The men remained silent for a few minutes. Then Chefano rose and took a yellow slicker from a corner opposite the pine-board boxes.
"Let's go for a walk, Frenchy," he said. "I'm tired of being inside."
"It's still drizzling," replied Frenchy. "I walked from the old barn, half a mile down the pike, where I always put my car."
"Well, you've got a rubber coat. It won't hurt you. Jupe doesn't mind the wet. I'll show you where I've dug the pit. Did it last night."
The men walked toward the passage, followed by Jupe. Their shadows, distorted beneath the lamplight, moved gnomishly upon the floor. At the same time the long shadow from the boxes seemed to expand and move after them.
Outside the building the trio walked beyond the old ruin and passed the mausoleum which shone through the darkness. Chefano produced a tiny flashlight and pointed it toward the side of the massive tomb. The light revealed a deep grave, with a pile of earth beside it.
"You dug far enough down," observed Frenchy.
"Why not?" asked Chefano. "I had plenty of time. The deeper the better. This isn't much deeper than the other ones."
"Perhaps not. It looks deeper though. It must go down below the foundations of the mausoleum."
"It does. I thought of digging it inside the mausoleum; but that would have been bad. Out here it might be anybody's grave. I'll get Jupe to carry over one of those old tombstones and plant it here."