human
Get up here,
gpt
Not so bad,
human
I like you, Master Toto, said Malipieri.
gpt
You might have thought that we really meant to kill you, but you did not seem much frightened.
human
There is no woman in the affair, answered Toto.
gpt
Why should you kill me? And I can help you.
human
How am I to know that you will?
gpt
I am a man of honour,
human
I have not a doubt of it, my friend, returned Malipieri, without conviction.
gpt
Just now, the only help I need of you, is that you should hold your tongue. How can I be sure that you will do that? Does any one else know the way in through the drain?
human
No. I only found it to-night. If there is a day's rain in the mountains, and the Tiber rises even a little, nobody can pass through it. The lower part is barely above the level of the river now.
gpt
How did you guess that you could get here by that way?
human
We know many secrets in our trade, from father to son,
gpt
You must have lifted the boards, with the stones on them, to get out of the shaft. Why did you put them back in their place?
human
You seem to think I am a fool! I did not mean to let you know that I had been here, so I put them back, of course. I supposed that I could get out through the cellars, but you have put a padlock on the inner door.
gpt
Is there any way of turning water into that shaft?
human
Only by filling the well, I think. If the Tiber rises, the water will back up the shaft through the drain. That is why the ancients who built the well made another way for the water to run off. When the river is swollen in a flood it must be much higher in the shaft than the bottom of the well, and if the 'lost water' were running in all the time, the air would probably make it back, so that the shaft would be useless and the well would be soiled with the river water.
gpt
You evidently know your trade, Master Toto,
human
You know yours, retorted Toto, who was seldom at a loss,
gpt
We shall be good friends,
human
In this world one never knows, Toto answered philosophically.
gpt
What are you going to do?
human
You must come back with as to my apartment, said Malipieri, who had been considering the matter,
gpt
You must stay there a couple of days, without going out. I will pay you for your time, and give you a handsome present, and plenty to eat and drink. After that you will be free to go where you please and say what you like, for the secret will be out.
human
Thank you, answered Toto without enthusiasm.
gpt
Are you going to tell the government about the treasure?
human
The Senator will certainly inform the government, which has a right to buy it.