"A silver cross? Where you found the ring? And you never told me?"
"Ah, here it is! See, it's real silver!" He drew a packet from his arm hole. Olì opened it, touched the little cross, and asked anxiously—
"Is it really silver? Then the treasure must be there!"
She looked so pleased that Anania, who had found the cross in quite a different place, thought it best to leave her to her illusion.
"Yes, there in the garden. Who knows all the precious things there may be! I shall have a search at night."
"But won't the treasure belong to your master?"
"No, it belongs to any one who finds it," replied Anania, and as if to enforce his argument, he folded Olì in his arms and kissed her.
"When I find the treasure, then you'll come?" he asked, trembling. "Say you will, my flower! It's clear I must find it at once, for I can't go on living without you. When I look at my old wife, I'd like to die; but when I'm with you, Olì, then I want to live a thousand years. My flower!"
Olì listened, and she also trembled. Around them was deepest silence; the stars shone like pearls, like eyes smiling with love; ever sweeter on the air was the scent of the laurel.
"My wife must die very soon," said Anania; "what's the good of old people in the world? In a year we shall probably be married."