Some were busy about a
fire, and others were listening to the uncouth music which one of
their companions, seated on a ledge of the rock, was making with a
split reed.
Antonio endeavoured to obtain some information of them, concerning the
old building and its inhabitants. The one who appeared to be their
spokesman was a gaunt fellow, with a subtle gait, a whispering voice,
and a sinister roll of the eye. He shrugged his shoulders on the
student's inquiries, and said that all was not right in that building.
An old man inhabited it, whom nobody knew, and whose family appeared
to be only a daughter and a female servant. He and his companions, he
added, lived up among the neighbouring hills; and as they had been
about at night, they had often seen strange lights, and heard strange
sounds from the tower. Some of the country people, who worked in the
vineyards among the hills, believed the old man to be one that dealt
in the black art, and were not over-fond of passing near the tower at
night; "but for our parts," said the Gitano, "we are not a people that
trouble ourselves much with fears of that kind."
The student endeavoured to gain more precise information, but they had
none to furnish him.
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