Professor Mayda, another friend of Selva's, engaged him as under-gardener at the villa which he built two years ago on the Aventine, below Sant' Anselmo.

The new under-gardener, who wished to be called simply Benedetto, as at Jenne, soon became popular in the whole Testaccio quarter.

He distributes his bread among the poor, comforts the sick, and, it seems, has really healed one or two by the laying on of hands and by prayer.

He has, in fact, become so popular that Professor Mayda's daughter-in-law, notwithstanding her faith and piety, would gladly dismiss him, on account of the annoyance his many visitors cause.
But her father-in-law treats him with the greatest consideration.

If he allows him to rake the paths and water the flowers, it is only because he respects his saintly ideals, and he limits the hours of work, making them as short as possible.