"
"Like coals? Perhaps he is the Dracu[16] himself. Have you ever tried to
make him kiss the amulet on which is the image of St. George and the
Dragon?"
[Footnote 16: Dracu-dragon, _i.e._, devil.]
"Yes he has kissed it and was none the worse."
"Have you tried to get him to lay his three fingers on a copper
crucifix?"
"He laid his fingers thereon and yet they were not burnt."
"Can he say the prayer of condemnation without trembling?"
"He has said it hundreds of times."
"Nevertheless, I maintain he is no mortal man."
"If he should love another woman, I swear that he will very soon find
out that he _is_ mortal."
Talking thus the riders had descended into the depths of the valley, and
when the mountain stream again crossed their path they quitted the usual
footpath and followed the bed of the stream. And a very good road it is
for such as do not wish to leave foot-marks behind them. The rapid
current swiftly fills the traces of the horses' hoofs with leaves and
pebbles.
The ravine grew ever deeper and narrower, and the stream at intervals
formed small cataracts which the horses, who had been trained thereto,
had to cross. Finally, at a sudden declivity, the water took an
unexpected leap of four yards, and when the riders reined up at this
very spot, it was plain that here a mill had been built into the
hillside, whose wheel it was which drove the swiftly plunging water
along.
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