"no; thou shalt not scowl me down!" said she."neither now, nor when we stand together at the judgment-seat.i fear not to meet thee there.farewell, till that next encounter!"haughtily waving her hand, miriam rejoined her friends, who were awaiting her at the door of the church.as they went out, the sacristan stopped them, and proposed to the cemetery of the convent, where the deceased members of the fraternity are laid to rest in sacred earth, brought long ago from jerusalem.
"and will yonder monk be buried there?" she asked."brother antonio?"exclaimed the sacristan.
"surely, our good brother will be put to bed there!his grave isalready dug, and the last occupant has made room for him.will you look at it, signorina?""i will!"said miriam.
"then excuse me," observed kenyon; "for i shall leave you.one dead monk has more than sufficed me; and i am not bold enough to face the whole mortality of the convent."it was easy to see, by donatello's looks, that he, as well as the sculptor, would gladly have escaped a visit to the famous cemetery of the cappuccini.but miriam's nerves were strained to such a pitch, that she anticipated a certain solace and absolute relief in passing from one ghastly spectacle to another of long-accumulated ugliness; and there was, besides, a singular sense of duty which impelled her to look at the final resting- place of the being whose fate had been so disastrously involved with her own.she therefore followed the sacristan's guidance, and drew her companion along with her, whispering encouragement as they went.