“What is he crying for?”
“His master. Do you not know that dogs do not forget those they have loved?”
“Ah, I understand,” I said, as another prolonged howl rose through the night.
“Yes,” I continued, “his master was shot, you say, and I suppose we are approaching the place where he was killed?”
“Just so, and Diamond has left us to go to Mucchio.”
“That is where the man’s tomb is?”
“Yes, that is to say, the monument which passers-by have raised to his memory, in the form of a cairn; so it follows that the tomb of the victim gradually grows larger, a symbol of the increasing vengeance of his relations.”
Another long howl from Diamond’s throat made me shudder again, though I was perfectly well aware of the cause of the noise.
At the next turn of the path we came upon the wayside tomb or cairn. A heap of stones formed a pyramid of four or five feet in height.
At the foot of this strange monument Diamond was lying with extended neck and open mouth. Lucien picked up a stone, and taking off his cap approached the mucchio.