He succeeded, however, in stifling these emotions, and continued his labor on the fatal spot where the chair had stood.
Finally he arose, took the lamp, examined attentively the whole floor, and said, with a kind of satisfaction:
"At last I have finished! He who could discover a spot there could see through a stone. My arms are almost broken; I can scarcely straighten myself. Now for my last task! a grave is soon filled; in a half hour I shall be far from this accursed place."
Saying these words, he left the room, and taking the lamp descended again the staircase leading to the cellar.
When he had reached the middle of the subterranean passage, he suddenly stopped, turned pale from terror, and looked tremblingly around him. He thought he heard something, an unusual, mysterious sound, faint but distinct.
Having listened for some time, he concluded that his imagination had deceived him. Summoning up all his resolution, he walked on towards the cellar, and through the open, door he saw the corpse of Geronimo lying as he had left it.
As he was approaching the cellar, full of anxiety and slackening his pace, suddenly a human voice fell upon his ear. There was articulate sound, no spoken word, but only a hollow groan.
Julio, in an agony of terror, dropped the lamp. The oil extinguished the flame, and thus left in total darkness he fled from the cellar as rapidly as he could by groping along the wall. His heart beat violently, and his limbs tottered under him.
He recovered himself a little only after attaining a distant apartment and lighting a lamp. Here he remained a long time seated and buried in thought; various expressions of fear, anger, and even raillery flitted across his face.
At last he arose, drew a knife from its scabbard, and trying its sharpness, murmured: