The Amulet

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.