Their deed--the crime which Donatello wrought, and Miriam accepted on the instant--had wreathed itself, as she said, like a serpent, in inextricable links about both their souls, and drew them into one, by its terrible contractile power.

It was closer than a marriage bond.

So intimate, in those first moments, was the union, that it seemed as if their new sympathy annihilated all other ties, and that they were released from the chain of humanity; a new sphere, a special law, had been created for them alone.

The world could not come near them; they were safe! When they reached the flight of steps leading downward from the Capitol, there was a faroff noise of singing and laughter.

Swift, indeed, had been the rush of the crisis that was come and gone! This was still the merriment of the party that had so recently been their companions.