I supposed that the latter, having
discovered at length the imposition practised upon him by his companion,
a quarrel had ensued, in the midst of which they had been surprised by
the sacristan; but I could guess no more than this. The affair of the treasure being found in the church completely puzzled
me, and my curiosity being aroused, I set straight off to the house of
the arch-priest, whom I knew intimately, to hear either the confirmation
or confutation of my hostess's statement. On passing the church in the chief piazza or square of this little town,
I met the sacristan, whom, having been an eye-witness to the whole, I
stopped and inquired as to the truth of the rumour that had spread so
quickly throughout the village. He put on a sanctified look, crossed his
hands upon his breast, and rolled up the white of his eyes, solemnly
declaring that every word I had heard was true, that he himself had been
an eye-witness to the whole affair from first to last. Then, after recounting to me the whole proceedings in a long rigmarole,
he wound up by calling on all the saints to open the ground under his
feet to swallow him up, if what he spoke was not the truth. He then took
his leave. Now, I never did like the appearance of this sacristan. He was a young
man, sallow and emaciated, with an extremely repulsive countenance and
an expression of low cunning and avarice, which he sought to hide under
an affectation of sanctity and cringing humility. He seemed unable to
look you full in the face, though I often caught him observing me out of
the corners of his half-closed eyes. He would have been the last man in the world whose word I should have
taken for gospel, and there was something in the manner in which he told
his story that impressed me with the idea, that whatever mystery there
might be connected with the discovered treasure, that _he_, in some way
or another, was interested in the affair being regarded as a miracle. I
therefore attached very slight importance to his testimony. In fact, I
merely addressed him in the hopes of discovering some discrepancy in my
hostess's narrative, being aware how much a story gains in telling; but,
to my surprise, I found the two accounts remarkably consistent. A step
or two further took me to the house of the arch-priest, which, being
open, I entered, and was welcomed on the landing by that worthy. "Ah! Signor Vandyke," he said--you are always called by your Christian
name in Italy--"it is long since I've had the pleasure of seeing you. You do not often honour our humble township with your presence. You have
been hard at work as usual, I suppose, eh?" I replied that I had given myself a holiday for once in a way, not
feeling in a humour for work, and had called upon him for the purpose of
inquiring into the truth of a reported miracle in the village. Hereupon
he beckoned me upstairs, made me sit down at a table, and pouring out
for me a tumbler of his own wine from a huge jug, he proceeded to fill
another for himself; then tapping his snuff-box, a priest's inseparable
companion, and taking from it a copious pinch wherewith to clear his
brain, this dignitary recited to me the whole story of the miracle,
differing in little or nothing from the other accounts that I had heard
of it. Knowing him to be a thoroughly trustworthy and conscientious
man, I felt sure that he would not willingly deceive me; but fancying he
might in some way or other have been deceived himself, I proceeded to
cross-question him, though I could not find that he contradicted himself
in anything. When I asked if he could vouch for the occurrence being a miracle, he
replied:

"I can only vouch for what I saw. The resuscitated corpse was holding
the accused in his grasp, while I had the sacristan's word that the
corpse had suddenly become re-animated under his very eyes, and had
seized the burglar after he had succeeded in extracting the money from
the alms-box. I must confess I am puzzled at the whole of that sum
having been extracted from the coffer, when, with the greatest pains the
sacristan could not replace more than half of it. I have the rest here,
as you see, and with it a handsome diamond ring. That is the wonderful
part, for who wears diamonds in these mountains?" I was now perfectly sure of one thing namely, that the treasure had
never been extracted from the alms-box at all, but had been found in
some other manner. The testimony of the sacristan, as I have said
before, weighed little or nothing with me. So far from it, indeed, that
I began to see more clearly than ever that there had been some trick or
imposture, at the bottom of which was the sacristan himself. I did not give the arch-priest the result of my reflections, but
restrained myself until I should obtain further evidence. We had
discoursed for full a couple of hours on the subject, and when I rose to
depart I told him that I was as complete a sceptic as before, as far as
the miraculous character of the event was concerned, though I placed
every reliance in his statement. I said I was perfectly sure of
unveiling the mystery before long, and when I had done so I should at
once let him know. "And the delinquent," asked I, with my hand on the doorhandle, "where is
he?" "Locked up, to be sure; ready to be taken to-morrow to Gennazzano, there
to await his trial." "Could I exchange a word with him?" "If you wish. I shall have to give you a line to the guard, in order to
admit you. Just one moment,--here--with this pass they will let you
enter." "Thank you very much. Till we meet again--_Addio_." It was now growing towards evening as I hastened my steps towards the
lock-up house, where I delivered the arch-priest's note to the guard,
who immediately gave orders to the turnkey to admit me. On entering the
cell I found Antonio, as I had expected, pacing up and down dejectedly. "Well, Antonio," said I, "I have come to have a chat with you and to
hear all about the miracle that happened this morning." "Ah! Signor, is it you?" cried he. "Now, was there ever an unluckier
mortal on earth than I?" "Nonsense," said I, "about being unlucky. I have come to comfort you in
your trouble and to hear all about the miracle." "Miracle! The devil a miracle," exclaimed Antonio. "They've miracled me
within four walls, who am innocent as the babe unborn, whilst they have
let go two of the greatest rascals in the village. It will be a miracle
if I escape incarceration for life when I take my trial at Gennazzano." "Come," said I, consolingly, "you must not look so gloomily at things. I
will do what I can to get you off, but you must tell me exactly how the
whole affair happened." "Ah! that I will, Signor, and with pleasure," said he.