Page:The venture; an annual of art and literature.djvu/96

 nobles who heard this interposed, and reconciled them and restored the son to his father's favour; and his mother, who took his part in everything, had him brought back to the house. At length she said to her husband that to see whether this was a miracle or not he should reckon up his substance, and he would find that for the three thousand crusadoes he had spent upon the Saint, God had given him six thousand and more, so that his capital was doubled. The merchant finding this to be so, determined to send his son next year, as he did, giving him four thousand crusadoes and presents for the Moor and his sons, and his mother gave him other very rich presents for the Moor's wife. And the youth went and was received as a son, and related all that had happened, and concluded that when the time came for his ship to return, he would give the Moor the four thousand crusadoes he had brought to lay out for him, for he loved him as a father, and determined to follow his advice, and go back to live with him if he were ill treated by his own father. And such was the Moor that, though he loved him as a son, neither he nor his sons ever strove to persuade him to change his faith, but rather besought him to continue as he was, for the Moor himself hoped to become a Christian when he should have performed certain necessary things. And so when the youth would depart, he charged him to take to the ship another coffer with other bones of another Saint, priced at four thousand crusadoes, which coffer he had at his own cost lined within and without with rich brocade, with silver nails, and