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 Conversion of tJic Germans 91 tribe. The people gathered at the temple for their wonted festival ; but they were attracted by the sight of the stran- gers, not, however, by reverence for the divine religion. When they were assembled, Gall, the elect of God, fed their hearts with honeyed words, exhorting them to turn to their Creator, and to Jesus Christ the Son of God, who opened the gate of heaven for the human race, sunk in indifference and uncleanness. Then before them all he broke in pieces with stones the enthroned idols, and cast them into the depths of the lake. Then part of the people confessed their sins and believed, but others were angry and enraged, and departed in wrath ; and Columban, the man of God, blessed the water and sanc- tified the place, and remained there with his followers three years. . . . Some time after, in the silence of the night, Gall, the elect of God, was laying nets in the water, and lo ! he heard the demon of the mountain top calling to his fellow who dwelt in the depths of the lake. The demon of the lake answered, "I am here"; he of the mountain returned: "Arise, come to my aid ! Behold the aliens come, and thrust me from my temple. Come, come ! help me to drive them from our lands." The demon of the lake answered : " One of them is upon the lake, whom I could never harm. For I wished to break his nets, but see, I am vanquished and mourn. The sign of his prayer protects him always, and sleep never overcomes him." Gall, the elect of God, heard this, and fortified himself on all sides with the sign of the cross, and said to them : " In the name of Jesus Christ, I command you, leave this place, and do not presume to harm any one here." And he hastened to return to the shore, and told his abbot what he had heard. When Columban, the man of God, heard this, he called the brethren together in the church, and made the accustomed sign (the cross). Before the brethren could raise their voices, the voice of an unseen being was heard, and wail- ing and lamentation echoed from the mountain top. So the