"To-morrow at two o'clock," he continued, "the officers of justice will
make a domiciliary visit here, but the bailiff will permit no search which
intimates a suspicion. Since you have filled the cellar with fire-wood and
empty casks, the bailiff will be satisfied that all is right. Perhaps,
Julio, I may be able to recall you in two or three months."
Julio's head had fallen upon the table, but from time to time he started
and muttered some indistinct words, showing that he was not in a deep
sleep. Without once removing his eye from him, Simon continued to speak,
although he was convinced that Julio no longer heard his words.
Suddenly Julio groaned. His head and limbs fell as though he had been
struck by death; but the heaving of the chest and the deep scarlet of the
cheeks proved that he was in a heavy sleep.
Simon quietly contemplated him for a while longer with a smile of
satisfaction. Then he arose, approached his servant, shook him violently,
and cried out: "Julio, Julio, wake up!"
Julio did not stir.
"It succeeds according to my wishes," he said. "The poison is doing its
work. He is deaf and insensible; he reposes in an eternal sleep. Life will
be extinguished by degrees until sleep makes way for death. But I must not
tarry. I must act quickly and forget nothing. And first the money!"
He searched Julio's pocket, and found in it one hundred and twenty crowns.
After counting them on the table, he exclaimed: "Eighty crowns spent already! It is impossible. He has either lost them at
the gaming-table, or been robbed while he was sleeping in the tavern."
Still doubtful, he examined his garments, and found in a purse under his
girdle the twenty crowns which he had destined for his mother.
"Ah, ah!" said Simon, laughing; "I had not all; I hear the sound of gold."
He put the twenty crowns with the rest of the money, and having satisfied
himself that no more remained on the person of Julio, he was about to
transfer the crowns to his pocket, when a sudden idea occurred to his
mind.
"If I leave all this money on his person, they might think he had been
paid to commit the deed; if I leave nothing, there will be no reason to
conclude that he killed the Signor Geronimo to rob him. I wonder how much
money Geronimo generally carried about him. I should suppose five or six
crowns, or perhaps ten. I will leave six crowns and all the small change.
And the keys? He must keep them, or, of course, he could not have entered
without my knowledge. But should he be roused to consciousness by the
death-agony, he might have sufficient strength to get out. I will leave
him all the keys but that of the outer building. Iron bars render the
place secure; he could not even enter the garden. Now I will put the phial
in his doublet--no, in the pocket of his girdle; it will be as easily
found. I will remove the bottles and everything which could indicate the
presence of two persons."