midnight
she asked . `` Yes , signorina , this is to be the resting-place of Brother Antonio , who came to his death last night , '' answered the sacristan ; `` and in yonder niche , you see , sits a brother who was buried thirty years ago , and has risen to give him place . '' `` It is not a satisfactory idea , '' observed Miriam , `` that you poor friars can not call even your graves permanently your own . You must lie down in them , methinks , with a nervous anticipation of being disturbed , like weary men who know that they shall be summoned out of bed at midnight . Is it not possible -LRB- if money were to be paid for the privilege -RRB- to leave Brother Antonio -- if that be his name -- in the occupancy of that narrow grave till the last trumpet sounds ? '' `` By no means , signorina ; neither is it needful or desirable , '' answered the sacristan . `` A quarter of a century 's sleep in the sweet earth of Jerusalem is better than a thousand years in any other soil .