"This is what I have worked at, without stopping, for four days. I wish
the bewitched chair to the devil! I have already exhausted myself; but the
new spring is good, and in a few minutes I will have finished."
Bernardo examined attentively the unfinished chair, and looked frightened.
"Heavens!" he exclaimed, "a chair for a trap! Do you entrap men here?"
Julio nodded his head affirmatively.
Pale from anxiety, Bernardo muttered: "May God preserve me! What crime is
in contemplation? Does our master know anything of this terrible piece of
furniture?"
"Was it not from him that you received the order to bring me the springs?"
The humpbacked man made the sign of the cross, and muttered a few
indistinct words.
Suddenly Julio laughed immoderately, and slapping him on the shoulder
exclaimed: "Foolish boy! he already sees a victim in this chair, and the
blood flowing as freely as in some old woman's story. Be at ease,
Bernardo; this is done only to satisfy a caprice of our master. He intends
to clean the garden and repair the fountain. He will place this arm-chair
in an arbor near the fountain; the guest who seats himself in it will be
caught, and the salamanders may throw the water upon him as long as they
please. It is a mania of our master."
"What a coward I am!" said Bernardo, laughing at his own fears. "Open the
door now, Julio; I should have been at the factory long ago."
They both left the house talking together, and they turned their steps
towards the exterior door.
The red-haired man soon returned alone. He removed the spring from the
parlor-table, and took it with him to the room where he had terrified his
companion by the revelation of his master's secret. He seated himself on
the ground near the chair, and taking some tools he began to arrange the
spring, and to try if it would produce the effect intended. Whilst thus
occupied he laughed aloud, and said: "The stupid humpback! One could make him believe that cats laid eggs! He
believed all I told him of Bufferio and his comrades as though they were
gospel truths. The coward! To empty his pocket of its last farthing, it is
only necessary to frighten him! I have two shillings. Night is coming on,
and it is growing dark. Presently I will go to the tavern of the 'Silver
Dice.' I will play at first with a few farthings, then for white pieces,
at last for florins and even crowns! This time I will stop playing as soon
as my pocket is full of money. Then at least I will send something to my
poor mother. In what condition is she now? Perhaps she no longer lives on
earth; that would be better for her. Poor and blind, and her only
dependence a son who must conceal his true name in order to escape the
gallows; a gambler, drunkard--in a word, a real jail-bird! Yes, if fortune
favors me, I will send her something. The signor promised me to have it
conveyed to Lucca. Ah! the spring is fixed. Let me see if the machine does
its duty."