The Amulet

An ironical smile curled his lip.

"Fool that I am!" he muttered. "And the ten thousand crowns? and the

disgrace of bankruptcy? Oh, the infernal thought! might I not take from a

corpse the acknowledgment of the debt? I will go to Mr. Van de Werve's; I

must speak with Geronimo; I must know where tins evening he--"

The words died upon his lips, and a sudden terror shook him from head to

foot.

He had heard behind him the voice of a man who spoke in a low tone, and

who seemed to be a spy.

Could he have heard what Simon Turchi had so imprudently spoken in this

solitary corner of the cemetery?

Turning in his anguish, he saw two persons, three or four steps behind

him, looking at him with a mocking air.

Under other circumstances the Italian cavalier would certainly have called

the unknown men to account for their insolent curiosity; but fear deprived

him of all courage and energy.

He dropped his head, concealed his face as far as possible, crossed the

cemetery with long and rapid strides, and disappeared behind the wall of

the enclosure.