“Just now, I was going to make an end of it—your voice has recalled me for an instant—but I feel something here,” and he laid his hand upon his breast, “which never gives quarter. It is all the same now—I have seen you—I shall die happy.”
“You shall not die, Jacques; I am here—”
“Listen to one, my girl. If I had a bushel of live coal in my stomach, it could hardly burn me more. For more than a month, I have been consuming my body by a slow fire. This gentleman,” he added, glancing at Morok, “this dear friend, always undertook to feed the flame. I do not regret life; I have lost the habit of work, and taken to drink and riot; I should have finished by becoming a thorough blackguard: I preferred that my friend here should amuse himself with lighting a furnace in my inside. Since what I drank just now, I am certain that it fumes like yonder punch.”
[Original]
“You are both foolish and ungrateful,” said Morok, shrugging his shoulders; “you held out your glass, and I filled it—and, faith, we shall drink long and often together yet.”
For some moments, Cephyse had not withdrawn her eyes from Morok. “I tell you, that you have long blown the fire, in which I have burnt my skin,” resumed Jacques, addressing Morok in a feeble voice, “so that they may not think I die of cholera. It would look as if I had been frightened by the part I played. I do not therefore reproach you, my affectionate friend,” added he, with a sardonic smile; “you dug my grave gayly—and sometimes, when, seeing the great dark hole, into which I was about to fall, I drew back a step—but you, my excellent friend, still pushed me forward, saying, ‘Go on, my boy, go on!’—and I went on—and here I am—”
So saying, Sleepinbuff burst into a bitter laugh, which sent an icy shudder through the spectators of this scene.
“My good fellow,” said Morok, coolly, “listen to me, and follow my advice.”
“Thank you! I know your advice—and, instead of listening to you, I prefer speaking to my poor Cephyse. Before I go down to the moles, I should like to tell her what weighs on my heart.”