When all seemed quiet, Luka crept out and got to work. He rifled money boxes and swept chalice and paten into his bag. Then his eye fell on the famous Icon of the Sign, and he snapped out a knife ready to prise off the precious gems.* But in the instant Luka laid his hand upon the picture, he was thrown backwards and fell to the floor stunned,* with his bag beneath him.

When the sexton came in next morning to set the church up for matins, he found Luka still lying there. Making a pardonable diagnosis, he told Luka to sober up and shooed him out of the church; but he failed to notice Luka’s bag, so it was some time before the theft was detected. The alarm was raised, officers of the law were summoned, and by the time a search of Luka’s house had revealed the stolen goods, the hapless thief was ready to confess the whole tale.