicion, is accused; but not only
denieth he the fact, but adding perjury unto theft, endeavoreth he to
acquit himself by an oath. Wondrous was the event to be told, yet more
wonderful to come to pass. The goat which was swallowed in the stomach
of the thief bleated loudly forth, and proclaimed the merit of Saint
Patrick. And to the increase of this miracle it happened, that at the
command, nay rather at the sentence of the Saint, all the posterity of
this man were marked with the beard of a goat.

CHAPTER CXLIX.

_Of the Cloaks which fell from Heaven._

And that he might the more entirely profit unto God by their
conversation and their example, the saint was used to seek the society
of holy men, and to join himself unto them in the most strict
friendship. For, as Solomon witnesseth, as iron is sharpened by iron,
so are the lives of holy men by conversation and by example enflamed
into a firm faith, and more fervent love of God;