casks were to be prepared for the reception of new wine. The persons in charge were anxious to empty the inexhaustible hogshead in order to fill it with the wine that already flowed from the press; but the divine munificence was not wearied, other vessels were prepared and filled, but all were insufficient; then, a young man who was conducting the vintage gave orders to empty that hogshead, and bring it to the wine press; they answered him that on the previous evening, a large vessel full had been drawn, and that the wine was very strong and very clear, and that consequently there must yet remain a considerable quantity. Annoyed at their perseverance, he replied: " Draw out whatever wine maybe in it, open the cask, and prepare it for the reception of the new wine, because we cannot wait any longer." They therefore opened the cask, whence on the eve, wine beautifully clear had flowed: but it was so dry, that it seemed impossibility that any liquid could have been drawn from it in a length of time. Astonishment seized them all: for they remembered the abundance and the quality of the wine which it had afforded, and they verified the extreme dryness of the hogshead from which it had been drawn. This miracle was known to all the city of Sienna; it is attested by the persons then resident in the house of Catherine, and I have mentioned above, the individuals who related it to me.
