"That is still better! Ah! signor, you frightened me without cause. I place very little value on my life, and yet the thought of a certain death shatters my nerves. Now I am myself again. But how shall we manage to transport Geronimo's body to the Vleminck Field?"
"It was for that purpose, Julio, that I was waiting so impatiently for you," said Simon Turchi; "it was because I needed your aid to execute a project which will save us both. Nothing is easier. You will disinter the body, and you will throw it into the sewer."[24]
"Alone?" said the servant, in a tone which prognosticated a refusal.
"Why not alone, since you are able to do it?"
"It is very easy, signor, for you to say: 'Take the body on your shoulders and traverse three or four streets.' Signor Geronimo is heavier than you suppose, and I doubt if by the exertion of all my strength I could carry it twenty steps."
Simon Turchi took his servant's two hands in his, and said, supplicatingly:
"Julio, my friend, be generous; it is not a difficult task for one like yourself. Reflect that it is our only means of safety; it is as much for your interest as mine. I will recompense you largely, and I will be grateful to you all my life."
"Well, signor, if you say so, I will try it; but I am afraid it will turn out badly. I shall be obliged to rest on the way, and that will take more time than will be prudent. And then how shall I be able each time to replace the body on my shoulders? It requires two to transport it with sufficient rapidity."
"Two?" said Turchi, "You know well that we can confide our secret to no one."
"To escape death, one would submit to anything. Suppose you help me yourself, signor?"