o, that filled the
sides of the archway like the frontispiece of a book, causing it to
scale off; but Gabriel could still see the horrible face of the judge
standing at the foot of the cross, and the ferocious gesture of the
man, who with his knife in his mouth, was bending forward to tear out
the heart of the little martyr; theatrical figures, but they had often
disturbed his childish dreams.

The garden in the midst of the cloister showed even in midwinter its
southern vegetation of tall laurels and cypresses, stretching their
branches through the grating of the arches that, five on each side,
surrounded the square, and rising to the capitals of the pillars.
Gabriel looked a long time at the garden, which was higher than the
cloister; his face was on a level with the ground on which his father
had laboured so many years ago; at last he saw again that charming
corner of verdure--the Jews' market converted into a garden by the
canons centuries before. The remembrance of it had followed him
everywhere--in the Bois de Boulogne, in Hyde Park; for him the garden
of the Toledan Cathedral was the most beautiful of all gardens, for it
was the first he had even known in his life.

The beggars seated on the doorsteps watched him curiously, without
daring to stretch out their hands; they could not tell if this early
morning visitor with the worn-out cloak, the shabby hat, and the old
boots, was simply an inquisitive traveller, or whether he was one of
their own order, choosing a position about the Cathedral from whence
to beg alms.

Annoyed by this curiosity, Luna walked down the cloister, passing
by the two doors that opened into the church. The one called del
Presentacion is a lovely example of Plateresque art, chiselled like a
jewel, and adorned with fanciful and happy trifles. Going on further,
he came to the back of the staircase by which the archbishops
descended from their palace to the church; a wall covered with Gothic
interlacings, and large escutcheons, and almost on the level of the
ground was the famous "stone of light," a thin slice of marble as
clear as glass, which gave light to the staircase, and was the
admiration of all the countryfolk who came to visit the cloister. Then
came the door of Santa Catalina, black and gold, with richly-carved
polychrome foliage, mixed with lions and castles, and on the jambs two
statues of prophets.

Gabriel went on a few steps further as he saw that the wicket of the
doorway