"Già!"
"Did he roll down?"
"No, no; he just lay where he fell."
"Why did you kill him?" said Castracane, suddenly—bolt upright.
This was awkward. Silvestro fenced. "Eh, corpo di Bacco, why does one kill the Jews?"
The others at first took the same side. Why, indeed? The question seemed absurd. Did they not crucify young children, and eat them afterwards? Did they not kill Gesù Cristo? Everybody knows that they did; and, as for proof, look at them with a dish of pork. Ugh!
But Castracane blinked his small eyes, and held to it.
"Did you kill him because of Gesù Cristo?" he asked.
Silvestro shrugged. "It was partly that, of course."
"What else?"