Walking me up and down his narrow cell, the turnkey waiting at the door
with his bunch of keys the while, he began his story thus:--

"You will remember, Eccellenza, that before parting from you last, I
informed you of my intention of concealing myself within the
confessional of the church and to remain there all night, for the
purpose of observing attentively if the would-be corpse of Peppe there
laid out should make any movement or betray the slightest signs of life. "At a late hour, therefore, when all was dark--that is to say, about
three hours after Ave Maria--I entered the church, and there was my late
friend attired as a corpse with a candle left burning at his head, as is
the custom, you know, Signor, in these parts. I approached him, though
not without a certain tremor, for to me there has always been something
solemn and awful in being left alone with the dead, especially at
midnight when the corpse is laid out in state in the middle of the
church, with nothing but the feeble light of one candle to illumine its
ghastly features. "Nor did this feeling at all abate when I reflected, that in all
probability the supposed corpse was not really dead, but only feigning
to be so. If anything, I felt more terrified. However, I advanced
steadily, and gazed full in the face of it. It was very pale, and
perfectly motionless, and I began to think that this must be death, and
that your Excellency had been mistaken in being so positive that my
friend was yet alive. "I fancied that perhaps you had seen his spirit and had mistaken it for
himself in the flesh. I forebore to touch the corpse from that same
feeling of awe that I have just described, and though at the time I was
perfectly satisfied that he was really dead, yet I still resolved to sit
up all night, concealed within the confessional, so as to be able to
tell your Excellency on the morrow that I had fulfilled my promise. "I accordingly shut myself in, and gazed steadfastly at the features of
the corpse, never taking my eyes off all the time, in order to assure
myself beyond a doubt whether this were really death or merely its
counterfeit. I gazed long and intently, but in vain did I endeavour to
discover the slightest breathing or other signs of life. Whether the
dim light of one candle prevented me from seeing sufficiently well, I
know not. "All was silent as the tomb, and as I gazed in breathless suspense, hour
after hour flew by, till at length I heard the old church clock toll
forth the dread hour of midnight. The last stroke had hardly died
away--How shall I describe to you my terror, oh, Signor?--when suddenly
I heard the church doors violently shaken. You know how nervous one
becomes in the dead of the night at hearing any sort of noise
unexpectedly that one cannot account for. Imagine, then, my sensations,
Eccellenza, if you can, when, hidden within the confessional at this
witching hour of night, with every nerve on the stretch, and looking out
into the solemn gloom of the church, illumined only by the solitary
candle placed at the head of the corpse--when all honest peasants, with
their families, were in bed and fast asleep, and the greatest silence
reigned everywhere, suddenly to hear a bang and a crash at the old
church doors, which soon gave way--you know how rotten they are,
Signor--and there entered, cursing and swearing, a troop of--well, upon
my soul, Signor, I took them to be emissaries of the arch-fiend, sent to
secure the soul of the defunct. "However, after having attentively examined their forms, which were
hardly less wild than those of the foul fiends themselves, if all
accounts of them be true, I satisfied myself that they were, after all,
human--men of flesh and blood like ourselves. Signor, they were the
brigands. "I should say there were about a dozen of them, for I did not think of
counting them, so great was my fright. They rushed helter-skelter into
the church, and without as much as glancing at the corpse, seized the
candle that stood burning near its head, and, striding towards the altar
placed the candle thereon and proceeded to count their ungodly gains. I
trembled in every limb; a cold sweat broke out on my forehead, and I
felt my hair stand up, while my teeth chattered in my head. "What would happen next? Would the Madonna send a thunderbolt to destroy
these sacrilegious wretches, and perhaps myself at the same time? I
quite expected something of the sort. I am sure it is quite a wonder
that my hair hasn't turned white from the terrors I underwent last
evening. "Well, Eccellenza, I presume these ruffians, after having laid wait for
the mail on the high road and robbed a number of poor gentlemen of all
they had about them, had made off with their ill-gotten treasure in the
dead of the night, and, passing through the village on their way,
descried the glimmer of the candle through the chinks of the church
door, and thought they would take this opportunity of dividing their
spoil. "The treasure was a goodly heap, consisting of gold, silver, and paper
money, besides a few gold watches, which they all drew lots for, and a
magnificent diamond ring, which the brigand chief claimed for himself. "'Now, my men,' said he after an equal portion had been allotted to
each, 'I think every man in my band has had a fair share of the booty. This ring alone I claim the right of disposing of as head of the band,
seeing that it cannot be divided; yet, to show you all in what high
estimation I hold fair play, and how loath I am to possess even a
_baiocco_ more than my valiant companions without deserving it, I will
award this ring to the man who shall first succeed in hitting yon corpse
on the nose with it, I myself taking share in the pastime, and as
captain of the band claiming for myself the first shot.' "Enthusiastic cheers greeted this decision of their chief, and the game
began. The captain had the first throw, but missed. Then a second picked
up the ring and also threw, but missed likewise. Then a third, with the
same result, and so on, till the seventh, who, more dextrous than the
rest, hit the corpse such a stinging whack on the nose that it suddenly
jumped up, shook its head, extended its arms, and leaped down from the
bier. "You see, the rascal had been shamming, after all, sir, and, wearied out
with feigning death, had actually gone to sleep. Now, although I was
half prepared for such a resuscitation, the effect upon me was
electrical; but I recovered from my surprise soon enough to enjoy the
confusion of the brigands, who in their terror and dismay at what they
took to be a miracle wrought by the saints on purpose to punish their
impious conduct, took to their heels, stumbling over one another in
their flight, and letting drop all their treasure on the ground
unheeded, scampered out of the church as fast as their legs could carry
them.