"I am neither irritable nor quarrelsome," cried he; "but your lordship seems very desirous to get rid of his devoted servant."
"I must protest against the meaning you put upon my words."
Fuentes seemed to be calming down.
"Come," said he, with an air of raillery, "I will renounce my desire of accompanying you through these subterranean abodes, seeing you wish it. Besides, I must find out the meaning of the comedy played this morning by Planillas upon the carcass of the mule. You must visit the mine without me; and I shall tell you what I have learned about this fellow after you have come up the grand shaft, for, to crown your achievement, you must be drawn up by means of the malacate."
I was in such a hurry to be quit of this personage that I promised all he asked, without remarking the ironical smile with which he welcomed my reply. At this moment the miner had finished his prayer. Fuentes exchanged a few words with him in a low tone, and walked rapidly away. I felt relieved.
"Señor Cavalier," said the new-comer to me, "my comrade Fuentes has made me acquainted with your desire to know the story of my son from my own lips—about him who was the pride of the corporation of miners. This desire does me honor; but at present I can not accede to your wish. I am on my way to fire a charge in the mine. If I am still in being after that operation, I shall be with you in two hours, and place myself entirely at your disposal, for I love the brave, to whatever nation they may belong."
"And who told you I was brave?" I asked, with an air of astonishment.
"Caramba! a man who visits a mine for the first time, and who, as Fuentes tells me, has a strong desire to make the perilous ascent by means of the tiro! Well, we shall go up together, and on our journey I shall tell you the story. I shall meet you, then, in two hours at the bottom of the last gallery, close upon the grand shaft."
I could scarcely have avoided this pompous eulogium; but I could not help feeling a certain sinking of heart at the very thought of being forced, as it were, against my will, to make this difficult and dangerous ascent. I was again indebted to Fuentes for this new annoyance. However, I promised to meet the old miner at the time appointed, and, being alone, I profited by my independence so far as to examine at my leisure the new world into which I found myself transported. I had the torch which Desiderio had left with me, and walked about at my pleasure. Above me, fancifully hollowed out in the living rock, and studded with brilliant spangles, stretched vaults of unequal grandeur, some sustained by wooden props, others letting their sharp points descend, like the pendant of a Gothic lamp, till they threatened to fall and bruise one to pieces. A few tiny streamlets, which flowed along the bottom of the rough pilasters, gleamed brightly as the light of the torch fell upon them. At a distance, large drops of water escaped from the fissures in the rocks, and fell on the stony soil with the dull, regular beat of a pendulum. Before me several dark squares opened; the noise of footsteps reverberated in the sombre caves, and died away in the distance. Various lights from time to time struggled through the deep gloom; these were the miners passing and repassing, with a rush-light stuck behind their ear, looking like the gnomes of the magicians, who, with a light on their forehead, watch over the hidden treasures of their masters.