He succeeded, however, in stifling these emotions, and continued his labor
on the fatal spot where the chair had stood.
Finally he arose, took the lamp, examined attentively the whole floor, and
said, with a kind of satisfaction: "At last I have finished! He who could discover a spot there could see
through a stone. My arms are almost broken; I can scarcely straighten
myself. Now for my last task! a grave is soon filled; in a half hour I
shall be far from this accursed place."
Saying these words, he left the room, and taking the lamp descended again
the staircase leading to the cellar.
When he had reached the middle of the subterranean passage, he suddenly
stopped, turned pale from terror, and looked tremblingly around him. He
thought he heard something, an unusual, mysterious sound, faint but
distinct.
Having listened for some time, he concluded that his imagination had
deceived him. Summoning up all his resolution, he walked on towards the
cellar, and through the open, door he saw the corpse of Geronimo lying as
he had left it.
As he was approaching the cellar, full of anxiety and slackening his pace,
suddenly a human voice fell upon his ear. There was articulate sound, no
spoken word, but only a hollow groan.
Julio, in an agony of terror, dropped the lamp. The oil extinguished the
flame, and thus left in total darkness he fled from the cellar as rapidly
as he could by groping along the wall. His heart beat violently, and his
limbs tottered under him.
He recovered himself a little only after attaining a distant apartment and
lighting a lamp. Here he remained a long time seated and buried in
thought; various expressions of fear, anger, and even raillery flitted
across his face.
At last he arose, drew a knife from its scabbard, and trying its
sharpness, murmured: "I cannot bury him alive! Therefore I am forced to deal the death-blow!
No, no, I will not; I have even braved the vengeance of my perfidious
master in order not to imbue my hands in his blood, and I will not now be
guilty of it. But what can I do? I have no other alternative. I must
either bury him alive or kill him! And I cannot stay here all night."
He took up the lamp and slowly and silently he cautiously descended the
stairs leading to the cellar; after some hesitation he entered; Geronimo's
body still lay in the position he left it.
Julio had taken this time a much larger lamp, and it lighted the whole
cellar; he heard no sound from the breast of the unfortunate victim,
although he saw plainly that life was not extinct, for there was a slight
heaving of the breast.