sandbox/absinthe/tcoa.txt

Internet Wiretap Edition of

THE CASK OF AMONTILLADO by EDGAR ALLAN POE

From "The Works of Edgar Allan Poe: Tales Vol I",
J. B. Lippincott Co, Copyright 1895.

This text is placed into the Public Domain (May 1993).


The Cask of Amontillado.

THE thousand injuries of Fortunato I had
borne as I best could, but when he ven-
tured upon insult, I vowed revenge. You,
who so well know the nature of my soul, will not
suppose, however, that I gave utterance to a threat.
AT LENGTH I would be avenged; this was a point de-
finitively settled -- but the very definitiveness with
which it was resolved precluded the idea of risk.
I must not only punish, but punish with impunity.
A wrong is unredressed when retribution overtakes
its redresser. It is equally unredressed when the
avenger fails to make himself felt as such to him
who has done the wrong.

It must be understood that neither by word nor
deed had I given Fortunato cause to doubt my good
will. I continued as was my wont, to smile in his
face, and he did not perceive that my smile NOW was
at the thought of his immolation.

He had a weak point -- this Fortunato -- although
in other regards he was a man to be respected and
even feared. He prided himself on his connoisseur-
ship in wine. Few Italians have the true virtuoso
spirit. For the most part their enthusiasm is adopted
to suit the time and opportunity to practise impos-
ture upon the British and Austrian MILLIONAIRES. In
painting and gemmary, Fortunato, like his country-
men, was a quack, but in the matter of old wines he
was sincere. In this respect I did not differ from
him materially; I was skilful in the Italian vintages
myself, and bought largely whenever I could.

It was about dusk, one evening during the su-
preme madness of the carnival season, that I encoun-
tered my friend. He accosted me with excessive
warmth, for he had been drinking much. The man
wore motley. He had on a tight-fitting parti-striped
dress and his head was surmounted by the conical
cap and bells. I was so pleased to see him, that I
thought I should never have done wringing his
hand.

I said to him -- "My dear Fortunato, you are
luckily met. How remarkably well you are look-
ing to-day! But I have received a pipe of what
passes for Amontillado, and I have my doubts."

"How?" said he, "Amontillado? A pipe? Im-
possible? And in the middle of the carnival?"

"I have my doubts," I replied; "and I was silly
enough to pay the full Amontillado price without
consulting you in the matter. You were not to be
found, and I was fearful of losing a bargain."

"Amontillado!"

"I have my doubts."

"Amontillado!"

"And I must satisfy them."

"Amontillado!"

"As you are engaged, I am on my way to Luchesi.
If any one has a critical turn, it is he. He will tell
me" --

"Luchesi cannot tell Amontillado from Sherry."

"And yet some fools will have it that his taste is
a match for your own."

"Come let us go."

"Whither?"

"To your vaults."

"My friend, no; I will not impose upon your
good nature. I perceive you have an engagement
Luchesi" --

"I have no engagement; come."

"My friend, no. It is not the engagement, but
the severe cold with which I perceive you are af-
flicted. The vaults are insufferably damp. They
are encrusted with nitre."

"Let us go, nevertheless. The cold is merely
nothing. Amontillado! You have been imposed
upon; and as for Luchesi, he cannot distinguish
Sherry from Amontillado."

Thus speaking, Fortunato possessed himself of my
arm. Putting on a mask of black silk and drawing
a roquelaire closely about my person, I suffered him
to hurry me to my palazzo.

There were no attendants at home; they had
absconded to make merry in honour of the time.
I had told them that I should not return until the
morning and had given them explicit orders not
to stir from the house. These orders were sufficient,
I well knew, to insure their immediate disappear-
ance, one and all, as soon as my back was turned.

I took from their sconces two flambeaux, and giv-
ing one to Fortunato bowed him through several
suites of rooms to the archway that led into the
vaults. I passed down a long and winding staircase,
requesting him to be cautious as he followed. We
came at length to the foot of the descent, and stood
together on the damp ground of the catacombs of
the Montresors.

The gait of my friend was unsteady, and the bells
upon his cap jingled as he strode.

 "The pipe," said he.

"It is farther on," said I; "but observe the white
webwork which gleams from these cavern walls."

He turned towards me and looked into my eyes
with two filmy orbs that distilled the rheum of in-
toxication.

"Nitre?" he asked, at length

"Nitre," I replied. "How long have you had that
cough!"

"Ugh! ugh! ugh! -- ugh! ugh! ugh! -- ugh!
ugh! ugh! -- ugh! ugh! ugh! -- ugh! ugh! ugh!

My poor friend found it impossible to reply for
many minutes.

"It is nothing," he said, at last.

"Come," I said, with decision, we will go back;
your health is precious. You are rich, respected,
admired, beloved; you are happy as once I was.
You are a man to be missed. For me it is no
matter. We will go back; you will be ill and I
cannot be responsible. Besides, there is Luchesi" --

"Enough," he said; "the cough is a mere nothing;
it will not kill me. I shall not die of a cough."

"True -- true," I replied; "and, indeed, I had no
intention of alarming you unnecessarily -- but you
should use all proper caution. A draught of this
Medoc will defend us from the damps."

Here I knocked off the neck of a bottle which I
drew from a long row of its fellows that lay upon
the mould.

"Drink," I said, presenting him the wine.

He raised it to his lips with a leer. He paused
and nodded to me familiarly, while his bells jingled.

"I drink," he said, "to the buried that repose
around us."

"And I to your long life."

He again took my arm and we proceeded.

"These vaults," he said, are extensive."

"The Montresors," I replied, "were a great
numerous family."

"I forget your arms."

"A huge human foot d'or, in a field azure; the
foot crushes a serpent rampant whose fangs are im-
bedded in the heel."

"And the motto?"

"Nemo me impune lacessit."

"Good!" he said.

The wine sparkled in his eyes and the bells
jingled. My own fancy grew warm with the Medoc.
We had passed through walls of piled bones, with
casks and puncheons intermingling, into the inmost
recesses of the catacombs. I paused again, and this
time I made bold to seize Fortunato by an arm
above the elbow.

"The nitre!" I said: see it increases. It hangs
like moss upon the vaults. We are below the
river's bed. The drops of moisture trickle among
the bones. Come, we will go back ere it is too late.
Your cough" --

"It is nothing" he said; "let us go on. But first,
another draught of the Medoc."

I broke and reached him a flagon of De Grave.
He emptied it at a breath. His eyes flashed with a
fierce light. He laughed and threw the bottle up-
wards with a gesticulation I did not understand.

I looked at him in surprise. He repeated the
movement -- a grotesque one.

"You do not comprehend?" he said.

"Not I," I replied.

"Then you are not of the brotherhood."

"How?"

"You are not of the masons."

"Yes, yes," I said "yes! yes."

"You? Impossible! A mason?"

"A mason," I replied.

"A sign," he said.

"It is this," I answered, producing a trowel from
beneath the folds of my roquelaire.

"You jest," he exclaimed, recoiling a few paces.
"But let us proceed to the Amontillado."

"Be it so," I said, replacing the tool beneath the
cloak, and again offering him my arm. He leaned
upon it heavily. We continued our route in search
of the Amontillado. We passed through a range
of low arches, descended, passed on, and descending
again, arrived at a deep crypt, in which the foulness
of the air caused our flambeaux rather to glow than
flame.

At the most remote end of the crypt there ap-
peared another less spacious. Its walls had been
lined with human remains piled to the vault over-
head, in the fashion of the great catacombs of Paris.
Three sides of this interior crypt were still orna-
mented in this manner. From the fourth the bones
had been thrown down, and lay promiscuously upon
the earth, forming at one point a mound of some
size. Within the wall thus exposed by the displac-
ing of the bones, we perceived a still interior recess,
in depth about four feet, in width three, in height
six or seven. It seemed to have been constructed
for no especial use in itself, but formed merely the
interval between two of the colossal supports of the
roof of the catacombs, and was backed by one of
their circumscribing walls of solid granite.

It was in vain that Fortunato, uplifting his dull
torch, endeavoured to pry into the depths of the
recess. Its termination the feeble light did not
enable us to see.

"Proceed," I said; "herein is the Amontillado.
As for Luchesi" --

"He is an ignoramus," interrupted my friend, as
he stepped unsteadily forward, while I followed
immediately at his heels. In an instant he had
reached the extremity of the niche, and finding his
progress arrested by the rock, stood stupidly be-
wildered. A moment more and I had fettered him
to the granite. In its surface were two iron staples,
distant from each other about two feet, horizontally.
From one of these depended a short chain. from
the other a padlock. Throwing the links about
his waist, it was but the work of a few seconds
to secure it. He was too much astounded to re-
sist. Withdrawing the key I stepped back from
the recess.

"Pass your hand," I said, "over the wall; you
cannot help feeling the nitre. Indeed it is VERY
damp. Once more let me IMPLORE you to return.
No? Then I must positively leave you. But I
must first render you all the little attentions in my
power."

"The Amontillado!" ejaculated my friend, not
yet recovered from his astonishment.

"True," I replied; "the Amontillado."

As I said these words I busied myself among the
pile of bones of which I have before spoken. Throw-
ing them aside, I soon uncovered a quantity of build-
ing stone and mortar. With these materials and
with the aid of my trowel, I began vigorously to
wall up the entrance of the niche.

I had scarcely laid the first tier of my masonry
when I discovered that the intoxication of Fortunato
had in a great measure worn off. The earliest in-
dication I had of this was a low moaning cry from
the depth of the recess. It was NOT the cry of a
drunken man. There was then a long and obstinate
silence. I laid the second tier, and the third, and
the fourth; and then I heard the furious vibrations
of the chain. The noise lasted for several minutes,
during which, that I might hearken to it with the
more satisfaction, I ceased my labours and sat down
upon the bones. When at last the clanking sub-
sided, I resumed the trowel, and finished without
interruption the fifth, the sixth, and the seventh
tier. The wall was now nearly upon a level with
my breast. I again paused, and holding the flam-
beaux over the mason-work, threw a few feeble rays
upon the figure within.

A succession of loud and shrill screams, bursting
suddenly from the throat of the chained form,
seemed to thrust me violently back. For a brief
moment I hesitated -- I trembled. Unsheathing my
rapier, I began to grope with it about the recess;
but the thought of an instant reassured me. I
placed my hand upon the solid fabric of the cata-
combs, and felt satisfied. I reapproached the wall.
I replied to the yells of him who clamoured. I re-
echoed -- I aided -- I surpassed them in volume and
in strength. I did this, and the clamourer grew
still.

It was now midnight, and my task was drawing
to a close. I had completed the eighth, the ninth,
and the tenth tier. I had finished a portion of the
last and the eleventh; there remained but a single
stone to be fitted and plastered in. I struggled
with its weight; I placed it partially in its destined
position. But now there came from out the niche
a low laugh that erected the hairs upon my head.
It was succeeded by a sad voice, which I had difficulty
in recognising as that of the noble Fortunato. The
voice said -- 

"Ha! ha! ha! -- he! he! -- a very good joke
indeed -- an excellent jest. We will have many a
rich laugh about it at the palazzo -- he! he! he! --
over our wine -- he! he! he!"

"The Amontillado!" I said.

"He! he! he! -- he! he! he! -- yes, the Amon-
tillado. But is it not getting late? Will not they
be awaiting us at the palazzo, the Lady Fortunato
and the rest? Let us be gone."

"Yes," I said "let us be gone."

"FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, MONTRESOR!"

"Yes," I said, "for the love of God!"

But to these words I hearkened in vain for a
reply. I grew impatient. I called aloud --

"Fortunato!"

No answer. I called again --

"Fortunato!"

No answer still. I thrust a torch through the
remaining aperture and let it fall within. There
came forth in return only a jingling of the bells.
My heart grew sick -- on account of the dampness of
the catacombs. I hastened to make an end of my
labour. I forced the last stone into its position; I
plastered it up. Against the new masonry I re-
erected the old rampart of bones. For the half of
a century no mortal has disturbed them.

In pace requiescat!

END.
1	Internet Wiretap Edition of
2
3	THE CASK OF AMONTILLADO by EDGAR ALLAN POE
4
5	From "The Works of Edgar Allan Poe: Tales Vol I",
6	J. B. Lippincott Co, Copyright 1895.
7
8	This text is placed into the Public Domain (May 1993).
9
10
11	The Cask of Amontillado.
12
13	THE thousand injuries of Fortunato I had
14	borne as I best could, but when he ven-
15	tured upon insult, I vowed revenge. You,
16	who so well know the nature of my soul, will not
17	suppose, however, that I gave utterance to a threat.
18	AT LENGTH I would be avenged; this was a point de-
19	finitively settled -- but the very definitiveness with
20	which it was resolved precluded the idea of risk.
21	I must not only punish, but punish with impunity.
22	A wrong is unredressed when retribution overtakes
23	its redresser. It is equally unredressed when the
24	avenger fails to make himself felt as such to him
25	who has done the wrong.
26
27	It must be understood that neither by word nor
28	deed had I given Fortunato cause to doubt my good
29	will. I continued as was my wont, to smile in his
30	face, and he did not perceive that my smile NOW was
31	at the thought of his immolation.
32
33	He had a weak point -- this Fortunato -- although
34	in other regards he was a man to be respected and
35	even feared. He prided himself on his connoisseur-
36	ship in wine. Few Italians have the true virtuoso
37	spirit. For the most part their enthusiasm is adopted
38	to suit the time and opportunity to practise impos-
39	ture upon the British and Austrian MILLIONAIRES. In
40	painting and gemmary, Fortunato, like his country-
41	men, was a quack, but in the matter of old wines he
42	was sincere. In this respect I did not differ from
43	him materially; I was skilful in the Italian vintages
44	myself, and bought largely whenever I could.
45
46	It was about dusk, one evening during the su-
47	preme madness of the carnival season, that I encoun-
48	tered my friend. He accosted me with excessive
49	warmth, for he had been drinking much. The man
50	wore motley. He had on a tight-fitting parti-striped
51	dress and his head was surmounted by the conical
52	cap and bells. I was so pleased to see him, that I
53	thought I should never have done wringing his
54	hand.
55
56	I said to him -- "My dear Fortunato, you are
57	luckily met. How remarkably well you are look-
58	ing to-day! But I have received a pipe of what
59	passes for Amontillado, and I have my doubts."
60
61	"How?" said he, "Amontillado? A pipe? Im-
62	possible? And in the middle of the carnival?"
63
64	"I have my doubts," I replied; "and I was silly
65	enough to pay the full Amontillado price without
66	consulting you in the matter. You were not to be
67	found, and I was fearful of losing a bargain."
68
69	"Amontillado!"
70
71	"I have my doubts."
72
73	"Amontillado!"
74
75	"And I must satisfy them."
76
77	"Amontillado!"
78
79	"As you are engaged, I am on my way to Luchesi.
80	If any one has a critical turn, it is he. He will tell
81	me" --
82
83	"Luchesi cannot tell Amontillado from Sherry."
84
85	"And yet some fools will have it that his taste is
86	a match for your own."
87
88	"Come let us go."
89
90	"Whither?"
91
92	"To your vaults."
93
94	"My friend, no; I will not impose upon your
95	good nature. I perceive you have an engagement
96	Luchesi" --
97
98	"I have no engagement; come."
99
100	"My friend, no. It is not the engagement, but
101	the severe cold with which I perceive you are af-
102	flicted. The vaults are insufferably damp. They
103	are encrusted with nitre."
104
105	"Let us go, nevertheless. The cold is merely
106	nothing. Amontillado! You have been imposed
107	upon; and as for Luchesi, he cannot distinguish
108	Sherry from Amontillado."
109
110	Thus speaking, Fortunato possessed himself of my
111	arm. Putting on a mask of black silk and drawing
112	a roquelaire closely about my person, I suffered him
113	to hurry me to my palazzo.
114
115	There were no attendants at home; they had
116	absconded to make merry in honour of the time.
117	I had told them that I should not return until the
118	morning and had given them explicit orders not
119	to stir from the house. These orders were sufficient,
120	I well knew, to insure their immediate disappear-
121	ance, one and all, as soon as my back was turned.
122
123	I took from their sconces two flambeaux, and giv-
124	ing one to Fortunato bowed him through several
125	suites of rooms to the archway that led into the
126	vaults. I passed down a long and winding staircase,
127	requesting him to be cautious as he followed. We
128	came at length to the foot of the descent, and stood
129	together on the damp ground of the catacombs of
130	the Montresors.
131
132	The gait of my friend was unsteady, and the bells
133	upon his cap jingled as he strode.
134
135	"The pipe," said he.
136
137	"It is farther on," said I; "but observe the white
138	webwork which gleams from these cavern walls."
139
140	He turned towards me and looked into my eyes
141	with two filmy orbs that distilled the rheum of in-
142	toxication.
143
144	"Nitre?" he asked, at length
145
146	"Nitre," I replied. "How long have you had that
147	cough!"
148
149	"Ugh! ugh! ugh! -- ugh! ugh! ugh! -- ugh!
150	ugh! ugh! -- ugh! ugh! ugh! -- ugh! ugh! ugh!
151
152	My poor friend found it impossible to reply for
153	many minutes.
154
155	"It is nothing," he said, at last.
156
157	"Come," I said, with decision, we will go back;
158	your health is precious. You are rich, respected,
159	admired, beloved; you are happy as once I was.
160	You are a man to be missed. For me it is no
161	matter. We will go back; you will be ill and I
162	cannot be responsible. Besides, there is Luchesi" --
163
164	"Enough," he said; "the cough is a mere nothing;
165	it will not kill me. I shall not die of a cough."
166
167	"True -- true," I replied; "and, indeed, I had no
168	intention of alarming you unnecessarily -- but you
169	should use all proper caution. A draught of this
170	Medoc will defend us from the damps."
171
172	Here I knocked off the neck of a bottle which I
173	drew from a long row of its fellows that lay upon
174	the mould.
175
176	"Drink," I said, presenting him the wine.
177
178	He raised it to his lips with a leer. He paused
179	and nodded to me familiarly, while his bells jingled.
180
181	"I drink," he said, "to the buried that repose
182	around us."
183
184	"And I to your long life."
185
186	He again took my arm and we proceeded.
187
188	"These vaults," he said, are extensive."
189
190	"The Montresors," I replied, "were a great
191	numerous family."
192
193	"I forget your arms."
194
195	"A huge human foot d'or, in a field azure; the
196	foot crushes a serpent rampant whose fangs are im-
197	bedded in the heel."
198
199	"And the motto?"
200
201	"Nemo me impune lacessit."
202
203	"Good!" he said.
204
205	The wine sparkled in his eyes and the bells
206	jingled. My own fancy grew warm with the Medoc.
207	We had passed through walls of piled bones, with
208	casks and puncheons intermingling, into the inmost
209	recesses of the catacombs. I paused again, and this
210	time I made bold to seize Fortunato by an arm
211	above the elbow.
212
213	"The nitre!" I said: see it increases. It hangs
214	like moss upon the vaults. We are below the
215	river's bed. The drops of moisture trickle among
216	the bones. Come, we will go back ere it is too late.
217	Your cough" --
218
219	"It is nothing" he said; "let us go on. But first,
220	another draught of the Medoc."
221
222	I broke and reached him a flagon of De Grave.
223	He emptied it at a breath. His eyes flashed with a
224	fierce light. He laughed and threw the bottle up-
225	wards with a gesticulation I did not understand.
226
227	I looked at him in surprise. He repeated the
228	movement -- a grotesque one.
229
230	"You do not comprehend?" he said.
231
232	"Not I," I replied.
233
234	"Then you are not of the brotherhood."
235
236	"How?"
237
238	"You are not of the masons."
239
240	"Yes, yes," I said "yes! yes."
241
242	"You? Impossible! A mason?"
243
244	"A mason," I replied.
245
246	"A sign," he said.
247
248	"It is this," I answered, producing a trowel from
249	beneath the folds of my roquelaire.
250
251	"You jest," he exclaimed, recoiling a few paces.
252	"But let us proceed to the Amontillado."
253
254	"Be it so," I said, replacing the tool beneath the
255	cloak, and again offering him my arm. He leaned
256	upon it heavily. We continued our route in search
257	of the Amontillado. We passed through a range
258	of low arches, descended, passed on, and descending
259	again, arrived at a deep crypt, in which the foulness
260	of the air caused our flambeaux rather to glow than
261	flame.
262
263	At the most remote end of the crypt there ap-
264	peared another less spacious. Its walls had been
265	lined with human remains piled to the vault over-
266	head, in the fashion of the great catacombs of Paris.
267	Three sides of this interior crypt were still orna-
268	mented in this manner. From the fourth the bones
269	had been thrown down, and lay promiscuously upon
270	the earth, forming at one point a mound of some
271	size. Within the wall thus exposed by the displac-
272	ing of the bones, we perceived a still interior recess,
273	in depth about four feet, in width three, in height
274	six or seven. It seemed to have been constructed
275	for no especial use in itself, but formed merely the
276	interval between two of the colossal supports of the
277	roof of the catacombs, and was backed by one of
278	their circumscribing walls of solid granite.
279
280	It was in vain that Fortunato, uplifting his dull
281	torch, endeavoured to pry into the depths of the
282	recess. Its termination the feeble light did not
283	enable us to see.
284
285	"Proceed," I said; "herein is the Amontillado.
286	As for Luchesi" --
287
288	"He is an ignoramus," interrupted my friend, as
289	he stepped unsteadily forward, while I followed
290	immediately at his heels. In an instant he had
291	reached the extremity of the niche, and finding his
292	progress arrested by the rock, stood stupidly be-
293	wildered. A moment more and I had fettered him
294	to the granite. In its surface were two iron staples,
295	distant from each other about two feet, horizontally.
296	From one of these depended a short chain. from
297	the other a padlock. Throwing the links about
298	his waist, it was but the work of a few seconds
299	to secure it. He was too much astounded to re-
300	sist. Withdrawing the key I stepped back from
301	the recess.
302
303	"Pass your hand," I said, "over the wall; you
304	cannot help feeling the nitre. Indeed it is VERY
305	damp. Once more let me IMPLORE you to return.
306	No? Then I must positively leave you. But I
307	must first render you all the little attentions in my
308	power."
309
310	"The Amontillado!" ejaculated my friend, not
311	yet recovered from his astonishment.
312
313	"True," I replied; "the Amontillado."
314
315	As I said these words I busied myself among the
316	pile of bones of which I have before spoken. Throw-
317	ing them aside, I soon uncovered a quantity of build-
318	ing stone and mortar. With these materials and
319	with the aid of my trowel, I began vigorously to
320	wall up the entrance of the niche.
321
322	I had scarcely laid the first tier of my masonry
323	when I discovered that the intoxication of Fortunato
324	had in a great measure worn off. The earliest in-
325	dication I had of this was a low moaning cry from
326	the depth of the recess. It was NOT the cry of a
327	drunken man. There was then a long and obstinate
328	silence. I laid the second tier, and the third, and
329	the fourth; and then I heard the furious vibrations
330	of the chain. The noise lasted for several minutes,
331	during which, that I might hearken to it with the
332	more satisfaction, I ceased my labours and sat down
333	upon the bones. When at last the clanking sub-
334	sided, I resumed the trowel, and finished without
335	interruption the fifth, the sixth, and the seventh
336	tier. The wall was now nearly upon a level with
337	my breast. I again paused, and holding the flam-
338	beaux over the mason-work, threw a few feeble rays
339	upon the figure within.
340
341	A succession of loud and shrill screams, bursting
342	suddenly from the throat of the chained form,
343	seemed to thrust me violently back. For a brief
344	moment I hesitated -- I trembled. Unsheathing my
345	rapier, I began to grope with it about the recess;
346	but the thought of an instant reassured me. I
347	placed my hand upon the solid fabric of the cata-
348	combs, and felt satisfied. I reapproached the wall.
349	I replied to the yells of him who clamoured. I re-
350	echoed -- I aided -- I surpassed them in volume and
351	in strength. I did this, and the clamourer grew
352	still.
353
354	It was now midnight, and my task was drawing
355	to a close. I had completed the eighth, the ninth,
356	and the tenth tier. I had finished a portion of the
357	last and the eleventh; there remained but a single
358	stone to be fitted and plastered in. I struggled
359	with its weight; I placed it partially in its destined
360	position. But now there came from out the niche
361	a low laugh that erected the hairs upon my head.
362	It was succeeded by a sad voice, which I had difficulty
363	in recognising as that of the noble Fortunato. The
364	voice said --
365
366	"Ha! ha! ha! -- he! he! -- a very good joke
367	indeed -- an excellent jest. We will have many a
368	rich laugh about it at the palazzo -- he! he! he! --
369	over our wine -- he! he! he!"
370
371	"The Amontillado!" I said.
372
373	"He! he! he! -- he! he! he! -- yes, the Amon-
374	tillado. But is it not getting late? Will not they
375	be awaiting us at the palazzo, the Lady Fortunato
376	and the rest? Let us be gone."
377
378	"Yes," I said "let us be gone."
379
380	"FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, MONTRESOR!"
381
382	"Yes," I said, "for the love of God!"
383
384	But to these words I hearkened in vain for a
385	reply. I grew impatient. I called aloud --
386
387	"Fortunato!"
388
389	No answer. I called again --
390
391	"Fortunato!"
392
393	No answer still. I thrust a torch through the
394	remaining aperture and let it fall within. There
395	came forth in return only a jingling of the bells.
396	My heart grew sick -- on account of the dampness of
397	the catacombs. I hastened to make an end of my
398	labour. I forced the last stone into its position; I
399	plastered it up. Against the new masonry I re-
400	erected the old rampart of bones. For the half of
401	a century no mortal has disturbed them.
402
403	In pace requiescat!
404
405	END.