"I do not see you; it is as black as Erebus; where is the staircase?" cried out the other.
"Follow me, signor. Give me your hand; I will precede you."
She seized the hand of the visitor, and whilst guiding him to the staircase, she said:
"Your hand trembles, signor. Are you afraid?"
"I afraid!" said the other, in a faltering voice. "Afraid of what? The darkness makes me totter."
"It may be, signor; but I thought your hand was cold and trembling. Here is the staircase; now follow me."
The man ascended the staircase behind her, stumbling up the well-worn steps, striking his head and elbows against invisible objects, and grumbling and swearing as if to show that he was not agitated by fear.
Having reached the first story, the woman opened a door and introduced her companion into a room lighted by the smoking flame of an iron lamp. She showed him a miserable chair, and said:
"Sit down, signor, if you please, and wait a while. I will go call Bufferio, he is engaged at play in the neighborhood. Should any one knock at the door during my absence, pay no attention to it; I will lock the door on the outside and take the key with me."
The man looked at her surprised and troubled. Her bony limbs, the gray locks which fell upon her cheeks, her large mouth and long teeth, made her appear to his eyes a hideous being, a worthy companion for Bufferio.