orse, and full of joy set out upon the
road to Assisi.[8]

This act was to him most important; it marked his final rupture with the
past; from this day on his life was to be in all points the opposite of
what it had been; the Crucified had given himself to him; he on his side
had given himself to the Crucified without reserve or return. To
uncertainty, disquietude of soul, anguish, longing for an unknown good,
bitter regrets, had succeeded a delicious calm, the ecstasy of the lost
child who finds his mother, and forgets in a moment the torture of his
heart.

From Foligno he returned direct to St. Damian; it was not necessary to
pass through the city, and he was in haste to put his projects into
execution.

The poor priest was surprised enough when Francis handed over to him the
whole product of his sale. He doubtless thought that a passing quarrel
had occurred between Bernardone and his son, and for greater prudence
refused the gift; but Francis so insisted upon remaining with him that
he finally gave him leave to do so. As to the money, now become useless,
Francis cast it as a worthless object upon a window-seat in the
chapel.[9]

Meanwhile Bernardone, disturbed by his son's failure to return, sought
for him in all quarters, and was not long in learning of his presence at
St. Damian. In a moment he perceived that Francis was lost to him.
Resolved to try every means, he collected a few neighbors, and furious
with rage hastened to the hermitage to snatch him away, if need were, by
main force.

But Francis knew his father's violence. When he heard the shouts of
those who were in pursuit of him he felt his courage fail and hurried to
a hiding-place which he had prepared for himself for precisely such an
emergency. Bernardone, no doubt ill seconded in the search, ransacked
every corner, but was obliged at last to return to Assisi without his
son. Francis remained hidden for long days, weeping and groaning,
imploring God to show him the path he ought to follow. Notwithstanding
his fears he had an infinite joy at heart, and at no price would he have
turned back.[10]

This seclusion could not last long. Francis perceived this, and told
himself that for a newly made knight of the Christ he was cutting a very
pitiful figure. Arming himself, therefore, with courage, he went one day
to the city to present himself before his father and make known to him
his resolution.

It is easy to imagine the changes wrought in his app