小说园

第31章 the cak f antild（第2页）

"Ihavenoengagement，-come。

"

"Myfriend，no。Itisnottheengagement，buttheseverecoldwithwhichIerceiveyouareafflicted。Thevaultsareinsufferablydam。Theyareencrustedwithnitre。

"

"Letusgo，nevertheless。Thecoldismerelynothing。Amontillado!Youhavebeenimoseduon;andasforLuchresi，hecannotdistinguishSherryfromAmontillado。

"

Thusseaking，Fortunatoossessedhimselfofmyarm。Puttingonamaskofblacksilkanddrawingaroquelaurecloselyaboutmyerson，IsufferedhimtohurrymetomyPalazzo。

Therewerenoattendantsathome;theyhadabscondedtomakemerryinhonourofthetime。IhadtoldthemthatIshouldnotreturnuntilthemorningandhadgiventhemexlicitordersnottostirfromthehouse。Theseordersweresufficient，Iwellknew，toinsuretheirimmediatedisaearance，oneandall，assoonasmybackwasturned。

Itookfromtheirsconcestwoflambeaux，andgivingonetoFortunato，bowedhimthroughseveralsuitesofroomstothearchwaythatledintothevaults。Iasseddownalongandwindingstaircase，requestinghimtobecautiousashefollowed。Wecameatlengthtothefootofthedescent，andstoodtogetheronthedamgroundofthecatacombsoftheMontresors。

Thegaitofmyfriendwasunsteady，andthebellsuonhiscajingledashestrode。

"Theie，

"hesaid。

"Itisfartheron，

"saidI，

"butobservethewhiteweb-workwhichgleamsfromthesecavernwalls。

"

Heturnedtowardsmeandlookedintomyeyeswithtwofilmyorbsthatdistilledtherheumofintoxication。

"Nitre?

"heaskedatlength。

"Nitre，

"Irelied，

"Howlonghaveyouhadthatcough!

"

"Ugh!ugh!ugh!-ugh!ugh!ugh!-ugh!ugh!ugh!-ugh!ugh!ugh!

-ugh!ugh!ugh!

"

Myoorfriendfounditimossibletorelyformanyminutes。

"Itisnothing，

"hesaidatlast。

"Come，

"Isaid，withdecision，

"wewillgoback;yourhealthisrecious。Youarerich，resected，admired，beloved;youarehayasonceIwas。Youareamantobemissed。Formeitisnomatter。Wewillgoback;youwillbeillandIcannotberesonsible。Besides，thereisLuchresi-

"

"Enough，

"hesaid，

"thecoughisamerenothing;itwillnotkillme。Ishallnotdieofacough。

"

"True-true，

"Irelied，

"and，indeed，Ihadnointentionofalarmingyouunnecessarily-butyoushoulduseallroercaution。AdraughtofthisMedocwilldefendusfromthedams。