nd, so that not one stone shall remain upon another, heaven
could not frown upon the deed! For surely demons in mortal shape must
have invented that terrible engine by means of which I was consigned to
this subterrane!"

The recollection of the anguish she had suffered during the descent, a
mental agony that Flora herself could fully appreciate, she having
passed through the same infernal ordeal, produced a cold shudder which
oscillated throughout Giulia's entire form.

But we shall not dwell upon this portion of our tale; for the reader is
about to pass to scenes of so thrilling a nature, that all he has yet
read in the preceding chapters are as nothing to the events which will
occupy those that are to follow.

We said then, at the opening of this chapter, that six days had elapsed
since Flora became an inmate of the convent, and four since
circumstances had given her a companion in the person of Giulia of
Arestino.

It was on the sixth night, and the two inmates of the gloomy cell were
preparing to retire to their humble pallet, after offering their prayers
to the Virgin, for adversity had already taught the countess to pray,
and to pray devoutly, too, when they were startled and alarmed by the
sudden clang of a large bell fixed in some part of the subterrane.

The echoes which it raised, and the monotonous vibration of the air
which it produced, struck terror to their souls.

A minute elapsed, and again the bell struck.

Flora and the countess exchanged glances of terror and mysterious doubt,
so ominous was that sound.

Again a minute passed, and a third time clanged that heavy iron tongue.

Then commenced a funeral hymn, chanted by several female voices, and
emanating as yet from a distance, sounding, too, as if the mournful
melody was made within the very bowels of the earth.

But by degrees the strain became louder, as those who sang approached
nearer; and in a short time the sound of many light steps on the stone
pavement of the chamber of penitence were heard by Giulia and her
companion in their cell.

Again did they exchange terrified glances, as if demanding of each other
what this strange interruption of night's silence could mean. But at
that instant the hymn ceased--and again the loud bell clanged, as if in
some far-off gallery hollowed out of the earth.

Oh! in that convent where all was mysterious, and where a terrific
despotism obeyed the dictates of its own wild will, such sounds as that