Note 133 — Chapter XV
Reading edition
The following story was current at Conception, and I knew all the persons of whom it was related. A young man was intimate in a family of a rank inferior to his own, and he frequently made presents to several individuals of it, which was generally thought strange, as it did not contain any young female. Therefore to account for this predilection, it was reported, that the good old woman to whom he was so kind, possessed a small image of St. Antonio, which was concealed in a bit of old cloth; and it had several scraps of ribbons and I know not what else, tied to its neck, legs and arms; and with this she was said to perform certain mysterious rites, which secured the continuance of the young man’s affection towards herself and family.