She bowed her head
upon Bathsheba's shoulder, and sweet Beruna pressed her quivering hand.
The moon set, the stars grew white and ghastly, and vanished one by one.
Over the distant plain of the Tigris, the scene of the marriage pomp,
the dark purple horizon shivered into a rich streak of white and orange.
The solemn strain of the Muezzin sounded from the minarets. Some one
knocked at the door. It was Caleb.
'I am ready,' said Miriam; and for a moment she covered her face with
her right hand. 'Think of me, sweet maidens; pray for me!'
Leaning on Caleb, and lighted by a gaoler, bearing torches, Miriam
descended the damp and broken stairs that led to the dungeon. She
faltered as she arrived at the grate. She stopped, and leant against the
cold and gloomy wall. The gaoler and Caleb preceded her. She heard the
voice of Alroy. It was firm and sweet. Its accents reassured her. Caleb
came forth with a torch, and held it to her feet; and, as he bent down,
he said, 'My lord bade me beg you to be of good heart, for he is.'
The gaoler, having stuck his torch in the niche, withdrew. Miriam
desired Caleb to stay without. Then, summoning up all her energies, she
entered the dreadful abode. Alroy was standing to receive her.
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