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diff --git a/old/64456-0.txt b/old/64456-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 553c58d..0000000 --- a/old/64456-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,3249 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Strange Friend of Tito Gil, by Pedro -Antonio de Alarcón, Translated by Lizzie S. Darr - - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - - -Title: The Strange Friend of Tito Gil - - -Author: Pedro Antonio de Alarcón - - - -Release Date: February 4, 2021 [eBook #64456] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - - -***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STRANGE FRIEND OF TITO GIL*** - - -E-text prepared by Tim Lindell and the Online Distributed Proofreading -Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made available by -Internet Archive (https://archive.org) - - - -Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this - file which includes the original illustrations. - See 64456-h.htm or 64456-h.zip: - (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/64456/64456-h/64456-h.htm) - or - (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/64456/64456-h.zip) - - - Images of the original pages are available through - Internet Archive. See - https://archive.org/details/strangefriendoft00alar - - - - - -[Illustration] - - -THE STRANGE FRIEND OF TITO GIL - - - -PEDRO A. de ALARCÓN - -Translated from the Spanish by Mrs. Francis J. A. Darr - -Illustrated - - - - - - -New York -A. Lovell & Co. - -Copyright, 1890 -By Lizzie S. Darr. - - - - -LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. - - - “Friend! Wait!” FRONTISPIECE. - - Tito and Elena meet at the cathedral Page 13 - - “Thou art forgiven.” ” 97 - - “What city is this?” ” 113 - - - - -THE STRANGE FRIEND OF TITO GIL. - - - - -CHAPTER I. - -REWARDS AND SERVICES. - - -Tito Gil was a poor boy, tall, thin and sallow, with great black eyes, -and a frank, open face; badly dressed and awkward, but possessed of a -bright happy disposition. - -At the time our story opens, he was about nineteen years of age; the son, -nephew, grand-nephew, cousin and Heaven knows what more, to the best of -the old Court shoemakers. - -His mother, Crispina Lopez, died in giving him birth, and her husband, -Juan Gil, did not regard the child with much affection until he learned -that he might be left a widower, from which it may be inferred that the -poor shoemaker and Crispina Lopez were an example of brief but bad -marriages. - -Nevertheless, and judging only from appearances Crispina Lopez deserved -to be more sincerely mourned by her husband; for when she left the -paternal roof, she brought him as “dot,” an almost exceptional beauty, -abundance of clothes and house-linen and,—a very wealthy customer, -nothing less than a Count, the Count of Rionuevo, who for some months had -had the extraordinary caprice of covering his small delicate feet with -the good Juan’s rough work. - -This naturally caused gossip, which however at present has nothing to do -with my story; but what is important for us to know is, that at the age -of fourteen, on discovering Tito to be a good cobbler, the noble Count of -Rionuevo, either pitying his orphanhood, or attracted by his winning ways -(no one really understood exactly why), brought him to his own palace as -page after much opposition on the part of the Countess, who had heard of -the child born to Crispina Lopez. - -Tito had received some instruction in reading, writing, arithmetic and -Christian doctrine, so that he was soon able to commence the study of -Latin under a friar who was a frequent visitor at the Count’s home. - -It may truly be said that these years were the happiest of his life, not -because he lacked troubles (for the Countess took pains to remind him -constantly of the shoemaker’s awl and strap), but because he accompanied -his protector every evening to the palace of the aged Duke of Monteclaro, -whose daughter, sole heiress to all his vast possessions, was extremely -beautiful, although the child of a very ugly and ungainly father. - -Elena had seen but twelve summers when she first met Tito; and as the -poor page passed for the son of a noble, but ruined family (pitiful lie -of Count Rionuevo), the aristocratic girl did not disdain to engage in -childish games with him, playfully calling him “fiancé,” and perhaps -sometimes allowing an embrace, when her twelve years had changed to -fourteen, and his fourteen to sixteen. - -So passed three years. The shoemaker’s son lived in an atmosphere of -luxury and pleasure; went to Court, conversed with the nobility, -acquired an elegant manner, delighted in a smattering of French (then -very fashionable), and in fact learned to ride, to dance, to fence, -something of chess and a little of necromancy. - -Then came death for the third time, but now with less pity than before, -to dash the poor boy’s future to the ground. The Count of Rionuevo died -intestate, and the widowed Countess, cordially hating his “protégé,” -hastened to tell him, with tears of feigned sorrow in her eyes, and -hidden venom in her heart, that he must leave the palace without delay, -as his presence only saddened her by reminding her of her husband. - -Feeling as though waking from a beautiful dream, or as if the victim of -a horrible nightmare, Tito, weeping bitterly, gathered together what -clothes were left him, and abandoned the no longer hospitable roof. Poor, -without family, and no home to shelter him, he suddenly remembered that -in a certain alley of the Vistillas quarter, he owned a cobbler’s stall, -and some shoemaker’s tools, which had been left in charge of an old -woman of the neighborhood, in whose humble home he had found a tender -welcome and even sweet-meats, during the life of the virtuous Juan Gil. - -He went there; the old woman still lived; the tools were in good -condition, and during those years, the rent of the stall had brought in -some seven doubloons: these the good woman gave him, not without having -previously moistened them with tears of joy. - -Tito decided to remain there, to devote himself to his trade, to forget -completely the riding, the fencing, the dancing and the chess, but by -no means Elena de Monteclaro. This last would have been impossible, -although he fully appreciated that he was dead to her, or that she was -to him; but before drawing the funeral veil of hopelessness over that -inextinguishable love, he wished to say a last “adieu,” to her who had -been for so long the very soul of his soul. One evening therefore he -dressed himself carefully, and set out for the Duke’s palace. - -A travelling coach, drawn by four mules, was before the door. Elena, -followed by her father, entered it. - -“Tito!”—she exclaimed, sweetly, on seeing him. - -“Drive on!”—shouted the Duke to the coachman, without hearing Elena, or -seeing Rionuevo’s former page. - -The mules dashed off. - -The unhappy boy extended his arms towards his love without having a -chance to even say “good-bye.” - -“Good night!” growled the porter—“I must close the doors!” - -“Are they going away?”—asked Tito, recovering from his bewilderment. - -“Yes, sir,—to France,”—replied the porter dryly, shutting the door in his -face. - -The ex-page went home, more downhearted than ever, took off and carefully -laid away his fine clothes, donned the worst he had, cut off his long -curls, and shaved a youthful mustache that had just commenced to appear. -The next day he took possession of the rickety chair which Juan Gil had -occupied for forty years, surrounded by lasts, scissors, straps and wax. - -Thus we find him at the beginning of this tale, which, as I have already -said, is called, “The Strange Friend of Tito Gil.” - - - - -CHAPTER II. - -MORE SERVICES AND REWARDS. - - -The month of June, 1724, was drawing to a close. Tito had been a -shoemaker two years; but it must not be imagined that he was resigned -to his fate. He was obliged to work night and day to gain a living, and -regretted hourly the consequent injury to his hands. When he lacked -customers, he spent his time reading, never by any chance throughout the -entire week, crossing the threshold of his secluded retreat. There he -lived alone, taciturn, hypochondriacal, without other diversion than that -of hearing his old friend praise the beauty of Crispina Lopez, or the -generosity of the Count of Rionuevo. - -On Sundays, however, his life completely changed. He would then dress -in his old costume of page (carefully laid away during the rest of the -week), and go to the steps of the cathedral of San Millán, close by the -palace of Monteclaro, where in former days his loved Elena attended -mass. - -[Illustration] - -He persevered in this for two years without seeing her. Instead, he -met students and pages whom he had known as a child, who now kept him -posted in regard to all affairs of the higher circles which he no -longer frequented. From them he learned that Elena was still in France. -Of course none of them suspected that at home Tito was a cobbler. -All believed him to be the beneficiary of a legacy from the Count of -Rionuevo, who had manifested too much affection for him in life, for them -to suppose that he had neglected to provide for his future. - -So time passed, and one feast day, on the date mentioned at the beginning -of the chapter, he was waiting at the door of the cathedral. He saw two -elegantly dressed ladies arrive with a grand retinue of servants, who -passed so close to him, that in one of them he was able to recognize his -bitter enemy, the Countess of Rionuevo. He was about to conceal himself -in the crowd of spectators, when her companion raised her veil, and—oh -happiness!—he recognized his beloved Elena, the sweet cause of his bitter -sorrows. The poor boy approached her, uttering a frantic cry of joy. - -Elena, recognizing him at once, exclaimed with the same tenderness as of -old: - -“Tito!” - -But the Countess, grasping her arm, turned toward Tito, and said in a low -voice, “I told you that I was satisfied with my present shoemaker. Leave -me in peace!” - -Tito, turning deathly white, fell senseless to the stone floor, as Elena -and the Countess entered the church. - -Two or three students who had witnessed the scene, laughed uproariously, -without thoroughly understanding it. - -He was carried home, there to suffer another blow; his old friend, who -constituted his entire family, had died of old age during his absence. -He was seized with an attack of brain fever which brought him to the -very jaws of death. When he returned to consciousness, he found that -a neighbor, poorer even than himself, had taken entire charge of him -during his long illness; but had been obliged to sell his furniture, his -tools, his books, his home, and even his holiday attire, to pay for his -medicines and physician. - -At the end of two months, covered with rags, hungry, weakened by illness, -penniless, and without family or friends, without even that old friend -who had loved him as a mother, and, worse than all, without the hope of -ever approaching his dreamed of and blessed Elena, Tito abandoned his -home (already the property of another shoemaker), and took by chance the -first road, without knowing where he was going, what to do, to whom to -apply, how to work or how to live. - -It was raining: one of those gloomy afternoons, when even the sad ringing -of bells seems to give warning of the approach of death; when the sky is -covered with clouds and the earth with mud; when the damp and piercing -air smothers all hope in the human breast; when the poor are hungry, the -orphans cold, and the unhappy envious of those already dead. - -Night fell, and Tito, who still had some fever, crouched down in the -corner of a dark doorway, giving way to bitter tears.... The idea of -death then presented itself to his fevered imagination, not as a horror -or fearful possibility, but pleasantly, as something welcome and longed -for. - -The unfortunate boy folded his arms across his breast, as if to guard -that sweet image which brought him so much rest, consolation and -happiness; and in making this movement, his hand touched some hard object -in the pocket of his miserable coat. - -The reaction was quick; the idea of life, and of its preservation, -was now uppermost in his brain; he grasped with all his strength that -unexpected succor which came to him on the very brink of the grave. - -Hope breathed in his ear a thousand seductive promises, which induced -him to wonder if that hard thing he touched could be money, an enormous -precious stone, or a talisman; something, in fact, which might bring him -life, fortune, happiness and fame (all of which to him meant the love of -Elena de Monteclaro); and putting his hand in his pocket he whispered to -death:—“Wait!” - -But ah! that hard thing was nothing but a vial of vitriol with which he -had mixed blacking, the last that remained to him of his shoemaker’s -outfit, which by some inexplicable accident had found its way to his -pocket. - -Consequently when he believed that he had discovered a means of -salvation, the unhappy boy found in his hand a poison, and one of the -most deadly. - -“There is no hope!” said he, raising the vial to his lips. But a hand, -cold as ice, was placed upon his shoulder, and a voice, sweet, tender and -divine, murmured these words: - -“Friend! Wait!” - - - - -CHAPTER III. - -HOW TITO ACQUIRED A KNOWLEDGE OF MEDICINE IN ONE HOUR. - - -No words could have astonished him more than those he had just heard. - -“Friend! Wait!” - -He had no friends. - -But what astounded him more was the horrible feeling of cold that the -hand of that shadow gave him; and even the tone of its voice chilled him -like a polar wind, to the very marrow of his bones. - -The night being dark, the poor orphan could not distinguish the features -of the newly arrived being, though he did discern his black, flowing -robes, which did not resemble those worn by either sex. - -Full of doubts, mysterious fears and even a lively curiosity, Tito rose -from the doorway where he had crouched, and murmured in a faint voice, -broken by the chattering of his teeth:—“What do you wish?” - -“That I ask thee!” responded the unknown being, linking his arm in Tito’s -with affectionate familiarity. - -“Who are you?” asked the poor shoemaker, who felt himself dying from the -cold contact of that arm. - -“I am he whom thou seekest.” - -“Who?—I?—I seek nobody,” replied Tito, endeavoring to disengage himself. - -“Then why didst thou call me?” replied the other, grasping his arm with -more force. - -“Ah! Leave me!” - -“Calm thyself, Tito. I mean thee no harm,” added the mysterious being. -“Come! Thou tremblest with hunger and cold! Yonder is an open tavern -in which I have something to do to-night. Let us enter and refresh -ourselves.” - -“Well! but who are you?” asked Tito anew, his curiosity commencing to -overcome his other feelings. - -“I told thee when we met. We are friends—and observe that thou art the -only one upon this earth to whom I give this name. Remorse binds me to -thee. I have been the cause of all thy misfortunes.” - -“But I do not know you,” replied the shoemaker. - -“Nevertheless I have entered thy house many times. Through me thou wert -left motherless the day of thy birth. I was the cause of the apoplexy -that killed Juan Gil; I hurled thee from the palace of Rionuevo; removed -thy housekeeper, and finally put this bottle of vitriol within thy reach.” - -Tito shook with fear; his hair stood on end; he felt as if his contracted -muscles were giving way. - -“You are the Devil!” he exclaimed, with undisguised terror. - -“Boy!” answered the black robed stranger in a tone of gentle reproof, -“why dost thou think that? I am something more and better than the -wretched being thou namest.” - -“Who are you then?” - -“Let us enter the inn and thou wilt know.” - -Tito entered quickly, and placing the unknown being before the dim lamp -looked at him with intense earnestness. - -He appeared to be about thirty-three years of age, tall, pale, and -beautiful, dressed in a long tunic, and black, flowing mantle; his long -hair concealed by a peculiarly shaped black cap. He was beardless, but -nevertheless not effeminate in appearance; and notwithstanding the -strength and vigor of his countenance, he did not resemble a man. He -appeared to be a human being without sex, a body without soul, or, more -properly speaking, a soul without visible mortal body. One would call him -a negative personality. His eyes were without brilliancy. They reminded -one of the darkness of night; they were ghostly; eyes of sorrow, of -death; but so gentle, so inoffensive, so profound in their dumbness that -one could not withdraw his gaze. They attracted like the sea; fascinated -like a deep abyss; consoled like forgetfulness. Scarcely had Tito fixed -his eyes on those inanimate ones, when he felt as though a black veil -enveloped him, that all was turning to chaos, and that the noise of the -world was like that of a cyclone. - -The strange being then uttered these words:— - -“I am Death, my friend—I am Death, and God has sent me—God, who has -reserved for thee a glorious place in heaven. Five times I have caused -thee misery, but at last, I, the implacable deity, have had compassion on -thee. When He ordered me to bring thy godless soul before the Tribunal, -I prayed to Him to confide thy existence to me, and allow me to remain -awhile at thy side, promising in the end to deliver thy spirit cleansed -of sin and worthy of His glory. Heaven has not been deaf to my prayer. -Thou art then the first mortal whom I ever approached whose body did not -turn to cold ashes. Thou art my only friend. Listen, now, and learn the -path to happiness and eternal salvation.” - -When Death had finished speaking Tito murmured an inaudible word. - -“I understand thee,” replied Death, “thou speakest of Elena de -Monteclaro.” - -“Yes,” answered the boy. - -“I swear to thee that no other arm than thine or mine shall ever enfold -her. And, besides, I promise to give thee the felicity of this world -and of the other. With that thou hast all. I, my friend, am not the -Omnipotent,—my power is very limited, very sad. I do not create. My -province is to destroy. Nevertheless it lies in my hands to give thee -strength, power and greater riches than that of princes and emperors. I -will make thee a physician; but _a physician! my friend_, who will know, -will see, and be able to speak to me. Dost thou divine the rest?” - -Tito was amazed. - -“Can it be possible?” he exclaimed, as though struggling with a nightmare. - -“Yes, and something more which I will tell thee, but now I need only to -advise thee that thou art not the son of Juan Gil. I hear the confessions -of the dying, and I know that thou art the natural child of a more noble -parent.” - -“Hush!” exclaimed the poor boy, hiding his face in his hands. Then, -inspired by a sudden idea, he said with indescribable horror: - -“With which some day you intend to kill Elena?” - -“Compose thyself,” answered the divinity. “Thou wilt never cause Elena’s -death. Therefore, answer! Dost thou, or dost thou not, wish to be my -friend?” - -Tito answered with another question. - -“Will you give me Elena in exchange?” - -“I have told thee, yes.” - -“Then here is my hand,” said the boy, offering it to Death. But at that -moment a thought more horrible than the first assailed him. - -“With these hands that clasp mine you killed my poor mother!” - -“’Tis true, thy mother died,” answered Death. “Understand, however, that -I did not cause her a single pain. I make no one suffer. He who torments -thee to the last, is my rival Life; that Life that so many love.” - -For answer the boy threw himself into the arms of Death. - -“Come, then,” said the strange being. - -“Where?” - -“To the Granja palace, to commence thy practice as a physician.” - -“But whom do we go to see there?” - -“The ex-king, Philip V.” - -“What! Is Philip to die?” - -“Not yet; he must return, and reign again; and thou goest to offer him -the crown.” - -Tito bowed his head, crushed beneath the weight of so many new ideas. - -Death took his arm and led him from the inn. They had not reached the -door when they heard cries and lamentations behind them. - -The proprietor of the house was dead. - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - -DIGRESSION, WHICH BEARS LITTLE ON THE STORY. - - -After leaving the inn, Tito began to observe such a change in himself, -and in his whole nature, that had it not been for the support of an arm -as strong as that of Death, he would undoubtedly have fallen lifeless -to the ground. He felt that which no other man has ever experienced—the -double motion of the Earth around the Sun, and that about its own axis! -But with all this he did not feel the beating of his own heart. Any one -who could have examined the young shoemaker’s countenance, illumined by -the Moon’s bright light, would have seen at a glance that its melancholy -beauty, which had always made him noticeable, was enhanced to an -extraordinary degree. His eyes, of a velvety blackness, now reflected -that mysterious peace that reigned in those of the personification -of Death. His long silky locks, black as the raven’s wing, adorned a -physiognomy as pale as alabaster, at once radiant and opaque, as though -within there burned a funeral light which glimmered softly through its -pores. His countenance, his bearing, his manner, all had changed, causing -him to assume a peculiarly statuesque and spiritual air, entirely foreign -to our human nature, and rendering him superior to the coldest woman, the -proudest potentates, the bravest warriors. - -The two friends walked toward the mountains, sometimes following the -road and sometimes leaving it; and whenever they passed through towns or -villages, the slow, sad tolling of bells warned the boy that Death lost -no opportunities; that his power was felt on every side; and not only did -he feel it on his own heart as a mountain of ice, but he also knew that -it was scattering desolation and mourning over the face of the entire -earth. - -Death disclosed many strange and wonderful things to him. The enemy of -history, he took pleasure in uttering sarcasms regarding his pretended -usefulness; and to demonstrate it, he presented facts as they happened, -and not as monuments and chronicles recount them. - -The mysteries of the past were unfolded before Tito’s bewildered -imagination, revealing many important truths concerning the fate of -empires, and humanity in general. The great mystery of the origin of life -was unveiled to him, and the astounding grandeur of the end to which we -mis-named mortals are approaching, causing him finally to comprehend the -genius of that high philosophy the laws of which govern the evolution of -cosmic matter. Its multitudinous manifestations in those ephemerous and -transitory forms called minerals, plants, animals, stars, constellations, -nebulæ and worlds, together with physiology, geology, chemistry, botany, -were all made clear to the ex-shoemaker’s astonished understanding, -giving him a thorough conception of the mysterious causes of life, -movement, reproduction, passion, sentiment, idea, conscience, thought, -memory, will, desire. God alone remained veiled, in the depths of those -seas of knowledge. God alone was stranger to life and death; independent -of the laws of the universe; the one Supreme Being; alone in substance, -independent, free, and all-powerful in action! - -Death did not attempt to envelop the Creator in his infinite shadow. He -alone _was_! His eternity, His immutability, His impenetrability, dazzled -Tito, who bowed his head, adored and believed, remaining plunged in more -profound ignorance than before descending into the abyss of death. - - - - -CHAPTER V. - -DOUBT DISPELLED. - - -It was ten o’clock on the morning of the thirtieth of August, 1724, when -Tito, thoroughly instructed by that negative Power, entered the palace of -San Ildefonso, and asked audience of Philip V., of whose position at that -time we wish to remind the reader. - -First Bourbon of Spain, nephew of Louis XIV., of France, he accepted the -Spanish crown only when he had found it impossible to secure that of -France. But princes were dying, uncles and cousins of his, who separated -him from the throne of his native land; therefore, in order to place -himself in readiness to occupy it, should his nephew, Louis XV., die -(at that time very ill and but fourteen years of age), he abdicated, in -favor of his son Louis I., and retired to San Ildefonso. At this stage -the health of Louis XV. greatly improved, and Louis I. was suddenly -taken so ill, that grave fears were entertained for his life. Couriers -were kept in constant service between the Granja palace and Madrid, -bringing Philip hourly bulletins concerning the condition of his son. The -ambitious father, incited further by his celebrated second wife, Isabel -Farnesio (much more ambitious than he), did not know what part to take in -this hopeless and serious conflict. Would the throne of Spain be vacant -before that of France? Should he declare his intention of reigning anew -in Madrid, preparing himself to seize the heritage of his son? But should -Louis I. not die? Would it not be a blunder to expose the depth of his -perfidy to all Europe? Would not such action render useless his seven -months of solitude? And would it not be to renounce forever the sweet -hope of seating himself on the coveted throne of Saint Louis? What should -he do? To hope, was only wasting precious time! He was hated by the -Assembly, and denied all influence in affairs of State. To take but one -step, might compromise his life’s ambition, and his name to posterity. - -False Philip V! The temptations of the world assailed him in the desert, -and he paid very dearly in those hours of doubt for the hypocrisy of his -abdication! - -Such was the condition of affairs when Tito presented himself before the -scheming Philip as a courier bearing important tidings. - -“What do you wish?” asked the king, without turning, when he heard him -enter the chamber. - -“Look at me, your majesty,” answered Tito, unabashed. “Do not fear that I -may read your thoughts; they are no mystery to me.” - -Philip turned quickly towards that man, whose voice, dry and cold as the -truth it revealed, had frozen his heart’s blood; but his anger melted -before the funereal smile of the Friend of Death. - -He felt a superstitious terror on fixing his eyes on Tito’s; and raising -a tremulous hand to the bell beside him, repeated his first question. - -“What do you wish?” - -“Sire, I am a physician,” answered Tito, quietly, “and I have such -confidence in my science, that I dare tell your majesty the day, hour and -instant when Louis I. will die.” - -Philip looked with more attention at the ragged boy, whose countenance -was as supernatural as beautiful. - -“Speak!” said the king. - -“Ah, no!” replied Tito, with a degree of sarcasm; “we must first arrange -the price.” - -The king started on hearing these words as if waking from a dream; he saw -the matter in another light, and was almost ashamed of having tolerated -it. - -“Here!” said he, touching the bell, “arrest this man!” - -A captain of guards appeared, and placed his hand on Tito’s shoulder. The -boy remained perfectly quiet. - -The king, returning to his first superstition, cast a side glance at -the strange physician, then rising with difficulty (for the weakness he -had suffered for some years had lately augmented), said to the officer: -“Leave us alone.” - -Planting himself finally in front of Tito, as if to banish his fear, he -asked him with feigned calmness, - -“Well, owl-face! who the devil are you?” - -“I am the Friend of Death,” answered Tito, with a steady, quiet look. - -“Who is the friend of all sinners,” gayly added the king, as if to ward -off his puerile fear. “And what have you to say of our son?” - -“I say,” said Tito, taking a step toward the king, who involuntarily -retreated, “that I bring you a crown; I do not say whether it is that of -Spain or of France, as that is the secret for which you must pay me. I -also say that we are losing precious time, and that consequently I must -speak to you soon and clearly. Listen to me, therefore, with attention. -Louis I. is dying. Nevertheless his sickness is not incurable. Your -Majesty is the dog in the manger.” - -Philip interrupted him. - -“Speak! Say what you wish; I desire to hear it all. In any case I propose -to have you hanged.” - -The Friend of Death, shrugging his shoulders, continued: - -“I likened your Majesty to the dog in the manger. You had the crown of -Spain upon your head: you dropped it, to seize that of France, and it -fell upon the cradle of your son; Louis XV. secured his own and now you -are left with neither.” - -“It is true!” exclaimed Philip, as much in looks as in words. - -“To-day,” continued Tito, observing the king’s expression, “to-day that -you are nearer to the throne of France than that of Spain, you are about -to expose yourself to the same disappointment. The two infant kings, -Louis I. and Louis XV., are ill; you might be able to succeed both; but -it is necessary for you to know a few hours in advance which of the two -will die first. Louis I. is in the greater danger, but the crown of -France is the more beautiful. Here lies your difficulty. You appreciate -the situation. You dare not stretch your hand toward the sceptre of -Ferdinand, apprehensive that your son may live, that your French -partisans might abandon you, and that history would ridicule you. In -fact you dare not drop the bit that you hold between your teeth, fearful -that the other may be a mere shadow or illusion.” - -“Speak! speak!” said Philip, eagerly, fearing that Tito had concluded. -“Say what you have to say, for from here you go direct to a dungeon, -where only the walls will hear you. Speak! I should like to hear what the -world has to say regarding my thoughts.” - -The ex-shoemaker smiled derisively. - -“Dungeon! Gallows!” he exclaimed. “I know all that kings can do, still -I am not alarmed. Listen a little longer; I am about to conclude. Sire, -I must be appointed Physician to the Court, obtain the title of Duke, -with thirty thousand dollars, this very day. Your Majesty laughs; but I -need all this as much as your Majesty needs to know whether Louis I. will -succumb to his illness.” - -“And you know that?” asked the king in a low voice, unable to overcome -the terror which the boy caused him. - -“I shall know it to-night.” - -“How?” - -“I have already told you that I am the Friend of Death.” - -“And what is that? Tell me!” - -“Of that I was also ignorant; but take me to the palace in Madrid, let me -see the reigning king, and I will tell you the sentence which the Eternal -One has written upon his brow.” - -“And if you mistake?” said Philip of Anjou, drawing nearer to Tito. - -“You may hang me, or hold me prisoner at your will.” - -“You are a wizard then!” exclaimed Philip, attempting in a measure to -justify the faith he placed in Tito’s words. - -“Sire,” he answered, “there are no wizards nowadays. The last one was -Louis XIV., and the last bewitched was Charles II. The crown of Spain -that we sent to you in Paris, twenty-five years ago, wrapped in the will -of an idiot, redeemed us from the captivity of the Devil, in which we had -lived since the abdication of Charles V. You know that better than any -one.” - -“Physician to the Court! Duke! And thirty thousand dollars,” murmured the -king. - -“For a crown worth more than you imagine,” added Tito. - -“You have my royal word,” replied Philip, solemnly, overpowered by that -voice, that face, that mysterious bearing. - -“You swear it, your Majesty?” - -“I promise it,” responded the king. “I promise it, if you prove to me -beforehand that you are something more than man.” - -“Elena, you will be mine,” murmured Tito. - -The king, calling the captain, gave him some orders. - -“Now,” said he, “while they arrange your trip to Madrid, tell me your -history and explain your science.” - -“I desire to please you, Sire, but I fear that you would understand -neither the one nor the other.” - -An hour later the Captain was travelling post haste to Madrid with our -hero, who for the time being had discarded his rags, and was dressed in a -magnificent costume of black velvet and lace, a plumed hat, and a sword -at his side. - -Philip had supplied him with money and these clothes, after concluding -his strange contract with Death. - -We will follow the good Tito, notwithstanding his haste, for he may meet -his idolized Elena or the odious Countess of Rionuevo in the queen’s -chamber, and we do not wish to be ignorant of the slightest details of -such interesting encounters. - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - -PRELIMINARY CONFERENCE. - - -It was about seven in the evening, when Tito and the Captain dismounted -at the doors of the palace. - -The news of the king’s danger had spread, and an immense crowd filled the -court-yard. - -As our young friend entered, he found himself face to face with Death, -who was hastily leaving. - -“Already?” asked Tito, anxiously. - -“Not yet,” answered the sinister deity. - -The physician breathed more easily. - -“When, then?” he asked, after a pause. - -“I cannot tell thee.” - -“Oh! speak! If you but knew what Philip has promised me!” - -“I can imagine.” - -“But I must know if Louis I. is to die.” - -“Thou wilt know it at the proper time. Pass on. The Captain has already -entered the king’s chamber. He brings instructions from the royal parent. -At this moment thou art announced as the first physician of the world. -The people crowd the stairway to see thee arrive. Thou art about to meet -Elena and the Countess of Rionuevo.” - -“Oh! what happiness!” exclaimed Tito. - -“Quarter past seven!” continued Death, consulting his pulse, which was -his only and infallible timepiece. “They await thee. I must go.” - -“But tell me—” - -“True, I had forgotten! Listen:—If I am in the chamber when thou seest -the king, thou wilt know that his illness has no cure.” - -“And will you be there? Did you not say you were going away?” - -“I do not know yet. I am ubiquitous, and should I receive _Superior_ -orders, there thou wilt see me, as in any other place where He may -require my presence.” - -“What have you been doing here?” - -“I have killed a horse.” - -Tito recoiled with horror. - -“What!” he exclaimed, “you deal also with irrational beings?” - -“What meanest thou by irrational? Has only man true reason? Reason stands -alone; one does not see it from the earth.” - -“But tell me,” said Tito, “animals, brutes, those which we call -irrational, have they souls?” - -“Yes and no. They have a spirit without free-will, and are irresponsible. -But, to the devil with thee! What a questioner thou art to-day! -Farewell—I go to a noble house to do thee another favor.” - -“A favor! Me? Tell it me! What is its nature?” - -“To prevent a certain wedding.” - -“Ah!” exclaimed Tito, overwhelmed by a horrible suspicion, “is it -possible...?” - -“I can tell thee nothing more,” answered Death. “Enter, it grows late.” - -“You distract me.” - -“Quiet thyself; all will be well. I have promised thee supreme happiness.” - -“Then we are friends? You do not intend to kill me or Elena?” - -“Do not worry,” replied Death, with a sadness and solemnity, a tenderness -and gayety, with so many and different tones of voice, that Tito gave up -at once the hope of understanding him. - -“Wait!” he said, finally, seeing that the shrouded being was moving away. -“Repeat the hours, once more, to me, that I may make no mistake. If you -are in the sick chamber, and do not look at the patient, it signifies -that he will die of the disease.” - -“Certainly; but should I face him, he dies during the day. If I lie in -the same bed, he has three hours of life. If thou seest him in my arms, -only one hour remains; but when thou seest me kiss his brow, say a prayer -for his soul.” - -“And you will not speak one word to me?” - -“Not one. I lack permission to reveal in that manner the intentions of -the Eternal One. Thy advantage over other men, consists only in thy -ability to see me. Good night! Forget me not!” So saying, he disappeared -in space. - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - -THE ROYAL CHAMBER. - - -Tito entered the regal abode, neither regretting nor content with having -established relations with Death. But as he ascended the stairs of -the palace, and remembered that he was to see his idolized Elena, all -lugubrious ideas disappeared, like night birds at the break of day. - -With a brilliant escort of courtiers, and other personages of rank, -he passed through galleries and salons toward the royal bed-chamber, -whilst all admired the wonderful beauty and tender youth of the famous -physician, whom Philip had sent from the Granja palace, as the last hope -of human aid, to save the life of his son. - -The two Courts were there, that of Louis and that of Philip. There were, -so to speak, two rival powers, who for a week had lived in constant -warfare: there were the old servants of the first Bourbon branch, and the -new ones whom the Regent of France (Philip of Orleans, the Generous), -had grouped around the throne of Spain to prevent the ambitious ex-Duke -of Anjou from seizing that of his grandfather; there were, in fact, the -courtiers of the gentle, dying child, and those of his beautiful wife, -the powerful daughter of the Regent, the renowned Duchess of Montpensier. -The allies of Isabella Farnesio, stepmother of Louis I., desired his -death, in order that the sons of the second marriage of Philip V. might -be nearer the throne of St. Ferdinand. - -The partisans of the young queen wished the sick monarch to live, not -from any love of the quarrelsome pair, but from hate of Philip V. whom -they did not wish to see again upon the throne. - -The friends of the unfortunate Louis trembled at the idea of his death; -for, having induced him to shake off the restraint which the hermit of -the Granja exercised over him, they well knew that if the latter returned -to power, his first act would be to exile or imprison them. The palace -therefore was a labyrinth of opposed interests, various ambitions, -intrigues, suspicions, hopes and fears. - -Tito entered the chamber, searching in all directions for one face—that -of his beloved Elena. Close to the king’s bed he saw her father, the -Duke of Monteclaro, the close friend of the late Count of Rionuevo. He -was speaking with the Archbishops of Santiago and Toledo, the Marquis de -Mirabal, and Don Miguel de Guerra, the four most deadly enemies of Philip -V. The Duke did not recognize the former page and youthful companion -of his charming daughter. Across the room, and not without a certain -feeling of fear, the Friend of Death recognized among the ladies who -surrounded the young and beautiful Louisa Isabel of Orleans, the Countess -of Rionuevo, his implacable and bitter enemy. Although he almost touched -her, as he passed to kiss the queen’s hand, she did not recognize her -husband’s son. Against a piece of tapestry, behind this group of ladies, -he saw, among two or three others whom he did not know, a tall, pale, -beautiful woman. - -It was Elena de Monteclaro! - -Tito gazed at her intently, while the young girl trembled at the sight of -that beautiful and funereal face, as though looking upon the countenance -of a dead lover; as if she saw, not Tito, but his ghost enveloped in a -shroud; as if, in fact, she saw a being of the other world. - -Tito in the Court, consoling the queen! that proud and haughty princess -who treated all with disdain! Tito in that elegant dress, admired and -respected by all the nobility! Ah! it must be a dream!... thought the -charming Elena. - -“Come, Doctor!” said the Marquis of Mirabal. “His Majesty has awakened.” - -Tito made a painful effort to shake off the ecstasy which seized his -whole being, on finding himself before his loved one, and approached that -bed of disease. - -The second Bourbon of Spain was a rickety youth of seventeen years, tall -and thin, like a plant that grows in the shade. - -His countenance (which did not lack a certain fineness of expression -despite its irregularity of feature), was now frightfully swollen, and -covered with ash-colored pustules. He appeared a coarse, clay imitation -of a sculptured marble. - -He directed an anxious look at the other youth who was approaching his -bed, and encountering his dull and lustreless eyes, fathomless as the -mystery of eternity, gave a shrill cry and hid his face beneath the -sheets. Tito in the mean time looked about to discover Death. But Death -was not there! - -“Will he live?” asked several courtiers in a low voice, who believed they -read hope in Tito’s expression. - -He was about to say, “Yes,” (forgetting that his opinion was to be given -only to Philip V.), when he felt someone touch his arm. - -Turning, he saw standing near him at the head of the bed, a person -dressed entirely in black. - -It was Death. - -“He will die of this illness, but not to-day,” thought Tito. - -“How does he appear to you?” asked the Archbishop of Toledo, feeling as -all did that involuntary respect inspired by the youth’s supernatural -appearance. - -“Pardon me,” replied the ex-shoemaker, “my opinion is reserved for him -who sent me.” - -“But,” added the Marquis of Mirabal, “you who are so young, cannot have -acquired so much scientific skill; undoubtedly God or the Devil has -inspired you. You may be a saint who works miracles, or a magician, a -friend of witches.” - -“As you please,” responded Tito; “at any rate, I read the future of the -king who lies in this bed; a secret of value to you, as it would enable -you to solve the doubt whether to-morrow you will be the favorite of -Louis I., or the prisoner of Philip V.” - -“What!” stammered Mirabal, pale with anger, but smiling blandly. - -At this moment Tito observed that Death, not content with having -approached the monarch, took advantage of his visit to the royal chamber -to seat himself beside a lady, almost in the same chair, and was -regarding her fixedly. - -The doomed victim was the Countess of Rionuevo. - -“Three hours!” thought Tito. - -“I must speak to you,” continued Mirabal, to whom had occurred the idea -of purchasing the young physician’s secret. - -But a glance and smile from Tito, who had divined his thoughts, so -disconcerted him that he drew back. - -The look and smile were the same which that morning had conquered Philip -V. - -During Mirabal’s confusion, Tito made a great step in his career, and -established his reputation at Court. - -“Sir,” said he to the Archbishop of Toledo, “the Countess of Rionuevo, -whom you see seated alone in that corner” (we already know that Death was -visible only to Tito), “will die in the course of three hours. Advise her -to prepare for her last moments.” - -The Archbishop recoiled with horror. - -“What is it?” asked Don Miguel de Guerra. - -The prelate related Tito’s prophecy to various persons, and all eyes were -at once fixed upon the Countess, who actually began to grow deathly pale. - -Meanwhile Tito approached Elena, who was standing in the middle of the -room, silent and immovable as a statue; charmed, overcome, possessed of a -terror and of a happiness that she could not herself define, she followed -every movement of the friend of her childhood. - -“Elena!” murmured the youth, as he reached her side. - -“Tito!” she answered, mechanically, “is it indeed you?” - -“Yes,” replied Tito, fondly, “’tis I; fear nothing.” And he left the -apartment. - -The Captain was awaiting him in the antechamber. - -Tito wrote some words on paper, and said to Philip’s faithful retainer: -“Take this to the Granja. Do not lose a moment.” - -“And you,” replied the Captain, “I cannot leave you. You are a prisoner -in my custody.” - -“I place myself on parole,” proudly replied Tito, “for I cannot follow -you.” - -“But—the king!” - -“The king will approve your conduct.” - -“Impossible!” - -“Listen! and you will see that I am right.” - -At this moment they heard a great commotion in the royal chamber. - -“The physician! the physician!” cried several persons, running from the -room. - -“What has happened?” asked Tito. - -“The Countess of Rionuevo is dying,” said Don Miguel de Guerra. “Come -this way, they have placed her in the queen’s bed-chamber.” - -“Go, Captain!” said Tito, “I insist.” - -And he accompanied these words with such a glance and gesture that the -soldier departed without a word. Tito followed De Guerra into the queen’s -chamber. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - -REVELATIONS. - - -“Listen!” said a voice to Tito, as he was walking toward the bed on which -the Countess lay. - -“Ah! ’tis you,” exclaimed the youth, recognizing Death. - -“Has she already expired?” - -“Who?” - -“The Countess.” - -“No.” - -“Then, why do you leave her?” - -“I do not leave her, my friend; I have already told thee I am everywhere, -at all times, and under many different forms.” - -“Well! what do you wish of me?” asked Tito, with a certain aversion on -hearing these words. - -“I am here to do thee another favor.” - -“Well! speak.” - -“Dost thou know that thou art lacking in respect to me?” said Death, -with forced gravity. - -“It is natural,” answered Tito. “Our intimacy, the complicity—” - -“What meanest thou by complicity?” - -“Nothing. I simply allude to a painting I saw when a child. It -represented Medicine. Two persons were lying in one bed, or, to speak -more clearly, a man and his illness. The physician entered the room -blindfolded, and armed with a club. Upon nearing the bed he commenced -beating the patient and his illness unmercifully. I do not remember which -was the first victim of the punishment, but I believe it was the invalid.” - -“Pleasing allegory! But we must to business!” - -“Yes, let us go. All seem astonished to see me standing here, apparently -alone, in the middle of the room.” - -“They will imagine that thou art meditating, or awaiting inspiration. -Listen to me a moment. Thou knowest that the past is mine by right, and -that I can narrate it to thee. Not so the future.” - -“Proceed.” - -“A little patience, please. Thou art about to speak, for the last time, -with the Countess of Rionuevo, and it is my duty to recount a certain -history to thee.” - -“It is useless; I forgive that woman.” - -“It concerns Elena,” quietly observed Death. - -“How?” - -“It refers to your nobility, and marriage to her.” - -“Noble! I—? It is true, the king has made me a duke.” - -“Monteclaro would not be content with an adventurer. Thou hast need of -ancestors.” - -“What do you mean?” - -“I come to tell thee that thou art the last branch of the Rionuevos.” - -“Yes, but adulterous.” - -“You are mistaken: natural, and very natural.” - -“That may be, but who is to prove it?” - -“Precisely what I am about to tell thee.” - -“Speak!” - -“Listen, and do not interrupt me. The Countess is the stumbling-block in -thy existence.” - -“I know it.” - -“She holds thy happiness in her hands.” - -“I know that, also.” - -“Well, the time has come to wrest it from her.” - -“How? In what manner?” - -“Thou wilt see. As thy father loved thee so dearly—” - -“Ah! he loved me much!” exclaimed Tito. - -“I have told thee not to interrupt. As thy father loved thee so dearly, -he did not leave this world without thinking very seriously of thy -future.” - -“What! did the Count not die intestate?” - -“Where did’st thou get that idea?” - -“It is so understood by everybody.” - -“Pure invention of the Countess, to secure the Count’s money, and make a -favorite nephew her heir.” - -“Oh!” - -“Calm thyself; all can be arranged. Thy father had in his possession, a -declaration of Crispina Lopez and Juan Gil, a duly certified authority, -which stated clearly that thou wert the natural son of the Count of -Rionuevo and Crispina Lopez. This same circumstance thy father confessed -at the hour of his death, before a priest and a notary, whom I saw there -and whom I know perfectly well. Certainly the priest ... but hold! this -I cannot tell thee. The fact is, the Count named thee his sole and only -heir; which was all the easier, as he had not a single relative, near or -remote. Nor did that good father’s solicitude rest here. He commenced the -foundation of thy future happiness on the very brink of the grave.” - -“Oh! my father!” murmured Tito. - -“Listen. Thou knowest the great friendship which united the honored Count -and the Duke of Monteclaro for so many years. They were companions in -arms during the War of Succession.” - -“Yes, I know.” - -“Well, then,” continued Death, “thy father, divining the love thou -felt’st for the charming Elena, addressed a long and tender letter to the -Duke, a few moments before he expired, in which he told him all, asking -the hand of his daughter for thee, and reminding him of the many and -signal proofs of friendship that had passed between them.” - -“And that letter?” asked Tito, vehemently. - -“That letter alone would have convinced the Duke, and thou would’st have -been his son many years ago.” - -“What has become of it?” again asked Tito, tremulous with love and anger. - -“That letter might have prevented thee from entering into relations with -me,” continued Death. - -“Oh! do not be cruel. Tell me that it exists!” - -“That is the truth.” - -“What! that it exists?” - -“Yes.” - -“Who has it?” - -“The same person who intercepted it.” - -“The Countess?” - -“The Countess.” - -“Oh!” exclaimed the youth, taking a step toward the death-bed. - -“Wait,” said Death, “I have not finished yet.” - -“The Countess has preserved her husband’s will, which she almost snatched -from my hands.” - -“From yours?” - -“I say from mine, because the Count was already half dead. With regard to -the priest and the notary, I will tell thee where they live and I believe -they will declare the truth.” - -Tito thought a moment; then, looking fixedly at the funereal personage, -exclaimed:— - -“That is to say, that if I succeed in getting possession of these -documents....” - -“To-morrow thou wilt marry Elena.” - -“Oh, God!” murmured the boy, taking another step toward the bed. - -Then he turned again towards Death. - -The courtiers did not comprehend what was passing in Tito’s heart. They -all believed him to be alone, or communing with the miraculous being -to whom he owed his science; but such was the terror with which he had -already inspired them, that no one dared to interrupt him. - -“Tell me,” added the ex-shoemaker, addressing his fearful companion, -“why it is that the Countess has not burned those papers?” - -“Because the Countess like all criminals is superstitious; because she -fears some day she may repent; because she conjectures that those papers -will be, so to speak, her passport to eternity; for it is a well-known -fact that no sinner blots out the tracks of his crimes, fearful of -forgetting them at the hour of death, and of not being able to retrace -his steps to find the path of virtue. I tell thee then, that those papers -exist.” - -“So, then, by obtaining them, Elena will be mine,” insisted Tito, still -doubting Death’s ability to procure that happiness for him. - -“There would yet be another obstacle to overcome,” responded Death. - -“What?” - -“Elena has been promised by her father to the nephew of the Countess, the -Viscount de Daimiel.” - -“What! she loves him?” - -“No; but they were betrothed two months ago.” - -“Oh! then all is hopeless!” exclaimed Tito, in despair. - -“It would have been without me,” replied Death, “but I told thee, at the -doors of this palace, that I was about to prevent a wedding.” - -“How! have you killed the Count?” - -“I!” exclaimed Death, with sarcasm, “God forbid! I have not killed -him,—he died.” - -“Ah!” - -“Hush! No one knows it yet. At this moment his family believe that the -poor youth is simply napping. Therefore ... be careful how you act! -Elena, the Countess and the Duke are but two steps from thee. Now or -never!” So saying, Death approached the sick woman’s couch. - -Tito followed in his footsteps. Many of the people who were there in the -room, among them the Duke of Monteclaro, knew of Tito’s prediction, that -the Countess would die within three hours. They saw it almost fulfilled; -the happy, beautiful woman of a few hours before, had suddenly become an -almost inanimate body, shaken at intervals by violent convulsions. Thus -it was that all commenced to regard our hero with superstitious awe and -fanatical reverence. The Countess, for her part, not well distinguishing -Tito, stretched toward him a tremulous and supplicating hand, while -indicating with the other that they should be left alone. - -All retired, and Tito seated himself beside the dying woman. - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - -THE SOUL. - - -Although the Countess of Rionuevo, Tito’s terrible enemy, plays so odious -a part in our story, she was not an old and ugly woman, as many will -perhaps have imagined. Physical nature is also sometimes deceptive. - -This illustrious woman was, at this time, but thirty-five years of age, -and in the fulness of a magnificent beauty—tall, active and well formed; -her eyes, blue and treacherous as the sea, concealed great depths under -a languid and suave manner. The frankness of her mouth, the soft tint -of her skin, and the queenly grace of her bearing, proved that neither -sorrow nor passion had perceptibly diminished her incomparable beauty. -Thus it was that on seeing her now, stricken and suffering, overcome -by terror, and racked with pain, the least compassionate would have -experienced a peculiar pity, closely akin to horror or fear. Though Tito -thoroughly hated the woman, he could not avoid this inexplicable feeling -of sympathy and dread, and, mechanically taking the beautiful hand which -she tendered him he whispered with more sorrow than resentment, - -“Do you know me, Countess?” - -“Save me!” replied the dying woman, not heeding his question. - -At this moment another person emerged noiselessly from behind the -curtains, and joined the two speakers, half reclining on the pillow and -supporting his head on his hand. - -It was Death! - -“Save me!” repeated the Countess, who felt intuitively that our hero -hated her; “they say you are a magician, that you commune with Death. -Save me!” - -“You fear death greatly, Countess!” responded the youth with -indifference, at the same time releasing her hand. - -That stupid cowardice, that animal terror, which left no room for any -other thought or sensation, disgusted Tito profoundly, for it showed him -the wretchedly selfish spirit of the author of all his troubles. - -“Countess!” he then exclaimed, “think of your past and of your future! -Think of God and of your neighbor! Try to save the soul, since the body -is no longer yours.” - -“Ah! I am going to die,” exclaimed the Countess. - -“No, you are not.” - -“Not to die!” shrieked the poor woman, with savage joy. - -The youth continued with severity: - -“No! because you have never lived. On the contrary, you are to enter the -soul-life, which for you will be endless suffering, as for the just it is -eternal happiness.” - -“Ah! then I am to die,” murmured the patient anew, shedding tears for the -first time in her life. - -“Countess, you will not die,” again replied the physician, with -indescribable majesty. - -“Have pity on me,” said the poor woman, regaining hope. - -“You will not die,” continued the youth, “because you weep. The soul -never dies, and repentance can open to us the doors of eternal life.” - -“My God! my God!” cried the Countess, distracted by that cruel -uncertainty. - -“You do well to appeal to Him. Save the soul! I repeat, save the soul! -Your beautiful body (that earthly idol), and your sacrilegious existence -have ended forever. This temporal life, these earthly joys, that -prosperity and beauty, that luxury and fortune which you have striven -so hard to preserve, the riches you have usurped, the air, the sun, the -world you have known till now, all are lost to you, they have even now -disappeared. To-morrow nothing will remain but dust and darkness, vanity -and corruption, solitude and oblivion; the soul alone survives, Countess. -Think of your soul.” - -“Who are you?” softly asked the dying woman, gazing at him in -astonishment. “I have known you before now. You hate me, it is you who -kill me. Ah!” - -At this instant Death placed his white hand upon her head, and -said:—“Finish, Tito, the last hour approaches.” - -“I do not wish her to die,” replied Tito, “even yet she may amend; even -yet remedy all the evil she has done. Save her body, and I will answer -for her soul.” - -“Conclude, Tito! conclude; the last hour is about to strike.” - -“Poor woman!” murmured the youth, looking at her with compassion. - -“You pity me,” said the dying woman with ineffable tenderness. “I who -never acknowledged you, never loved you. Never have I felt as now for -you. Pity me. Tell me. My heart softens at the sound of your sad voice.” - -And it was true. - -The Countess exalted by the terror of that supreme moment, suffering -remorse, fearing punishment, and deprived of all that constituted her -pride and pleasure upon earth, commenced to feel the first breathings of -a soul, which until now had remained lost and silent in the depths of her -iniquity; a soul always insulted, but full of patience and heroism; a -soul, in fact, to be compared to the sad daughter of criminal parents, -who, quiet and silent, shrinks from sight and weeps alone, until one -day, when at the first sign of repentance that she observes, recovers -her spirit, rushes to their arms and lets them hear her pure, sweet -voice—song of the lark, music of heaven, which appears to welcome the -dawn of virtue after the darkness of sin. - -“You ask me who I am?” responded Tito, comprehending all this. “I -scarcely know myself. I was your mortal enemy, but now I do not hate -you. You have heard the voice of truth, the voice of death, and you have -responded, God be praised! I came to this bed of sorrow to ask from you -the happiness of my life; but now I can leave, content without it, for -I believe I have brought about your redemption, that I have saved your -soul. Heavenly Jesus! in that I have pardoned my injuries and done good -to my enemy, I am satisfied; I am happy; I ask no more.” - -“Who are you, mysterious and sublime boy? Who are you? so good and so -beautiful, who come like an angel to my death-bed, to make my last -moments so sweet?” asked the Countess, eagerly, taking Tito’s hand. - -“I am the Friend of Death,” replied the youth; “do not be surprised then -that I quiet your heart. I speak to you in his name, therefore you have -believed me. I am delegated to come to you by that compassionate divinity -who is the peace of the earth, the truth of the worlds, the redeemer -of the spirit, the messenger of God; who is all but forgetfulness. -Forgetfulness is in life, Countess, not in death. Remember, and you will -know me.” - -“Tito!” exclaimed the Countess, losing consciousness. - -“She is dead?” the physician asked Death. - -“No, there still remains a half an hour.” - -“But will she speak again?” - -“Tito,” sighed the dying woman. - -“Finish,” added Death. - -The youth bent over the Countess, o’er whose beautiful countenance there -shone a new and divine beauty; and from those eyes where the fire of -life melted in languishing and melancholy glances, from that gasping and -half-opened mouth, flushed with fever, from those soft warm hands, and -that white throat turned toward him in infinite anguish, he met such an -eloquent expression of repentance and tenderness, such loving caresses -and earnest entreaties, so infinite and solemn a promise, that without -hesitating an instant he left the bed, called the Duke of Monteclaro, the -Archbishop and three of the other nobles who were in the apartment, and -said to them: “Listen to the public confession of a soul which returns -to God.” Those persons approached the dying woman, induced more by his -inspired face than by his words. - -“Duke,” murmured the Countess, on seeing Monteclaro, “my confessor has -a key—Sire,” she continued, turning toward the Archbishop, “ask him for -it—. This boy, this physician, this angel, is natural and acknowledged -son of the Count of Rionuevo, my late husband, who when dying, wrote -you a letter, Duke, asking Elena’s hand for him. With this key—in my -bedroom—all the papers—I pray you—I command you.” - -At these words she fell back upon the pillow, the light gone from her -eyes, the breath from her lips, the color from her face. - -“She is dying!” exclaimed Tito. “Remain with her, Sire,” he added, -addressing the Archbishop. “And you, Duke, listen to me.” - -“Wait,” said Death, as he heard the youth. - -“What more?” he replied. - -“Thou hast not forgiven her.” - -“Tito!—your forgiveness!”—murmured the dying woman. - -“Tito!” exclaimed the Duke of Monteclaro, “is it you?” - -“Countess, may God pardon you as I do. Die in peace,” said the son of -Crispina Lopez, with religious fervor. - -At this moment Death bent over the Countess, and pressed his lips to her -brow. - -That kiss resounded in the throat of a corpse. - -One cold, tremulous tear coursed down the dead woman’s cheek. - -Tito wiped away his own, and turned to answer Monteclaro. “Yes, Duke, it -is I.” - -As the Archbishop read the funeral prayers, Death disappeared. It was -midnight. - - - - -CHAPTER X. - -UNTIL TO-MORROW. - - -“Search for those papers, Duke,” said Tito to Monteclaro, “and do me the -kindness to speak to Elena.” - -“Come! Doctor, come! The king is dying!” exclaimed Don Miguel de Guerra, -interrupting him. - -“Follow me, Duke,” said the youth, with great respect, “it has struck -twelve, and I can give you some very important news, I do not know -whether good or bad. It is this; I can tell you whether or not Louis I. -will die to-day.” - -The morning of the thirty-first of August had dawned, when Louis I. was -to deliver up his spirit to his Creator. - -Tito discovered the certainty of it by seeing Death standing in the -middle of the room with his eyes fixed on the sick king. - -“To-day the king dies,” whispered Tito, in Monteclaro’s ear. “This news -is the wedding present which I make to Elena. If you know its value, -guard it in secret, and let it govern your conduct toward Philip V.” - -“But Elena is promised to another,” replied the Duke. - -“The nephew of the Countess of Rionuevo died this afternoon,” interrupted -Tito. - -“Oh! what has befallen us!” exclaimed the Duke. “Who are you—you whom I -knew as a child, and who now terrify me with such power and science?” - -“The queen calls,” said a lady at this moment to the Duke of Monteclaro, -who seemed stupefied. - -The lady was Elena. - -The Duke approached the queen, leaving the two lovers alone in the middle -of the room. Not alone, for Death was but three steps off. - -The two stood mutely gazing at each other as if bewildered, and fearful -that their mutual presence might be a dream which would pass away should -they move a hand or utter the lightest breath. - -On meeting, a few hours before in that same place, both had experienced, -mingled with an ineffable happiness, a certain secret anguish, like that -which two friends feel, after a long separation, on recognizing each -other in a prison, on the morning of execution, unconscious accomplices -of a fatal crime, and victims of the same persecution. One might also -say that the sad joy with which Tito and Elena recognized each other, -was equal to the bitter pleasure which the corpse of a jealous husband -would experience (if corpses feel) in the tomb, on hearing the door of -the cemetery open at night, knowing that it is his wife whom they are -bringing to inter. “So you are here!” the poor corpse would say; “it is -now four years that I have been alone, thinking of what you were doing -in the world, you, so beautiful, so unloving, that you discarded your -mourning the very year of my death. You have waited long; but you are -here, and if love is no longer possible between us, neither is infidelity -or forgetfulness. We belong to each other negatively. Although nothing -unites us, we are united, because nothing can separate us. For the -jealousies, uncertainties, anxieties of life, you have substituted an -eternity of love and remembrance. I pardon you all.” - -These impressions, softened in the gentle characters of Tito and Elena, -by her innocence, by his lofty intelligence, and by the exalted virtue of -both, shone like funeral torches in the souls of the two lovers, by whose -light they saw an illimitable future of peaceful love, which nothing -could disturb or destroy, unless all that then passed was but a fugitive -dream. - -They gazed at each other for a long time with fervent idolatry. Elena’s -blue eyes lost themselves in the dark orbs of Tito, as the high heaven -her brightness in the utter darkness of our nights; whilst his melted in -the fathomless transparency of the pure celestial blue of hers, lost, as -are sight, idea, and even sentiment, when attempting to measure infinite -space. - -So, perhaps they would have remained for eternity, had not Death -attracted Tito’s attention. - -“What do you wish?” asked the youth. - -“That thou lookest upon her no longer.” - -“Ah! you love her!” exclaimed Tito, with indescribable anguish. - -“Yes,” answered Death, gently. - -“You think of robbing me of her?” - -“No! I think of uniting thee.” - -“You told me once that no other arms than yours or mine should ever -enfold her,” murmured Tito, with desperation. “Whose is she to be -first—yours or mine? Tell me!” - -“Thou art jealous of me?” - -“Horribly so.” - -“Thou art wrong,” replied Death. - -“Whose is she to be first?” repeated the youth, seizing the cold hands of -his friend. - -“I cannot answer thee. God, thou and I dispute her; but we three are not -incompatible.” - -“Tell me that you do not intend to kill her. Tell me that you will unite -us in this world.” - -“_In this world!_” repeated Death, ironically. “Yes, it will be in this -world, I promise thee.” - -“And afterwards?” - -“Afterwards belongs to God.” - -“And yours? When?” - -“Mine, she has already been.” - -“You madden me! Elena lives!” - -“As thou dost,” replied Death. - -“But, do I live?” - -“More than ever.” - -“Speak, for pity’s sake!” - -“I have nothing to tell thee. Thou wouldst not be able to understand -me yet. What is death? Perhaps thou knowest. What is life? Have I ever -explained it to thee? If thou art ignorant of these conditions, why dost -thou ask if thou art dead or alive?” - -“Well, shall I comprehend them some day?” exclaimed Tito, desperately. - -“Yes, to-morrow,” answered Death. - -“To-morrow! I do not understand you.” - -“To-morrow thou wilt be wedded to Elena.” - -“Ah!” - -“And I will be thy protector,” continued Death. - -“You! you then intend to kill us?” - -“Not at all. To-morrow thou wilt be rich, noble, powerful, happy. -To-morrow also thou wilt know all.” - -“You love me, then!” exclaimed Tito. - -“Yes, I love thee,” replied Death. “Ungrateful boy, why dost thou doubt -it?” - -“Then good-bye _until to-morrow_,” said Tito, giving his hand to the -terrible divinity. - -Elena continued standing before her lover. - -“_Until to-morrow_,” she responded, as if she had heard the phrase—as if -answering another secret voice—as if divining the youth’s thoughts;—and -slowly turning she left the royal chamber. - -Tito approached the king’s bed. - -The Duke of Monteclaro placed himself at his side, and said to him in a -low voice:— - -“If the king dies, you will celebrate your marriage with my daughter -to-morrow; the queen has just informed me of the death of the Viscount of -Rionuevo. I have announced your wedding with Elena, and she congratulates -you both with all her heart. To-morrow you will be the first person of -the Court, if Louis really passes to the tomb to-day.” - -“But do not doubt it, Sire,” responded Tito, with sepulchral accent. - -“Then farewell _until to-morrow_,” said Monteclaro, solemnly. - - - - -CHAPTER XI. - -IN WHICH TITO IS AGAIN HAPPY, AND THE FIRST PART OF THIS STORY IS -COMPLETED. - - -The following day, the first of September, 1724, at nine in the morning, -Tito was pacing the halls of the palace of Rionuevo. - -That palace belonged to him. He was now the acknowledged Count, by virtue -of the will and other papers of his father, which the Duke of Monteclaro -and the Archbishop of Toledo had found in the place indicated by the -Countess. Besides, the night before, a messenger had delivered to him -from Philip V., who had finally decided to return to the throne of St. -Ferdinand, $30,000 in gold, and the title of Duke of Verity, Physician to -the Court; and the next day he was to celebrate his marriage with Elena. -With regard to Death, Tito had completely lost sight of him since the -previous morning, when he left the palace with the soul of Louis I. - -Nevertheless, the youth remembered that the implacable deity had promised -to protect him in his marriage; and you will now observe the reason why -he walks so thoughtfully. - -“Here am I,” said he, “noble, rich, powerful, and possessed of the woman -I love; still I am not content. Last night, at sight of Elena, and again -in my last conversation with Death, I suspected, I know not what terrible -mysteries. I must sever relations with this sinister deity. It seems -ungrateful, but it must be. He will have occasion in the future to avenge -himself. No, no! I do not wish to see Death again, I am so happy.” - -The new Duke commenced to plan how to avoid Death, until his last moments -should arrive. - -“It is a fact,” thought he, “that I shall not die until God wills it. -Death himself can do me no harm. It is not in his power to hasten Elena’s -death or mine. The question therefore is, how not to see, how not to hear -him at all hours. His voice alarms me; his revelations afflict me; his -conversations inspire me with a disregard for life and all I hold most -dear. What shall I do to prevent his continuing to be my nightmare? Ah! -an idea! He never appears except when he has something to kill. Living in -the country—never seeing any one—alone with Elena—my enemy would leave -me in peace, until that time, when by the decree of the Almighty, he -should be directed to search for one or both of us. In the mean time, -and in order not to see him in Madrid either, I will live with my eyes -blindfolded.” - -Encouraged by this last thought, the youth beamed with happiness, as -though, having just arisen from a long illness, he believed himself -assured of remaining upon earth for all time. - - * * * * * - -At seven on the following evening, Tito and Elena were married at a -beautiful country-house belonging to the new Count and Duke, at the mouth -of the Guadarrama River. - -At half-past seven the guests returned to Madrid, and the newly wedded -couple were left alone in the midst of a luxuriant garden. - -Tito had not again seen Death, and I might terminate this history here; -but just at this point it commences to be interesting and lucid. - - - - -CHAPTER XII. - -THE SUN IN THE WEST. - - -Tito and Elena, loving each other, belonging to one another, were at last -free and alone. - -The remembrances of their infancy, the desires of their hearts, the will -of their parents, fortune, birth, the blessing of God, all aided in -uniting them; and those two forever inseparable souls, lost at last, in -this solemn and mystical hour, their sad and solitary individuality, and -merged themselves into an endless, happy future, as two rivers, rising -in the same mountain, and separated from each other in their tortuous -courses, reunite and identify themselves in the infinite solitude of the -ocean. - -It was evening. It did not seem like the evening of a single day, but as -of that of the world’s existence, the evening of all Time since creation. -The sun sank slowly in the west, the splendid lights gilding the front -of the villa, and penetrating through the tender green foliage of a -spreading vine, a sort of canopy which sheltered the newly wedded pair. - -The still, soft air, the last flowers of the year, the birds, immovable -in the branches of the trees, all nature in fact assisted, mute and -fearful, at the death of that day. It seemed as if it might be the last -that humanity would see. As if the Astral King might not return the -following day as generous, happy, and as full of life and youth, as he -had presented himself for so many mornings during so many thousands of -centuries. - -One would have said that at that point, Time had stopped; that the hours, -overcome by their continual dance, had seated themselves on the grass to -rest, and were telling each other pathetic stories of love and death, -like young school girls, who, fatigued with play, draw aside in the -garden of a convent to relate to one another their childish adventures -and youthful joys. - -One would have said that a period in the history of the world was drawing -to a close; that all creation was bidding an eternal farewell. The bird -to his nest, the zephyr to the flowers, the trees to the river, the sun -to the mountain; that the intimate union in which all had lived, lending -mutual color or fragrance, and losing themselves in the same palpitation -of universal existence, had been broken and interrupted forever, and that -in the future each one of those elements would be governed by new laws -and influences. - -One would have said, in fact, that on that evening the mysterious -association constituting the unity and harmony of the spheres was about -to dissolve; an association which makes impossible the loss of the -most insignificant of created things; which transforms and continually -resuscitates matter, and which from nothing, identifies, renews and -embellishes all. - -More than any one or anything, possessed of this supreme intuition, this -strange hallucination, Tito and Elena with clasped hands, immovable -and silent, watched the majestic tragedy of the death of that day, the -last of their misfortunes. They looked at each other with deep anxiety, -and blind idolatry, not knowing of what they thought, forgetful of -the entire universe, ecstatic and entranced. They might have believed -themselves alone upon the earth, abandoned. - -After the departure of the wedding guests, and the sound of the last -footsteps had ceased in the distance, it seemed as though the world had -entirely left them. - -Nothing had been said—nothing!—so absorbed were they in beholding each -other. - -There they were, seated on a bank of turf, surrounded with flowers and -verdure, an infinite sky before their eyes, as free and alone as two -sea birds resting in mid ocean on a wreck rocked by the waves; and with -the cup of happiness in his hand, Tito dared not press it to his lips, -fearful that all might be a dream, and not coveting greater felicity, -through fear of losing that which they already possessed. - -There they were, as innocent, beautiful and immortal as Adam and Eve in -Paradise before the Fall. The maiden of nineteen years was in all the -splendor of her wonderful beauty; in that transitory moment of youthful -womanhood, when, possessed of all her fascinations, judge of her own -nature, full of blessings, and promises of happiness from Heaven, she is -capable of feeling all, yet has felt nothing; woman and child in one. -As a rose, half-opened to the generous influence of the sun, that has -already displayed all its leaves, shown all its charms, and received the -caresses of the zephyr, still preserves that form, color and perfume that -alone adorn the modest bud. - -Elena was tall and statuesque, artistic and seductive—her lovely head, -crowned with auburn hair, of a golden hue at the temples, and changing -by degrees to chestnut shades, was poised upon a white throat moulded -like that of Juno. Her blue eyes seemed to reflect the infinity of -uncreated thought. There was something of heaven in them besides their -color and purity. There was in their glance a light as of eternity, of -pure spirituality, of immortal passion, that did not belong to earth. -Her complexion, white and pallid as water at twilight, was transparent -as mother of pearl. It did not reflect the warmth of the blood; some -delicate vein of heavenly blue alone broke that still, serene whiteness. -One would have said she was of marble. Her angelic countenance had, -however, a woman’s mouth, vermilion as the blossom of the pomegranate, -moist and brilliant as a bed of pearls. It was, if one might so say, -submerged in the warm and voluptuous vapor of the sigh which held it half -apart. - -One might compare Elena to the statue carved by Pygmalion, when for -the first time and in order to return the sculptor’s kiss, she moved -those bewitching lips. Her dress was white, which greatly increased the -dazzling brilliancy of her beauty; but she was one of those women from -whom ornaments do not detract. - -With her, as with the noble pagan Minervas, one was not left to divine -the pure form of her Olympic beauty, which revealed itself in all its -splendor, though covered by silk and lace. - -It seemed as though the pure beauty of her exquisite form shone through -the folds of her white gown, as those of the Naiads and sea-nymphs -illumine, with their polished limbs, the depths of the waves. - -Such was Elena on her wedding night, and such she appeared to Tito. - -She was his own! - - - - -CHAPTER XIII. - -THE ECLIPSE OF THE MOON. - - -Ah! yes: the youth beheld her as the blind behold the sun, who see not -the luminary planet, but feel its warmth in their dead pupils. - -After so many years of solitude and trouble, after so many hours of -mournful dreams, he, the Friend of Death, found himself engulfed in an -ocean of life, in a world of light, of hope, of felicity. - -What was he to say, what was he to think, if he could not believe that he -existed; that that woman was Elena, his wife, that both had escaped the -clutches of death? - -“Speak, my Elena, tell me all,” murmured Tito at last, when the sun had -set, and the birds had broken the silence. “Speak, my darling.” - -Elena then told him of all her thoughts and feelings during those three -last years: her sorrow when she ceased to see him, her despair at going -to France, how her father had opposed this love, of which the Countess of -Rionuevo had informed him; how happy she was at meeting him again in the -porch of San Millán, and how she suffered at seeing him fall, wounded by -the Countess’ harsh words. - -She told him all, because it had increased her love instead of -diminishing it. - -The night fell and the darkness increased, but the secret anguish which -disturbed Tito’s happiness was calmed. “Oh!” thought the youth, pressing -Elena to his heart. “Death has forgotten my face and knows not where to -find me. He will not come here. Ah! no. Our undying love would be able to -put him to flight. What could he have to do at our side? Come, come, dark -night, and envelop us in thy black veil! Come, even if thou must remain -forever. Come, even though to-morrow should never dawn.” - -“You tremble, Tito,” murmured Elena, “you weep.” - -“My wife,” murmured the youth, “my own, my heaven, I weep for joy.” - -So saying, he took his young wife’s bewitching head between his hands and -fixed in her eyes an intense, delirious gaze. - -A deep and burning sigh, a cry of wild passion met between their lips. - -“My love!” they murmured in the delirium of that first kiss, at whose -tender sound the invisible spirits of solitude trembled. - -At this moment the moon suddenly rose, full, splendid, and magnificent. - -Its strange, unexpected light startled the two lovers, who, turning their -heads at the same moment towards the east, separated from one another -through some mysterious instinct, though still retaining each other’s -trembling, clinging hands, cold at that moment as the alabaster of the -tomb. - -“It is the moon,” murmured the two in hoarse accents, and turning to gaze -at one another ecstatically. Tito extended his arms towards Elena with -indefinable tenderness, and with as much love as despair. - -But Elena was as pale as a ghost. - -Tito trembled. - -“Elena, what is it?” he whispered. - -“Oh! Tito,” responded the girl, “you are so white.” - -At this moment the moon was eclipsed; it was as if a cloud had interposed -itself between her and the two lovers. - -But, ah! it was not a cloud. It was a long black shadow, that appeared -to Tito, from the bank on which he reclined, as if touching the skies -and the earth, draping the entire horizon in mourning. It was a colossal -figure, but increased by his imagination; a terrible being enveloped in a -long, dark mantle. It stood at his side, immovable and silent, covering -them both with its shadow. - -Tito knew _who_ it was. - -Elena did not see the lugubrious personage. She continued gazing at the -moon. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV. - -PHYSICIAN, AT LAST! - - -Tito was between love and death, or rather between death and life. Yes, -because that dismal shadow which had come between him and the moon, -clouding the splendor of passion in Elena’s countenance, was the divinity -of darkness, our hero’s faithful companion ever since his first thought -of suicide. - -“How art thou, friend?” said he. - -“Ah! hush!” murmured Tito, covering his face with his hands. - -“What is it, my love?” questioned Elena, observing her husband’s anguish. - -“Elena! Elena! do not leave me!” exclaimed the youth in despair, winding -his left arm about her neck. - -“I must speak to thee,” added Death, taking Tito’s right hand and drawing -him gently towards him. - -“Come, let us enter,” said the youth to Elena, retreating from Death -toward the villa. - -“No! come with me; we must go,” said Death, pointing toward the garden -gate. - -Elena neither saw nor heard him; this sad privilege was reserved for the -Duke of Verity alone. - -“Tito, I await thee,” added the sinister personage. - -The unfortunate boy shivered to the marrow of his bones. Copious tears -fell from his eyes, which Elena gently brushed away. He disengaged -himself from her arms and ran wildly through the garden, exclaiming -between heart-rending sobs:— - -“To die! to die now!” - -Elena wished to follow him, but doubtless, on account of the state into -which the condition of her husband had thrown her, at the first step she -fell senseless to the ground. - -“To die! to die!” exclaimed the youth again with desperation. - -“Fear not,” replied Death, approaching him gently. “It is useless for -thee to fly from me. It has been decreed that we should meet, and I do -not intend to abandon thee as thou wishest.” - -“But why have you come here?” exclaimed Tito, furiously, wiping away -his tears, as if relinquishing supplication and perhaps prudence, and -addressing Death defiantly. “Why have you come here? Answer!” and he -glanced about angrily as if seeking some weapon. Near to him was a large -garden axe. He grasped it convulsively, and raised it in the air, as if -it were a weak reed (for despair had doubled his strength), and repeated -for the third time and with more fury than ever:—“Why have you come here?” - -Death burst into a loud, cynical laugh, the echo of which resounded for a -long time. It reverberated in the four corners of the garden, imitating -with its strident sound the rattling of a skeleton’s bones when knocking -against each other. “Thou wishest to kill me!” exclaimed the black -spectre. “So, Life opposes itself to Death! This _is_ interesting. Let us -fight, then.” Saying this he threw back his long black cape, exposing an -arm which grasped a weapon resembling a scythe, and put himself on guard, -in front of Tito. - -[Illustration] - -The moon assumed a yellow, waxy color; a cold wind blew, which made the -fruit-laden trees groan with sorrow; one heard the distant barking of -many dogs, or they seemed rather long howls of funereal omen; and one -even seemed to hear, high up in the region of the clouds, the jangling -sound of many bells that tolled of death. - -Tito, noting all these things, fell upon his knees before his antagonist. - -“Pity! pardon!” he cried, with indescribable anguish. - -“Thou art forgiven,” gently responded Death, hiding his weapon; and as -if all that funereal pomp of nature might have arisen from the fury of -the black divinity, no sooner had a smile appeared on his lips, than the -atmosphere calmed, the bells ceased, the dogs stopped howling, and the -moon shone as brightly as at the commencement of the night. - -“Thou hast pretended to fight with me,” exclaimed Death with good humor. -“Physician, at last! Arise unhappy one, and give me thy hand. I have -said that thou hast nothing to fear for this night.” - -“But why do you come here?” repeated the youth with increasing anxiety. -“For what have you come? Why do I find you in my house? You enter only -where you have someone to kill. Whom do you seek?” - -“I will tell thee all. Let us be seated a moment,” said Death, caressing -Tito’s icy hands. - -“But, Elena!” whispered the youth. - -“Let her rest. She is _sleeping_ now. I watch for her; therefore let us -arrange our affairs. Tito, thou art an ingrate! but thou art like _all_ -others; once upon the summit, they kick the ladder by which they rose. -Oh! thy conduct towards me deserves no pardon from God. How much thou -hast made me suffer in these last days! how much! how much!” - -“Ah! but I adore her,” cried Tito. - -“Thou adorest her, that is it; but thou hadst lost her forever; thou wert -a miserable shoemaker, and she was about to marry a person of rank; I -intervened, I made thee rich, noble, famous; I freed thee of thy rival; -I reconciled thee with thine enemy and carried her to the other world. -Finally I gave thee Elena’s hand; and here, at this moment, thou turnest -thy back upon me, triest to forget me, and coverest thine eyes so as -not to see me. Thou art as stupid as the rest of men. They who should -always see me in their thoughts, blind themselves with the vanities of -this world, and live without devoting one thought to me, until I come to -claim them. My lot is a very unfortunate one. I do not remember of ever -approaching one mortal, without having surprised and frightened him as -though he had never expected me. Even those of five score years believe -that they can do without me. Thou, for thy part, who hast the privilege -of actually seeing me, and who art not able to forget me as thou wouldst, -placed before thine eyes, the other day, a means of forgetfulness, a -bandage of cloth; and to-day thou hidest in a lonely garden, imagining -thyself secure from me forever. Fool! Ingrate! False friend! _Man!!_ And -that tells all!” - -“Well,” stammered Tito, whose confusion and shame had not quieted his -suspicious curiosity, “for what reason do you come to my house?” - -“I come to complete the mission, which the Eternal One has charged me -with, concerning thee.” - -“But you do not come to kill us?” - -“By no means.” - -“Ah! Then—,” - -“But now that I do see thee, or, rather, that thou seest me, I must take -precaution to prevent thee from forgetting me again.” - -“And what are these precautions?” said Tito, trembling more than ever. - -“I must also make thee several important revelations.” - -“Ah! return to-morrow.” - -“No! impossible; our meeting to-night is providential.” - -“Oh, my friend!” exclaimed the poor youth. - -“And because I am thy friend, thou must follow me,” responded Death. - -“Where?” - -“To my house.” - -“To your house! Then you _have_ come to kill me! Ah, cruel! And this is -your friendship! Frightful sarcasm! You give me happiness and then snatch -it from me. Why did you not let me die that night?” - -“Hush, unfortunate boy!” replied Death, with solemn sadness. “Thou sayest -that thou knowest happiness. How thou dost deceive thyself! This I ask -thee. How dost thou know it?” - -“Elena is my happiness, I renounce all else.” - -“To-morrow thou wilt see more clearly.” - -“Kill me, then!” shrieked Tito, with desperation. - -“It would be useless.” - -“Kill _her_ then! Kill us both!” - -“Thou ravest!” - -“To go to your house! my God!” - -“Tito, compose thyself.” - -“Let me at least take leave of her. Let me bid her farewell!” - -“I accede to that. Awake, Elena, awake! I command thee to come. Behold! -she is there.” - -“What shall I say to her? At what hour to-night may I return?” - -“Tell her that at daylight she will see thee.” - -“Oh, no! I do not wish to stay with you so many hours. To-day I have more -fear than ever. - -“Be careful!” - -“Do not be angry!” exclaimed the unhappy bridegroom. “Do not be angry, -but tell me the truth. We will see each other truly at daybreak, Elena -and I?” - -Death solemnly raised his right hand, and looking up to heaven, his sad -voice answered:— - -“I swear it!” - -“Oh, Tito! what is this?” exclaimed Elena, advancing through the trees, -pale, graceful and luminous as a mythological personification of the moon. - -Tito, ghastly pale also, his hair dishevelled, his gaze stern, his heart -troubled, kissed Elena’s forehead, saying with hoarse accent:— - -“Farewell until to-morrow. My life! await me!” - -“His life!” repeated Death, with deep compassion. - -Elena raised her eyes to heaven, bathed in sad tears, and overcome with a -mysterious anguish, she clasped her hands, and repeated in a voice not of -this world, “Until to-morrow.” - -Tito and Death disappeared, and she was left standing there among the -trees, her hands clasped in front of her body. Immovable, magnificent, in -the full light of the moon, she looked like some noble statue without a -pedestal, forgotten, in the midst of the garden. - - - - -CHAPTER XV. - -THE REVERSE OF TIME. - - -“We have far to go,” said Death to our friend, as soon as they had left -the villa. “I will order my chariot.” He tapped the ground with his foot, -and a rumbling noise, like that which precedes an earthquake resounded -beneath the ground. - -The two friends were soon enveloped in an ash-colored vapor, in the midst -of which there appeared a sort of ivory coach, in the style of those we -see in the bas-reliefs of pagan times. The most casual observer would -have seen at a glance that the chariot was not of ivory, but of human -bones, cleansed and joined with exquisite workmanship, but without having -lost their original form. - -Death gave his hand to Tito, and they entered the carriage, which rose -in the air with the lightness of a balloon, the single difference being -that it was guided by the will of the occupants. - -“Although we have far to go,” continued Death, “we have more than enough -time; for this chariot will fly as rapidly as I desire, and as quickly as -the imagination; we can go alternately fast and slow, making the circuit -of the globe in the three hours at our disposal. It is now nine o’clock -at night in Madrid. We will travel toward the northeast, and so avoid -meeting the sunlight immediately.” - -Tito remained silent. - -“Magnificent! Thou art determined to maintain silence,” continued Death, -“then I alone must talk. But all that thou art about to contemplate will -distract, and soon make thee break that silence. Onward!” - -The chariot, which had oscillated in the air, without direction, from -the time our travellers had entered it, then put itself in motion, just -grazing the earth with an indescribable velocity. - -Tito saw at his feet, mountains, trees, ruins, precipices, plains, all in -quick succession. - -From time to time some bonfire revealed a simple shepherd’s hut; but -more frequently the carriage passed rather slowly over the tops of great -rocky masses, piled up in rectangular forms, between which, great shadows -crossed, preceded by a light; and at the same time they heard the ringing -of bells, tolling for death or striking the hour (which is about the -same), and the song of the watchman who repeated it. Death then laughed, -and the carriage again flew extremely fast. As they advanced toward the -east, the darkness was more intense, the quietness of the cities more -profound, and the silence of nature greater. - -The moon flew toward the west like a frightened dove, while the stars -changed their places in the sky, like a dispersing army. - -“Where are we?” asked Tito. - -“In France,” responded Death. “We have already crossed the greater part -of the two bellicose nations which fought so furiously at the beginning -of this century; we have seen the whole theatre of the War of Succession. -Conquerors and conquered rest at this moment. My apprentice, Sleep, -reigns over those heroes who did not die in battle, nor afterwards of -sickness or old age. - -“I cannot see why all men are not friends below. The identity of your -weaknesses and misfortunes, the need that you have one for another, the -shortness of your lives, the spectacle of the infinite greatness of -the spheres, and the comparison of these with your own littleness, all -ought to unite you fraternally, as voyagers threatened with shipwreck. -There—there is no love, hate, ambition; no one is creditor or debtor; no -one great or small; no one happy or unhappy. The same danger surrounds -you, and _my presence_ levels you all. Therefore what is the earth, seen -from this altitude, but a boat that is about to sink, a city threatened -with a pest or conflagration.” - -“What fatuous lights are those I see shining in some parts of the earthly -globe, since the moon has gone down?” asked the youth. - -“They are cemeteries. We are over Paris. At the side of every living -city, town, or hamlet, there is always a dead city or town, as the -shadow is always beside the body. Geography, therefore, is always -double, although you speak only of that which appears most agreeable. -To make a map of all the cemeteries upon earth would suffice to explain -the political geography of thy world: nevertheless it would be an -equivocation, for the dead cities are much more populous than the living. -In the latter, there are hardly three generations, while in the former, -one finds at times hundreds, accumulated. With regard to those lights -which thou seest shining, they are phosphorescences of corpses, or, more -clearly, the last sparks of a thousand vanished existences. They are -twilights of love, ambition, anger, genius, charity. They are, in fact, -the last flashes of the light of the individuality which disappears—of a -being, which returns its substance to Mother-earth. They are, (and now -I find the true phrase) the froth which the river forms on meeting the -ocean.” Death paused. - -At that moment Tito heard a fearful clamor beneath his feet, like the -rolling of a thousand carriages over a long wooden bridge. He looked -toward the earth but did not see it. In its place he saw a species of -movable sky which seemed to surround them. - -“What is this?” he asked, terrified. - -“It is the ocean,” said Death. “We have just crossed Germany and are -entering the North Sea.” - -“Ah, no!” said Tito, overcome with instinctive terror. “Take me in -another direction. I would like to see the Sun.” - -“I will take thee to see the Sun, although we must go backward for it. -Thus thou wilt see the curious spectacle of time turning backwards.” - -He turned the chariot in space, and they commenced to run to the -southwest. - -A moment afterward Tito heard the sound of waves. - -“We are in the Mediterranean,” said Death. “Now we cross the Strait of -Gibraltar. Here is the Atlantic Ocean.” - -“The Atlantic!” exclaimed Tito, with respect. He saw nothing but sky and -water, or, more properly speaking, sky alone. - -The chariot appeared to wander about in space, beyond the terrestrial -atmosphere. - -The stars shone in every direction round about him wherever he fixed his -gaze. - -So passed another moment. - -At the end of it he perceived in the distance a purple line which -separated those two heavens, the one floating the other immovable. - -This purple line turned to red, and then to orange; afterwards it became -brilliant as gold, illuminating the surface of the waters. The stars -disappeared by degrees, and one would have said that day was about to -dawn. All at once the moon again appeared, but it had hardly shone a -moment when the light of the horizon eclipsed it in brilliancy. - -“It is the dawn,” said Tito. - -“On the contrary,” responded Death. “It is twilight, only that as we -travel behind the sun, and much faster, the west appears to be the -aurora, and the aurora the west. Here are the beautiful Azores!” - -In truth a lovely group of islands appeared in the midst of the ocean. - -The sad, evening light, breaking through the clouds and penetrating the -mist of the rivers, gave an enchanting aspect to the archipelago. - -Tito and Death passed over that oasis in the marine desert without -stopping a moment. - -In ten minutes more the sun appeared from the bosom of the waves, and -rose a little on the horizon. - -But Death stopped the chariot and the sun again sank. - -They moved again and the sun rose. There were two twilights in one. - -All this astonished Tito greatly. - -They drove further and further, engulfing themselves in the day and -ocean. Nevertheless Tito’s watch indicated quarter past nine at night. - -A few moments afterward North America appeared in the seas. Tito saw in -passing, the eagerness of men; how they tilled the fields, bustled in the -streets of cities, and skirted the coast in vessels. - -In one part he distinguished a great cloud of dust. It was a battle. In -another direction, Death indicated to him a grand religious ceremony, -dedicated to a tree, the idol of that town. Farther off he showed him two -young savages alone in a wood, gazing with love upon each other. - -Very soon the earth again disappeared, and they entered the Pacific Ocean. - -Thousands of other islands appeared before their eyes in all directions. -In each one of these were different religions and customs. And what a -variety of costumes, occupations and ceremonies! - -So they reached China where the day was breaking. - -This daylight was twilight for our travellers. - -Other stars, different from those which they had seen before, ornamented -the celestial dome. - -The moon commenced to shine in the east, but soon hid herself. - -They continued flying with greater rapidity than the earth turns upon its -axis. - -They had crossed Asia when it was night; to the left was the chain of the -Himalayas, whose eternal snows glistened beneath the morning stars. They -passed the shores of the Caspian Sea, turned a little toward the left, -and rose above a hill at the side of a certain city. At that moment the -midnight bell sounded. - -[Illustration] - -“What city is this?” asked Tito. - -“We are in Jerusalem,” answered Death. - -“Already?” - -“Yes, we lack but little of having made the circuit of the world. I stop -here because it is midnight, at which hour I never fail to bend the knee.” - -“Why?’ - -“To worship the Creator of the universe;” whereupon the chariot descended. - -“I also desire to see the city of God and meditate among its ruins,” -responded Tito, kneeling at Death’s side and crossing his hands with -fervent piety. - -When both had finished their prayers, Death recovered his loquacity and -joyfulness; and preceded by Tito again entered the chariot, saying:— - -“That hamlet that thou seest yonder on a mountain is Gethsemane. There, -was the orchard of olives. On this other side thou wilt distinguish an -eminence, crowned by a temple which stands out against a field of stars: -that is Golgotha. There I passed the great day of my life. I thought to -have conquered God; and conquer I did, for many hours. But, ah! it was -in this mountain, one Sunday morning at daybreak, three days afterwards, -that I saw myself disarmed and powerless. Jesus had risen! These sites -witnessed also, on that same occasion, my great personal combat with -Nature. Here, our duel took place: that terrible duel. It was three in -the afternoon, I remember it perfectly, when Nature, who saw me brandish -the sword of Longinus against the breast of the Redeemer, commenced to -hurl stones at me, to open the cemeteries and resuscitate the dead. What -could I think? I believed that she had lost her reason.” Death reflected -a moment; then, raising his head with a more serious expression of -countenance, added: - -“It is the hour! Midnight has passed. We will go to my house and finish -what we have to say.” - -“Where do you live?” asked Tito, timidly. - -“At the North Pole, amid snows and ice as old as the world,” responded -Death, “where never has, nor never will tread human foot.” - -So saying, Death changed his course to the north, and the chariot -flew more rapidly than ever. Asia Minor, the Black Sea, Russia and -Spitzbergen, passed like fantastic visions beneath its wheels. - -The horizon was soon illuminated with delicate flames, reflected by a -landscape of rock crystal. All upon the earth was white and silent. - -The rest of the heaven was of a dark purple color, dotted with almost -imperceptible stars,—the Aurora Borealis and the ice, all that there was -of life in that wonderful region. - -“We have arrived,” said Death. “This is the Pole.” - - - - -CHAPTER XVI. - -DEATH AGAIN BECOMES SERIOUS. - - -If Tito had not already seen so much that was wonderful, during his -aerial voyage; if his remembrance of Elena had not so completely absorbed -his imagination, and if the desire to know where Death was taking -him had not disturbed his saddened spirit, the position in which he -found himself, would, at least, have been a very enviable one in which -to study, and solve, the greatest of geographical problems—the form -and position of the poles of the earth. The mysterious limits of the -continents, and of the Polar sea, lost in eternal ice; the protrusion -or depression which, according to different opinions, must mark the -position of the true axis upon which our globe turns; the appearance of -the celestial dome, in which one could distinguish all the stars that -light the skies of the northern hemisphere; the fiery centre of the -Aurora Borealis, and in fact so many other phenomena which science has -vainly investigated for centuries at the cost of thousands of illustrious -navigators who have perished in those perilous regions, would have been -as clear and manifest to our hero as the light of day, and we would have -been able to explain them to our readers. - -But as Tito made no such observations, neither will we be able to -consider anything which bears no relation to the story. The human race -must remain in its ignorance regarding the pole, and we will continue -this narrative. - -In reminding our readers that the season was that of the first days of -September, they will comprehend that the sun still shone in that heaven, -where there had been no night for five months. - -By its pale and oblique light our travellers descended from the chariot, -and Death, taking Tito by the hand, said to him with gracious courtesy: - -“This is thy house. Let us enter.” - -A colossal mountain of ice rose before his eyes, in the middle of which, -frozen in snows as old as the world, was a sort of long, narrow opening -which scarcely permitted a man to pass. - -“I will show thee the way,” said Death, passing before. - -The Duke of Verity stopped, not daring to follow his companion. But what -could he do? Where fly in that infinite desert? What direction take, in -those interminable, icy plains? - -“Tito, art thou not coming?” asked Death. - -He cast one last and hopeless glance toward the pale sun, and entered the -ice. - -A winding stairway, carved in the same congealed material, conducted him -by tortuous turns to a vast, square room, without furniture or ornaments; -all of ice. It reminded one of the great salt mines of Polonia, or the -marble rooms of the baths of Ispahan and Medina. - -Death had muffled himself up and was sitting down in Oriental fashion in -a corner. - -“Come hither, sit at my side and we will talk,” said he to Tito. - -The youth obeyed, mechanically. - -So profound a silence reigned that one could have heard the breathing -of a microscopical insect, if in that region there might exist anything -which did not rely upon the protection of Death. - -Words could not express that terrible cold. - -Imagine a total absence of heat; a complete annihilation of life; the -absolute cessation of all motion; death, as a form of being; and even -then you could not conceive an idea of that dead world, or more than -dead, as it neither corrupted, transformed nor gave pasture to the -worms, manure to the plants, elements to the minerals, nor gases to the -atmosphere. - -It was chaos. - -It was _nothing_, under the appearance of everlasting snows. - -Nevertheless, Tito endured it, thanks to the protection of Death. - -“Tito,” exclaimed he, in quiet and majestic accent, “the hour has arrived -in which truth shines before thine eyes in all its magnificent nudity: I -will review in a few words the history of our relations and reveal to -thee the mystery of thy destiny.” - -“Speak!” murmured Tito, resolutely. - -“It is undeniable that thou wishest to live; that all my power, all my -arguments, and all that I reveal to thee each moment are useless to -extinguish the love of life in thy heart.” - -“The love of Elena, you mean,” interrupted the youth. - -“Love! love!” replied Death. “Love is life and life is love. Do not -mistake that. And if not, think of a thing which thou mayst have -comprehended perfectly in thy glorious career as a physician, and during -the voyage that we have just made. What is man? Thou hast seen him sleep -from sun to sun, and dream, sleeping. In the intervals of this dream -he possessed twelve or fourteen hours of wakefulness which he knew -not how to employ. On one side, thou foundest him in arms against his -fellow-creatures; on the other, thou hast seen him crossing the seas -to exchange products. There are those who toil to dress themselves in -this or that color; and those who pierce the earth to extract metals -with which to adorn themselves. Here hanging one; there blindly obeying -another. On one side, virtue and justice consist in such and such a -thing; while on the other, they consist in the reverse. These judge as -truth, what those hold to be error. The same beauty will appear to thee -conventional and imaginary, according as thou art Caucasian, Mongolian, -African or Indian. It will be apparent to thee also, that science is -a shallow experiment to obtain the nearest results, or an illogical -conjecture of the most recondite causes; and that glory is an empty name, -attached by accident (nothing but accident) to the name of this or that -corpse. - -“Perhaps thou wilt have comprehended that all which man does is mere -child’s-play with which to pass the time; that his greatness and his -miseries are relative; that his civilization, social organization and -most serious interests, lack common-sense; that fashions, customs, -hierarchies, are powder, smoke, vanity of vanities. But what do I say? -vanity! less, even! They are playthings with which thou entertainest -the leisure of life; the deliriums of fever; the hallucinations of a -maniac. Children, the aged, nobles, plebeians, wise, ignorant, beautiful, -deformed, kings, slaves, rich and poor, all are the same to me: handfuls -of dust, which dust, my breath unmakes. And still thou clamorest for -life! And still thou tellest me thou desirest to remain in the world; -still thou lovest that perishable creation.” - -“I love Elena,” replied Tito. - -“Ah, yes,” continued Death; “life is love, life is desire. But the ideal -of this love, and of this desire, should not be a thing of mortal clay. -It is the deluded who mistake the near for the remote. Life is love; life -is sentiment; but the great, the noble, that which reveals life, is the -tear of sadness which courses down the cheek of the newly born and of -the dying; the melancholy complaint of the human heart, which feels the -desire of life and pain of existence; and the sweet hope of another life, -or the pathetic remembrance of another world. The worry and unhappiness, -the doubt and the anxiety of those great souls who are not satisfied -with the vanities of the earth, are but presentiments of another world, -of a higher mission than that of science and power; of something, in -fact, more infinite than the temporal greatness of men and the transitory -graces of women. We will confine ourselves, however, to thee and to thy -history, which thou dost not know. We will enter into the mystery of thy -anomalous existence, and explain the reasons of our friendship. - -“Tito, thou hast said, that of all the supposed felicities which life -offers, thou desirest one alone—the possession of one woman. I have -therefore gained great victories in thy soul. Neither power nor riches, -honor nor glory, nothing, tempts thy imagination. Thou art, then, a -consummate philosopher, a perfect Christian, and to this point I have -desired to lead thee. Now tell me, if this woman were dead, wouldst thou -feel her loss?” - -Tito rose, uttering a frightened cry. - -“What! Elena?” - -“Calm thyself,” continued Death, “thou wilt find Elena as thou leftst -her. We speak in hypotheses—so answer me.” - -“Before killing Elena, take _my_ life! You have my answer.” - -“Magnificent!” replied Death, “and tell me: if thou knewest that Elena -was in heaven awaiting thee, wouldst thou not die tranquil, content, -blessing God, and dedicating thy soul to Him?” - -“Oh, yes! death would then be resurrection.” - -“So, that with Elena at thy side,” continued the terrible personage, -“thou wouldst ask nothing more?” - -“Nothing.” - -“Well, then, know all. In the Christian world this is not the second of -September, 1724, as perhaps thou mayst imagine. Thou and I have been -friends many more years.” - -“Heavens! what do you tell me? In what year am I then?” - -“The eighteenth century has passed, the nineteenth, twentieth and even -more. To-day is the feast of San Antonio, the year 2316.” - -“Then I am dead.” - -“As thou hast been for nearly six hundred years.” - -“And Elena?” - -“Died when thou didst, and thou didst die the night we met.” - -“What? I drank the vitriol?” - -“To the last drop, and Elena died of grief when she heard of thy unhappy -end. She and thou have been in my power for seven centuries.” - -“Impossible!” exclaimed Tito. - -“Listen,” replied Death, “and thou wilt know all that I have done in -thy favor. Thou and Elena died on the day I said; Elena, destined on -the Day of Judgment to ascend to the angels; and thou, meriting all the -punishments of Hell. She, for her innocence and purity; thou, for having -lived forgetful of God and entertaining vile ambitions. To-morrow the Day -of Judgment commences, when three in the afternoon shall have struck at -Rome.” - -“Oh, my God! It is then the end of the world,” exclaimed Tito. - -“It is time,” replied the formidable being. “Finally I may rest.” - -“The end of the world!” muttered Tito, with indescribable fear. - -“It is of no consequence to thee. Thou hast nothing to lose. So listen. -Knowing that the Day of Judgment was approaching, I, who have always -cared for thee, as I told thee the first time we met, and Elena, who -loves thee as much in heaven as she did on earth, prayed to the Eternal -that thy soul might be saved.” - -“I should do nothing for the suicide,” answered the Creator; “but I will -confide his spirit to thee for one hour. Improve it if thou canst.” - -“Save him,” said Elena to me. - -“I promised, and went down into the sepulchre to find thee, where thou -hadst slept six centuries. I sat there at the head of thy coffin making -thee dream of life. Our meeting, thy visit to Philip V., thy adventures -at the Court of Louis I., thy marriage with Elena, all was a dream in the -tomb. _Thou believedst that three days of life passed in one hour, as six -centuries of death elapsed in a single instant._” - -“Ah, no! it was not a dream!” exclaimed Tito. - -“I understand thy astonishment,” replied Death. “It appeared as -existence to thee.... But such is life, the dreams are realities and -the realities dreams. Elena and I have triumphed. Science, experience -and philosophy have purified thy heart, have ennobled thy spirit, have -made thee see the magnificence of earthly grandeur in all its repugnant -vanity; that fleeing from death, as thou didst yesterday, thou fledst -only from the world; and that begging for eternal love as thou dost -to-day, thou askest for immortality. Thou art redeemed!” - -“But Elena,” murmured Tito. - -“She prays with God. Think not of her; she does not nor ever has really -existed. Elena was Beauty! the reflection of immortality. To-day, when -the heavenly light of truth and justice resumes its splendor, Elena -will be part of Him forever. To Him, then, thou shouldst address thy -supplications!” - -“It has been a dream!” exclaimed the youth with inexpressible anguish. - -“And such will be the world in a few hours; a dream of the Creator.” - -So saying, Death rose, uncovered his head and raised his eyes to heaven. - -“Thou wilt awake in Rome!” he murmured. “The last day begins—Tito, -farewell forever.” - -“Oh! do not abandon me!” cried the unhappy boy. - -“‘Do not abandon me!’ thou sayest to Death, and yesterday thou fledst -from me.” - -“Do not leave me here alone in this forsaken region. This is a tomb.” - -“What!” said the black divinity, ironically, “hast thou fared so badly -here, these past six hundred years?” - -“What! have I lived here?” - -“Lived! call it what thou pleasest. Here thou hast slept all that time.” - -“Then this is my sepulchre?” - -“Yes, my friend, and as soon as I disappear thou wilt be convinced. Then, -alone, thou wilt feel the cold of this house.” - -“Oh! I shall die instantly!” exclaimed Tito; “I am at the North Pole.” - -“Thou wilt not die, because thou art already dead; but thou wilt sleep -until three in the afternoon, then thou wilt wake with all past -generations.” - -“My friend!” exclaimed Tito, with indescribable bitterness, “do not leave -me; or let me continue dreaming. I do not wish to sleep. This dreaming -frightens me. This sepulchre suffocates me. Return me to the villa on the -Guadarrama, where I imagined I saw Elena, and let the destruction of the -universe surprise me there. I believe in God. I revere his justice, and I -appeal to his mercy, but take me back to Elena!” - -“What supreme love!” said the deity. “It has triumphed over life, and it -is about to triumph over death. It scorned the earth and it will scorn -heaven. It shall be as thou desirest, Tito; but do not forget thy soul.” - -“Oh! my friend, I thank you! I see that you will carry me to Elena’s -side.” - -“No, I will not carry thee to her. Elena sleeps in her sepulchre. I will -have her come to thee, that she may sleep the last hours of death by thy -side.” - -“We will one day be interred together! Ah! it is too much happiness! I -may see her; hear her say that she loves me; know that she will remain -forever at my side, on earth or in heaven, and the darkness of the tomb -will be as nothing to me.” - -“Come, then, Elena! I command it!” said Death, with cavernous accent, -tapping on the floor with his foot. - -Elena, to all appearances the same as when we left her in the garden of -Guadarrama enshrouded in her white robes, but pale as alabaster, appeared -in that room of ice, in which this scene had occurred. - -Tito received her kneeling, his face wet with tears, his hands clasped. -Turning, he cast a look of profound gratitude on the gentle countenance -of Death. - -“Good-bye, my friend,” exclaimed Death. - -“Your hand, Elena!” whispered Tito. - -“My love!” murmured the maiden, kneeling at her husband’s side. - -And with clasped hands and eyes raised to heaven they sadly answered -Death’s farewell. - -Slowly, the black deity retired. - -“Forever!” murmured the Friend of Man in the distance. - -“Mine, forever!” exclaimed Elena, clasping Tito’s hands between her own. -“God has pardoned thee and we may live together in heaven—” - -“Forever,” replied the youth, with ineffable happiness. - -Death disappeared. - -A terrible cold invaded the apartment.—Tito and Elena, on their knees, -their hands clasped, their eyes raised to Heaven, were instantly -petrified, immovable in that religious attitude, like two magnificent -mortuary statues. - - - - -CONCLUSION. - - -A few hours afterward the earth burst like a shell. The stars nearest it, -attracted fragments of the destroyed mass, and assimilated with them, -not however without causing tremendous cataclysms, such as deluges, and -breakings away from its axis. - -The moon, almost intact, became a satellite of either Venus or Mercury. -In the mean time the Day of Judgment for the family of Adam and Eve had -come to pass, and the souls of the wicked were transported to other -planets, there to commence a new life. - -What greater punishment! - -Those who purified themselves in this second existence obtained the glory -of returning to the bosom of God, when those planets disappeared. - -But those who did not so purify themselves passed on to perhaps a hundred -other worlds, where they wandered as we, in ours. - -That afternoon, the spirits of Tito and Elena entered the Promised -Land hand in hand, free, forever, from sorrow and penitence; saved and -redeemed; reconciled with God, participants in His beatitude, heirs to -his glory.... - - * * * * * - -For the rest, I can end my story as is the custom with old people, -saying: “I went, and I came but they told me nothing.” - - - -***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STRANGE FRIEND OF TITO GIL*** - - -******* This file should be named 64456-0.txt or 64456-0.zip ******* - - -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: -http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/6/4/4/5/64456 - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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