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FRIAR.

I am a priest, confessor to Henriquez.

FIRST CENTINEL.

Thou shalt have entrance presently.

FRIAR.

I thank thee. (Going up close to Balthazer.)

Thou art Balthazer?

BALTHAZER.

And thy servant, father.

FRIAR.

Thou'rt up by times; it is still pitchy night.

BALTHAZER.

Nay; look thou eastward; yon dull line of light,

Bounding the sable darkness of the earth
From the sky's fainter gloom: it is the dawn.

FRIAR.

Ha! runs the time so fast! What noise is that?

BALTHAZER.

The hum of distant voices, and the sound

Of preparation for the awful morn.
As I now pass'd along, in every street
I heard the eager citizens astir,
While light from many a lattice gleam'd. And onward,
As I approach'd th' appointed place, I saw
Round the fenced spot, already gather'd, groups
Of men and women, young and old, whose faces
Did seem, from darkness, as from nothing sprung,