along the
square. The shriek rang long in Adrian's ears, though not aware of the
unnatural cause;--the mother feared not for her infant, but herself. The
voice of Nature was no more heeded in that charnel city than it is in
the tomb itself! Adrian rode on at a brisker pace, and came at length
before a stately church; its doors were wide open, and he saw within
a company of monks (the church had no other worshippers, and they were
masked) gathered round the altar, and chanting the Miserere Domine;--the
ministers of God, in a city hitherto boasting the devoutest population
in Italy, without a flock!

The young Cavalier paused before the door, and waited till the service
was done, and the monks descended the steps into the street.

"Holy fathers," said he then, "may I pray your goodness to tell me my
nearest way to the convent Santa Maria de' Pazzi?"

"Son," said one of these featureless spectres, for so they seemed in
their shroud-like robes, and uncouth vizards,--"son, pass on your
way, and God be with you. Robbers or revellers may now fill the holy
cloisters you speak of. The abbess is dead; and many a sister sleeps
with her. And the nuns have fled from the contagion."

Adrian half fell from his horse, and, as he still remained rooted to the
spot, the dark procession swept on, hymning in solemn dirge through the
desolate street the monastic chaunt--

"By the Mother and the Son,
Death endured and mercy won:
Spare us, sinners though we be;
Miserere Domine!"

Recovering from his stupor, Adrian regained the brethren, and, as they
closed the burthen of their song, again accosted them.

"Holy fathers, dismiss me not thus. Perchance the one I seek may yet be
heard of at the convent. Tell me which way to shape my course."

"Disturb us not, son," said the monk who spoke before. "It is an ill
omen for thee to break thus upon the invocations of the ministers of
Heaven."

"Pardon, pardon! I will do ample penance, pay many masses; but I seek a
dear friend--the way--the way--"

"To the right, till you gain the first bridge. Beyond the third bridge,
on the riverside, you will find the convent," said another monk, moved
by the earnestness of Adrian.

"Bless you, holy father," faltered forth the Cavalier, and spurred
his steed in the direction given. The friars heeded him not, but again
resumed their dirge. Mingled with the sound of his horse's hoofs on the
clattering pavement, came to the rider's ear