The soldier smiled disdainfully on hearing the policeman, and begged him to let him see those curious documents, because he had the idea of visiting the ruins and removing for ever the superstitious fear that they inspired.
That night he received a bundle of yellowed papers falling to pieces through age and dampness, and shut up in his room he read them from beginning to end.
The following morning when Captain Pero Gil—for such was his name—went out into the square, the hollows of a night of insomnia and fever were clearly seen in his face. What had happened to him?
Among the papers which formed the bundle, one above all had attracted his attention. It ran more or less as follows:
"It is said by neighbour Nuno Perez that in the castle, at the foot of the tower of Homage, there must be an immense treasure, but it is guarded by one hundred dwarfs with long beards who strike anybody who comes near.
"At twelve o'clock in the night a gap opens in the ground which gives access to enormous riches piled up in the cellar; but exactly at one o'clock the earth closes up until the following night. If, instead of one person, two or three go to the place, then the earth does not open and the treasure remains hidden.
"That is the news which, on the evidence of an eyewitness, has reached me, and which I certify.—Inigo Lopez, the constable."
The captain remained perplexed for a good while, and at last said to himself resolutely: "To-morrow night I will go to the tower of Homage at the foot of the castle."
Indeed, at twelve o'clock in the night he went out of the house where he lodged and went towards the ruins, first making sure that his sword came out of the sheath without difficulty, and that the pistols which he wore in his belt were well loaded.
At eleven o'clock, or a little later, he arrived at the castle. A splendid moon was shining, which gave the landscape a melancholy appearance. The captain hid himself behind some stones close to the big tower, and there waited, twisting his moustache, to see the marvel take place. The village clock struck twelve, and on the last stroke the earth opened and a crowd of dwarfs, with beards down to the ground, came out of the narrow gap. They were armed with thick sticks, and began to dance round the entrance of the vault, singing: