st have been Ibarra, who had come to die at the tomb
of his forefathers, his desire to be cremated being explained by his
residence in Europe, where cremation is practised. Then who was the
other, the living, this jeweler Simoun, at that time with such an
appearance of poverty and wretchedness, but who had now returned
loaded with gold and a friend of the authorities? There was the
mystery, and the student, with his characteristic cold-bloodedness,
determined to clear it up at the first opportunity.

Simoun dug away for some time, but Basilio noticed that his old vigor
had declined--he panted and had to rest every few moments. Fearing
that he might be discovered, the boy made a sudden resolution. Rising
from his seat and issuing from his hiding-place, he asked in the most
matter-of-fact tone, "Can I help you, sir?"

Simoun straightened up with the spring of a tiger attacked at his
prey, thrust his hand in his coat pocket, and stared at the student
with a pale and lowering gaze.

"Thirteen years ago you rendered me a great service, sir," went on
Basilio unmoved, "in this very place, by burying my mother, and I
should consider myself happy if I could serve you now."

Without taking his eyes off the youth Simoun drew a revolver from
his pocket and the click of a hammer being cocked was heard. "For
whom do you take me?" he asked, retreating a few paces.

"For a person who is sacred to me," replied Basilio with some emotion,
for he thought his last moment had come. "For a person whom all, except
me, believe to be dead, and whose misfortunes I have always lamented."

An impressive silence followed these words, a silence that to the
youth seemed to suggest eternity. But Simoun, after some hesitation,
approached him and placing a hand on his shoulder said in a moving
tone: "Basilio, you possess a secret that can ruin me and now you have
just surprised me in another, which puts me completely in your hands,
the divulging of which would upset all my plans. For my own security
and for the good of the cause in which I labor, I ought to seal your
lips forever, for what is the life of one man compared to the end I
seek? The occasion is fitting; no one knows that I have come here;
I am armed; you are defenceless; your death would be attributed to
the outlaws, if not to more supernatural causes--yet I'll let you
live and trust that I shall not regret it. You have toiled, you have
struggled with energetic perseverance, and like mys