The tumultuous crowd began to range itself in orderly groups at the
command of the superior, and Fra Antonio controlled himself with a
supreme effort as a body of palace guards, in brilliant uniforms,
scattered themselves among the black-robed friars. The heavy gates
closed behind them, and the dismal tolling of the bell ended in a
silence through which the heart-beats of Fra Antonio sounded in his ears
louder and more ominous than the harsh tones of the summons had done a
moment before.
Who were those two terrible gondoliers all in black, who stood by the
water-entrance on the Fondamenta? Was it the shadow of their great black
hats that darkened their features like masks? Why were they there?
He glanced stealthily at the faces of the friars; they were more full of
interest than dread, while the eyes of the little choristers who stood
robed for chapel service shone with delight. Evidently to all that
community the interruption was an event filled with possibilities of
excitement that was welcomed as breaking the monotony of the daily
round.
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