rrest effected in the name or on the part
of the holy brotherhood.

The Palazzo del Podesta, or ducal palace, was one of the most celebrated
edifices in Florence. In strong contrast with the various beautiful
specimens of composite Tuscan, combined with a well-assimilated portion
of the Grecian character, which abounded in Florence, the ducal palace
was remarkable for the stern and gloomy character of its architecture.
Its massive and heavy tower, crowned with embattled and overhanging
parapets, seemed to frown in sullen and haughty defiance at the lapse of
Time. The first range of windows were twelve feet from the ground, and
were grated with enormous bars of iron, producing a somber and ominous
effect. Within were the apartments of the duke's numerous dependents;
and the lower portion of the palace had been rendered thus strong to
enable the edifice to withstand a siege in those troublous times, when
the contentions of the Guelphs and Ghibelines desolated Florence. On the
second floor there was in front a plain and simple architrave, and on
that story the windows were high and arched; for those casements
belonged to the ducal apartments. The upper stories were in the same
style; but the general aspect was stern and mournful to a degree.

The palace was built, as indeed nearly all the Florentine mansions then
were, and still are, in the form of a square; and around this court,
which was of an antique and gloomy cast, were numerous monumental
stones, whereon were inscribed the names of the nobles and citizens who
had held high offices in the state previous to the establishment of the
sway of the Medici.

It was beneath the Palazzo del Podesta that the dungeons of the criminal
prison and also those of the inquisition were situated.

In a cell belonging to the former department, Fernand Wagner was already
a captive; and Isaachar ben Solomon now became the inmate of a narrow,
cold, and damp stone chamber, in that division of the subterrane which
was within the jurisdiction of the holy office.

CHAPTER XXIX.

THE VISIT OF THE BANDITTI TO THE RIVEROLA PALACE.

It was Monday night, and within an hour of the time appointed by
Stephano for the meditated invasion of the Riverola Palace.

Francisco had already retired to rest, for he was wearied with vain and
ineffectual wandering about the city and its environs in search of some
trace that might lead him to discover his lost Flora.

Indeed, the few days which h