"The bell then beating one!"
SHAKESPEARE.
Vivaldi, meanwhile, ignorant of what had occurred at villa Altieri,
repaired as he had proposed, to Paluzzi, attended by his servant Paulo.
It was deep night before he left Naples, and so anxious was he to
conceal himself from observation, that though Paulo carried a torch,
he did not permit it to be lighted, till after he should have remained
some time within the arch-way, thinking it most prudent to watch a
while in secret for his unknown adviser, before he proceeded to examine
the fort.
His attendant, Paulo, was a true Neapolitan, shrewd, inquisitive,
insinuating, adroit; possessing much of the spirit of intrigue,
together with a considerable portion of humour, which displayed itself
not so much in words, as in his manner and countenance, in the
archness of his dark, penetrating eye, and in the exquisite adaptation
of his gesture to his idea. He was a distinguished favourite with
his master, who, if he had not humour himself, had a keen relish of
it in others, and who certainly did possess wit, with all its lively
accompaniments, in an eminent degree. Vivaldi had been won by the
_naïveté_ and humour of this man, to allow him an unusual degree of
familiarity in conversation; and, as they now walked together towards
Paluzzi, he unfolded to Paulo as much of his former adventure there as
he judged necessary to interest his curiosity and excite his vigilance.
The relation did both. Paulo, however, naturally courageous, was
incredulous to superstition of any kind; and, having quickly perceived
that his master was not altogether indisposed to attribute to a
supernatural cause the extraordinary occurrences at Paluzzi, he began,
in his manner, to rally him; but Vivaldi was not in temper to endure
jesting; his mood was grave, even to solemnity, and he yielded, though
reluctantly, to the awe which, at intervals, returned upon him with the
force of a magical spell, binding up all his faculties to sternness,
and fixing them in expectation. While he was nearly regardless of
defence against human agency, his servant was, however, preparing for
that alone; and very properly represented the imprudence of going to
Paluzzi in darkness. Vivaldi observed that they could not watch for the
monk otherwise than in darkness, since the torch which lighted them
would also warn him, and he had very particular reasons for watching
before he proceeded to examine. He added, that after a certain time had
elapsed, the torch might be lighted at a neighbouring cottage. Paulo
objected, that in the meanwhile, the person for whom they watched might
escape; and Vivaldi compromised the affair. The torch was lighted, but
concealed within a hollow of the cliffs, that bordered the road, and
the centinels took their station in darkness, within the deep arch,
near the spot where Vivaldi had watched with Bonarmo. As they did
this, the distant chime of a convent informed Vivaldi that midnight
was turned. The sound recalled to his mind the words of Schedoni,
concerning the vicinity of the convent of the _Black Penitents_, to
Paluzzi, and he asked Paulo whether this was the chime of that convent.
Paulo replied that it was, and that a remarkable circumstance had
taught him to remember _the Santa del Pianto_, or _Our Lady of Tears_.
"The place, Signor, would interest you," said Paulo; "for there are
some odd stories told of it; and I am inclined to think, this unknown
monk must be one of that society, his conduct is so strange."
"You believe then, that I am willing to give faith to wonderful
stories," said Vivaldi, smiling. "But what have you heard, that is
so extraordinary, respecting this convent? Speak low, or we may be
discovered."
"Why, Signor, the story is not generally known," said Paulo in a
whisper; "I half promised never to reveal it."
"If you are under any promise of secresy," interrupted Vivaldi, "I
forbid you to tell this wonderful tale, which, however, seems somewhat
too big to rest within your brain."
"The story would fain expand itself to your's, Signor," said Paulo;
"and, as I did not absolutely promise to conceal it, I am very willing
to reveal it."
"Proceed, then," said Vivaldi; "but let me once more caution you to
speak low."
"You are obeyed, Signor. You must know, then, _Maestro_, that it was on
the eve of the festival of _Santo Marco_, and about six years since"----
"Peace!" said Vivaldi. They were silent; but every thing remaining
still, Paulo, after some time, ventured to proceed, though in a yet
lower whisper. "It was on the eve of the _Santo Marco_, and when
the last bell had rung, that a person"---- He stopped again, for a
rustling sound passed near him.
"You are too late," said a sudden voice beside Vivaldi, who instantly
recognized the thrilling accents of the monk--"It is past midnight; she
departed an hour ago. Look to your steps!"
Though thrilled by this well-known voice, Vivaldi scarcely yielded to
his feelings for a moment, but, checking the question which would have
asked "who departed?" he, by a sudden spring, endeavoured to seize the
intruder, while Paulo, in the first hurry of his alarm, fired a pistol,
and then hastened for the torch. So certainly did Vivaldi believe
himself to have leaped upon the spot whence the voice proceeded, that,
on reaching it, he instantly extended his arms, and searching around,
expected every moment to find his enemy in his grasp. Darkness again
baffled his attempt.
"You are known," cried Vivaldi; "you shall see me at the _Santa del
Pianto_! What, oh! Paulo, the torch!--the torch!"
Paulo, swift as the wind, appeared with it. "He passed up those steps
in the rock, Signor; I saw the skirts of his garments ascending!"
"Follow me, then," said Vivaldi, mounting the steps. "Away, away,
_Maestro_!" said Paulo, impatiently; "but, for Heaven's sake, name no
more the convent of the _Santa del Pianto_; our lives may answer it!"
He followed to the terrace above, where Vivaldi, holding high the
torch, looked round for the monk. The place, however, as far as his
eye could penetrate, was forsaken and silent. The glare of the torch
enlightened only the rude walls of the citadel, some points of the
cliff below, and some tall pines that waved over them, leaving in
doubtful gloom many a recess of the ruin, and many a tangled thicket,
that spread among the rocks beyond.
"Do you perceive any person, Paulo?" said Vivaldi, waving the torch in
the air to rouse the flame.
"Among those arches on the left, Signor, those arches that stand
duskily beyond the citadel, I thought I saw a shadowy sort of a figure
pass. He might be a ghost, by his silence, for aught I know, _Maestro_;
but he seems to have a good mortal instinct in taking care of himself,
and to have as swift a pair of heels to assist in carrying him off, as
any Lazzaro in Naples need desire."
"Fewer words, and more caution!" said Vivaldi, lowering the torch,
and pointing it towards the quarter which Paulo had mentioned. "Be
vigilant, and tread lightly."
"You are obeyed, Signor; but their eyes will inform them, though their
ears refuse, while we hold a light to our own steps."
"Peace, with this buffoonery!" said Vivaldi, somewhat sternly; "follow
in silence, and be on your guard."
Paulo submitted, and they proceeded towards the range of arches, which
communicated with the building, whose singular structure had formerly
arrested the attention of Bonarmo, and whence Vivaldi himself had
returned with such unexpected precipitancy and consternation.
On perceiving the place he was approaching, he suddenly stopped,
and Paulo observing his agitation, and probably not relishing the
adventure, endeavoured to dissuade him from further research: "For we
know not who may inhabit this gloomy place, Signor, or their numbers,
and we are only two of us after all! Besides, Signor, it was through
that door, yonder;" and he pointed to the very spot whence Vivaldi had
so fearfully issued; "through that door, that I fancied, just now, I
saw something pass."
"Are you certain as to this?" said Vivaldi, with increased emotion.
"What was its form?"
"It was so dusky thereabout, _Maestro_, that I could not distinguish."
Vivaldi's eyes were fixed upon the building, and a violent conflict of
feelings seemed to shake his soul. A few seconds decided it. "I will go
on," said he, "and terminate, at any hazard, this state of intolerable
anxiety. Paulo, pause a moment, and consider well whether you can
depend on your courage, for it may be severely tried. If you can,
descend with me in silence, and I warn you to be wary; if you cannot, I
will go alone."
"It is too late now, Signor, to ask myself that question," replied
Paulo, with a submissive air; "and if I had not settled it long ago, I
should not have followed you thus far. My courage, Signor, you never
doubted before."
"Come on then," said Vivaldi. He drew his sword, and entering the
narrow door-way, the torch, which he had now resigned to Paulo, shewed
a stone passage, that was, however, interminable to the eye.
As they proceeded, Paulo observed, that the walls were stained in
several places with what appeared to be blood, but prudently forbore
to point this out to his master, observing the strict injunction of
silence he had received.
Vivaldi stepped cautiously, and often paused to listen, after which he
went on with a quicker pace, making signs only to Paulo to follow, and
be vigilant. The passage terminated in a stair-case, that seemed to
lead to vaults below. Vivaldi remembered the light which had formerly
appeared there, and, as recollection of the past gathered on his mind,
he faultered in his purpose.
Again he paused, looked back upon Paulo, but was going forward, when
Paulo himself seized his arm. "Stop! Signor," said he in a low voice.
"Do you not distinguish a figure standing yonder, in the gloom?"
Vivaldi looked onward, and perceived, indistinctly, something as of
human form, but motionless and silent. It stood at the dusky extremity
of the avenue, near the stair-case. Its garments, if garments they
were, were dark; but its whole figure was so faintly traced to the eye,
that it was impossible to ascertain whether this was the monk. Vivaldi
took the light, and held it forward, endeavouring to distinguish the
object before he ventured further; but the enquiry was useless, and,
resigning the torch to Paulo, he rushed on. When he reached the head
of the stair-case, however, the form, whatever it might be, was gone.
Vivaldi had heard no footstep. Paulo pointed out the exact spot where
it had stood, but no vestige of it appeared. Vivaldi called loudly upon
the monk, but he heard only the lengthening echoes of his own voice
revolving among the chambers below, and, after hesitating a while on
the head of the stairs, he descended.
Paulo had not followed down many steps, when he called out, "It is
there! Signor; I see it again! and now it flits away through the door
that opens to the vaults!"
Vivaldi pursued so swiftly, that Paulo could scarcely follow fast
enough with the light; and, as at length he rested to take breath, he
perceived himself in the same spacious chamber to which he had formerly
descended. At this moment Paulo perceived his countenance change. "You
are ill, Signor," said he. "In the name of our holy saint, let us quit
this hideous place. Its inhabitants can be nothing good, and no good
can come of our remaining here."
Vivaldi made no reply; he drew breath with difficulty, and his eyes
remained fixed on the ground, till a noise, like the creaking of a
heavy hinge, rose in a distant part of the vault. Paulo turned his
eyes, at the same instant, towards the place whence it came, and they
both perceived a door in the wall slowly opened, and immediately closed
again, as if the person within had feared to be discovered. Each
believed, from the transient view he had of it, that this was the same
figure which had appeared on the stair-case, and that it was the monk
himself. Reanimated by this belief, Vivaldi's nerves were instantly
rebraced, and he sprang to the door, which was unfastened, and yielded
immediately to his impetuous hand. "You shall not deceive me now,"
cried he, as he entered; "Paulo! keep guard at the door!"
He looked round the second vault, in which he now found himself, but
no person appeared; he examined the place, and particularly the walls,
without discovering any aperture, either of door or window, by which
the figure could have quitted the chamber; a strongly-grated casement,
placed near the roof, was all that admitted air, and probably light.
Vivaldi was astonished! "Have you seen any thing pass?" said he to
Paulo.
"Nothing, _Maestro_," replied the servant.
"This is almost incredible," exclaimed Vivaldi; "'tis certain, this
form can be nothing human!"
"If so, Signor," observed Paulo, "why should it fear us? as surely it
does; or why should it have fled?"
"That is not so certain," rejoined Vivaldi; "it may have fled only to
lead us into evil. But bring hither the torch; here is something in the
wall which I would examine."
Paulo obeyed. It was merely a ruggedness in the stones, not the
partition of a door, that had excited his curiosity. "This is
inexplicable!" exclaimed Vivaldi, after a long pause. "What motive
could any human being have for thus tormenting me."
"Or any being superhuman, either, my Signor?" said Paulo.
"I am warned of evils that await me," continued Vivaldi, musing; "of
events that are regularly fulfilled; the being who warns me, crosses
my path perpetually, yet, with the cunning of a demon, as constantly
eludes my grasp, and baffles my pursuit! It is incomprehensible, by
what means he glides thus away from my eye, and fades, as if into air,
at my approach! He is repeatedly in my presence, yet is never to be
found!"
"It is most true, Signor," said Paulo, "that he is never to be found,
and therefore let me entreat you to give up the pursuit. This place
is enough to make one believe in the horrors of purgatory! Let us go,
Signor."
"What but spirit could have quitted this vault so mysteriously,"
continued Vivaldi, not attending to Paulo; "what but spirit!"----
"I would fain prove," said the servant, "that substance can quit it as
easily; I would fain evaporate through that door myself."
He had scarcely spoken the words, when the door closed, with a
thundering clap that echoed through all the vaults; and Vivaldi and
Paulo stood for a moment aghast! and then both hastened to open it,
and to leave the place. Their consternation may be easily conceived,
when they found that all their efforts at the door were ineffectual.
The thick wood was inlaid with solid bars of iron; and was of such
unconquerable strength, that it evidently guarded what had been
designed for a prison, and appeared to be the keep or dungeon of the
ancient fort.
"Ah, Signor mio!" said Paulo, "if this was a spirit, 'tis plain he
knew we were not so, by his luring us hither. Would we could exchange
natures with him for a moment; for I know not how, as mere mortal men,
we can ever squeeze ourselves out of this scrape. You must allow,
_Maestro_, that this was not one of the evils he warned you of; or, if
he did, it was through my organs, for I entreated you."----
"Peace, good Signor _Buffo_!" said Vivaldi; "a truce with this
nonsense, and assist in searching for some means of escape."
Vivaldi again examined the walls, and as unsuccessfully as before; but
in one corner of the vault lay an object, which seemed to tell the
fate of one who had been confined here, and to hint his own: it was a
garment covered with blood. Vivaldi and his servant discovered it at
the same instant; and a dreadful foreboding of their own destiny fixed
them, for some moments, to the spot. Vivaldi first recovered himself,
when instead of yielding to despondency, all his faculties were aroused
to devise some means for escaping; but Paulo's hopes seemed buried
beneath the dreadful vestments upon which he still gazed. "Ah, my
Signor!" said he, at length, in a faultering accent, "who shall dare to
raise that garment? What if it should conceal the mangled body, whose
blood has stained it!"
Vivaldi, shudderingly, turned to look on it again.
"It moves!" exclaimed Paulo; "I see it move!" as he said which, he
started to the opposite side of the chamber. Vivaldi stepped a few
paces back, and as quickly returned; when, determined to know the
event at once, he raised the garment upon the point of his sword, and
perceived, beneath, other remains of dress, heaped high together, while
even the floor below was stained with gore.
Believing that fear had deceived the eyes of Paulo, Vivaldi watched
this horrible spectacle for some time, but without perceiving the least
motion; when he became convinced, that not any remains of life were
shrouded beneath it, and that it contained only articles of dress,
which had belonged to some unfortunate person, who had probably been
decoyed hither for plunder, and afterwards murdered. This belief, and
the repugnance he felt to dwell upon the spectacle, prevented him
from examining further, and he turned away to a remote part of the
vault. A conviction of his own fate, and of his servant's, filled his
mind for a while with despair. It appeared that he had been ensnared
by robbers, till, as he recollected the circumstances which had
attended his entrance, and the several peculiar occurrences connected
with the arch-way, this conjecture seemed highly improbable. It was
unreasonable, that robbers should have taken the trouble to decoy,
when they might at first have seized him; still more so, that they
would have persevered so long in the attempt; and most of all, that
when he had formerly been in their power, they should have neglected
their opportunity, and suffered him to leave the ruin unmolested. Yet,
granting that all this, improbable as it was, were, however, possible,
the solemn warnings and predictions of the monk, so frequently
delivered, and so faithfully fulfilled, could have no connection with
the schemes of banditti. It appeared, therefore, that Vivaldi was not
in the hands of robbers; or, if he were, that the monk, at least, had
no connection with them; yet it was certain that he had just heard the
voice of this monk beneath the arch; that his servant had said, he saw
the vestments of one ascending the steps of the fort; and that they had
both reason, afterward, to believe it was his shadowy figure, which
they had pursued to the very chamber where they were now confined.
As Vivaldi considered all these circumstances, his perplexity
encreased, and he was more than ever inclined to believe, that the
form, which had assumed the appearance of a monk, was something
superhuman.
"If this being had _appeared only_," said he to himself, "I should,
perhaps, have thought it the perturbed spirit of him, who doubtless has
been murdered here, and that it led me hither to discover the deed,
that his bones might be removed to holy ground; but this monk, or
whatever it is, was neither silent, nor apparently anxious concerning
himself; he spoke only of events connected with my peace, and predicted
of the future, as well as reverted to the past! If he had either hinted
of himself, or had been wholly silent, his appearance, and manner of
eluding pursuit, is so extraordinary, that I should have yielded, for
once, perhaps, to the tales of our grandfathers, and thought he was
the spectre of a murdered person."
As Vivaldi expressed his incredulity, however, he returned to examine
the garment once more, when, as he raised it, he observed, what had
before escaped his notice, black drapery mingled with the heap beneath;
and, on lifting this also on the point of his sword, he perceived part
of the habiliment of a monk! He started at the discovery, as if he had
seen the apparition, which had so long been tempting his credulity.
Here were the vest and scapulary, rent and stained with blood! Having
gazed for a moment, he let them drop upon the heap; when Paulo, who had
been silently observing him, exclaimed,
"Signor! that should be the garment of the demon who led us hither. Is
it a winding-sheet for us, _Maestro_? Or was it one for the body he
inhabited while on earth!"
"Neither, I trust," replied Vivaldi, endeavouring to command the
perturbation he suffered, and turning from the spectacle; "therefore
we will try once more to regain our liberty."
This was a design, however, beyond his accomplishment; and, having
again attacked the door, raised Paulo to the grated window, and
vociferated for release with his utmost strength, in which he was very
ably seconded by Paulo, he abandoned, for the present, all further
attempts, and, weary and desponding, threw himself on the ground of the
dungeon.
Paulo bitterly lamented his master's rashness in penetrating to this
remote spot, and bewailed the probability of their being famished.
"For, supposing, Signor, that we were not decoyed hither for plunder
and butchery, and supposing that we are not surrounded by malicious
spirits, which San Januarius forbid I should take upon me to affirm is
impossible! supposing all this, Signor, yet still there remains almost
a certainty of our being starved to death; for how is it possible that
any body can hear our cries, in a place so remote from all resort, and
buried, as one may say, under ground, as this is?"
"Thou art an excellent comforter," said Vivaldi, groaning.
"You must allow, Signor, that you are even with me," replied Paulo;
"and that you are as excellent a conductor."
Vivaldi gave no answer, but lay on the ground, abandoned to agonizing
thought. He had now leisure to consider the late words of the monk, and
to conjecture, for he was in a mood for conjecturing the worst, that
they not only alluded to Ellena, but that his saying "she had departed
an hour ago," was a figurative manner of telling that she had died
then. This was a conjecture which dispelled almost all apprehension
for himself. He started from the ground, and paced his prison with
quick and unequal steps; it was now no longer a heavy despondency that
oppressed him, but an acute anxiety that stung him, and, with the
tortures of suspense, brought also those of passionate impatience and
horror concerning the fate of Ellena. The longer he dwelt upon the
possibility of her death, the more probable it appeared. This monk had
already forewarned him of the death of Bianchi; and when he recollected
the suspicious circumstances which had attended it, his terrors for
Ellena increased. The more he yielded to his feelings, the more
violent they became, till, at length, his ungovernable impatience and
apprehensions arose almost to frenzy.
Paulo forgot, for a while, his own situation in the superior sufferings
of his master, and now, at least, endeavoured to perform the offices
of a comforter, for he tried to calm Vivaldi's mind, by selecting the
fairest circumstances for hope which the subject admitted, and he
passed without noticing, or, if noticing, only lightly touched upon,
the most prominent possibilities of evil. His master, however, was
insensible to all he said, till he mentioned again the convent del
Pianto; and this subject, as it seemed connected with the monk, who had
hinted the fate of Ellena, interested the unhappy Vivaldi, who withdrew
awhile from his own reflections, to listen to a recital which might
assist his conjectures.
Paulo complied with his command, but not without reluctance. He looked
round the empty vault, as if he feared that some person might be
lurking in the obscurity, who would overhear, and even answer him.
"We are tolerably retired here too, Signor," said he, recollecting
himself; "one may venture to talk secrets with little danger of being
discovered. However, _Maestro_, it is best to make matters quite sure;
and therefore, if you will please to take a seat on the ground, I will
stand beside you and relate all I know of the convent of _Our Lady of
Tears_, which is not much after all."
Vivaldi, having seated himself, and bidden Paulo do the same, the
servant began in a low voice----"It was on the vigil of the _Santo
Marco_, just after the last vesper-bell had tolled--You never was at
the _Santa Maria del Pianto_, Signor, or you would know what a gloomy
old church it has.--It was in a confessional in one of the side aisles
of this church, and just after the last bell had ceased, that a person,
so muffled up, that neither face nor shape could be distinguished,
came and placed himself on the steps of one of the boxes adjoining the
confessional chair; but if he had been as airily dressed as yourself,
Signor, he might have been just as well concealed, for that dusky aisle
is lighted only by one lamp, which hangs at the end next the painted
window, except when the tapers at the shrine of San Antonio happen to
be burning at the other extremity, and even then the place is almost
as gloomy, as this vault. But that is, no doubt, contrived for the
purpose, that people may not blush for the sins they confess; and, in
good faith, this is an accommodation which may bring more money to the
poor's box, for the monks have a shrewd eye that way, and"----
"You have dropt the thread of your story," said Vivaldi.
"True, signor, let me recollect where I lost it.--Oh! at the steps of
the confessional;--the stranger knelt down upon them, and for some
time poured such groans into the ear of the confessor, as were heard
all along the aisle. You are to know, Signor, that the brothers of
_Santa del Pianto_ are of the order of _Black Penitents_; and people
who have more sins than ordinary to confess, sometimes go there,
to consult with the grand penitentiary what is to be done. Now it
_happened_, that father Ansaldo, the grand penitentiary himself, was
in the chair, as is customary on the vigil of the _Santo Marco_; and
he gently reproved the penitent for bewailing so loud, and bade him
take comfort, when the other replied only by a groan deeper than
before, but it was not so loud, and then proceeded to confess. But
what he did confess, Signor, I know not; for the confessor, you know,
never must divulge, except, indeed, on very extraordinary occasions.
It was, however, something so very strange, and horrible, that the
grand penitentiary suddenly quitted the chair, and before he reached
the cloisters he fell into strong convulsions. On recovering himself,
he asked the people about him, whether the penitent, who had visited
such a confessional, naming it, was gone; adding, that if he was still
in the church, it was proper he should be detained. He described,
at the same time, as well as he could, the sort of figure he had
dimly seen approaching the confessional just before he had received
the confession, at recollecting which, he seemed ready to go off
again into his convulsions. One of the fathers, who had crossed the
aisle, on his way to the cloisters, upon the first alarm of Ansaldo's
disorder, remembered that a person, such as was described, had passed
him hastily. He had seen a tall figure, muffled up in the habit of a
white friar, gliding swiftly along the aisle, towards the door which
opened into the outer court of the convent; but he was himself too much
engaged to notice the stranger particularly. Father Ansaldo thought
this must be the person; and the porter was summoned, and asked whether
he had observed such an one pass. He affirmed that he had not seen any
person go forth from the gate within the last quarter of an hour; which
might be true enough, you know, Signor, if the rogue had been off his
post. But he further said, that no one had entered during the whole
evening, habited in white, as the stranger was described to be: so the
porter proved himself to be a vigilant watchman; for he must have been
fast sleep too, or how could this personage have entered the convent,
and left it again, without being seen by him!"
"In white, was he?" said Vivaldi; "if he had been in black, I should
have thought this must have been the monk, my tormentor."
"Why, you know, Signor, that occurred to me before," observed Paulo,
"and a man might easily change his dress, if that were all."
"Proceed," said Vivaldi.
"Hearing this account from the porter," continued Paulo, "the fathers
believed, one and all, that the stranger must be secreted within the
walls; and the convent, with every part of the precincts, was searched;
but no person was found!"
"This must certainly be the monk," said Vivaldi, "notwithstanding the
difference of his habit; there surely cannot be two beings in the
world, who would conduct themselves in this same mysterious manner!"
He was interrupted by a low sound, which seemed, to his distracted
fancy, to proceed from a dying person. Paulo also heard it; he started,
and they both listened with intense and almost intolerable expectation.
"Ah!" said Paulo, at length, "it was only the wind."
"It was no more," said Vivaldi; "proceed therefore."
"From the period of this strange confession," resumed Paulo, "Father
Ansaldo was never properly himself; he"----
"Doubtless the crime confessed related to himself," observed Vivaldi.
"Why, no, Signor, I never heard that that was the case; and some
remarkable circumstances, which followed, seemed to prove it otherwise.
About a month after the time I have mentioned, on the evening of a
sultry day, when the monks were retiring from the last service"----
"Hark!" cried Vivaldi.
"I hear whispers," said Paulo, whispering himself.
"Be still!" said Vivaldi.
They listened attentively, and heard a murmuring, as of voices; but
could not ascertain whether they came from the adjoining vault, or
arose from beneath the one in which they were. The sound returned
at intervals; and the persons who conversed, whatever they were,
seemingly restrained their voices, as if they feared to be heard.
Vivaldi considered whether it were better to discover himself, and call
for assistance, or to remain still.
"Remember, Signor," said Paulo, "what a chance we have of being
starved, unless we venture to discover ourselves to these people, or
whatever they are."
"Venture!" exclaimed Vivaldi. "What has such a wretch as I to do with
fear? O, Ellena, Ellena!"
He instantly called loudly to the person whom he believed he had heard,
and was seconded by Paulo; but their continued vociferations availed
them nothing; no answer was returned; and even the indistinct sounds,
which had awakened their attention, were heard no more.
Exhausted by their efforts, they laid down on the floor of the dungeon,
abandoning all further attempts at escape till the morning light might
assist them.
Vivaldi had no further spirits to enquire for the remainder of Paulo's
narrative. Almost despairing for himself, he could not feel an interest
concerning strangers; for he had already perceived, that it could not
afford him information connected with Ellena; and Paulo, who had roared
himself hoarse, was very willing to be silent.