This recognition struck Geronimo with terror, and in a feeble and
discouraged voice he said: "Julio, Julio, you pushed me into the chair!"
Then seeing the dagger in Julio's hands, he shuddered.
"A dagger in your hand! Ah! you come to kill me?"
"Yes, signor," replied Julio, sadly, "I come to take your life; but do not
suppose I fulfil this fatal mission without emotion; on the contrary, my
heart bleeds for you, and I feel an indescribable repugnance to deal the
fatal blow."
"Ah! you are not merciless; you will have pity on me," said Geronimo.
"Impossible!" replied Julio. "Fatality governs us both; it has irrevocably
condemned you to death, and me to inhumanity. All prayer, all supplication
is useless; nothing can save your life. I beg you, signor, not to increase
the difficulties of my task; accept with resignation a fate you cannot
escape."
A sharp cry escaped Geronimo, as these unfeeling words convinced him that
all hope was lost.
"My God!" he exclaimed, "is it then true that this dungeon is to become my
tomb? Must I die without confession? Shall my body lie in unconsecrated
ground? Oh, mercy! mercy!"
"Necessity is a merciless law, signor," replied Julio, "and I have more
cause than you to complain of its harshness. You, at least, will receive
in heaven the recompense of your innocent life, while I must commit here a
crime from which I recoil with horror, but which is forced upon me by an
irresistible power, and for which my poor soul will stand accused before
the judgment-seat of God. But do not cherish a deceitful hope; there is no
hope for you. Before I depart from here, that grave must receive your
body. That I did not immediately on entering fulfil my sad mission is
partly owing to the fact that an uncontrollable compassion paralyzed my
arm, but still more, to my desire to afford you time to say some prayers.
Therefore prepare your soul for its last passage. I will wait patiently
even for a quarter of an hour. Pray with a tranquil mind--I will not
strike without giving notice."
Saying these words, Julio put down the lamp replaced his dagger in its
scabbard, and seated himself on a block of wood which was in a corner of
the cellar.
Geronimo, overwhelmed by Julio's insensibility, bowed his head upon his
breast. For some time he neither spoke nor moved, seeming to accept his
fate with complete resignation. But the terror of death again possessed
him.