There was an echo as though a large space lay beyond the door; then the echo changed as if resounding through lofty arches.
In a couple of minutes, keys rattled, and steps were heard descending some stairs.

At length the door opened, and a monk, standing on the narrow stairs with the key and a light in his hands, admitted them.
Andrii involuntarily halted at the sight of a Catholic monk--one of those who had aroused such hate and disdain among the Cossacks that they treated them even more inhumanly than they treated the Jews.
The monk, on his part, started back on perceiving a Zaporovian Cossack, but a whisper from the Tatar reassured him.

He lighted them in, fastened the door behind them, and led them up the stairs.

They found themselves beneath the dark and lofty arches of the monastery church.

Before one of the altars, adorned with tall candlesticks and candles, knelt a priest praying quietly.