'Unlock the postern gate,' whispered one, 'while I light a torch.'
'We are betrayed!' said the other, 'for this is the wrong key.'
'Then thou beest the traitor,' cried the first.
'Thou liest, dost lie, and art lying!' cried the second.
'Take that!' exclaimed the first. A groan followed, and the wretch dropped to the ground.
'You have murdered him!' cried I, sickening with horror.
'I have only hamstrung him, my lady,' said the fellow. 'He will be lame for life.'
His companion burst open the gate; a sudden current of wind met us, and we fled along with incredible speed, while low moans and smothered shrieks were heard at either side of us.
'Gracious heaven, where are we?' cried I.
'In the cavern of death!' said my conductor, 'famous for rats and banditti.'
On a sudden innumerable footsteps echoed behind us. We ran swifter.
'Fire!' cried a ferocious accent, almost at my ear; and in a moment several pistols were discharged.
I stopped, unable to move, breathe, or speak.
'I am wounded all over, right and left, fore and aft!' cried my conductor.
'Am I bleeding?' said I, feeling myself with my hands.
'No, blessed St. Anthony be praised!' answered he; 'and now all is safe, for we are at the cell, and the banditti have turned into the wrong passage.'
'Enter,' said he, 'and behold your unhappy mother!'
He led me forward, took the bandage from my eyes, and retiring, locked the door upon me.
Agitated already by the terrors of my dangerous expedition, I felt additional horror on finding myself in a dismal cell, lighted with a lantern; where, at a small table, sat a woman suffering under a corpulency unparalleled in the memoirs of human monsters. She was clad in sackcloth, her head was swathed in linen, and had grey locks on it, like horses' tails. Hundreds of frogs were leaping about the floor; a piece of mouldy bread, a mug of water, and a manuscript, lay on the table; some straw, strewn with dead snakes and skulls, occupied one corner, and the farther side of the cell was concealed behind a black curtain.
I stood at the door, doubtful, and afraid to advance; while the prodigious prisoner sat examining me from head to foot.
At last I summoned courage to say, 'I fear, Madam, I am an intruder here. I have certainly been shewn into the wrong room.'