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again and saw many things which I find it difficult here to relate. First Camilla undressed in more or less the usual way and, getting into bed with her sister, she said to her:
    â€˜My poor Insilla, do you really want a lover? My poor child, you have no idea of the pain that he will cause you. He will first throw you down, then press himself upon you, and crush you, and tear you apart.’
    When Camilla thought that her pupil had received enough instruction,she opened the door to me and led me to the bed where her sister was lying, and lay down beside us.
    What can I tell you about that fateful night? I drank the cup of criminal passion to the last drop. I long fought against my natural desire for sleep in order to prolong my sinful pleasures. I fell asleep at last and awoke the next day under the gallows of Zoto’s brothers, lying between their foul corpses.
    The hermit interrupted the demoniac to say to me, ‘Well, my son, what do you think of that? You would have been terrified, I think, to find yourself lying between two hanged men.’
    I replied: ‘You have offended me, Father. A gentleman must never feel fear, let alone a gentleman who has the honour of being a captain in the Walloon Guards.’
    â€˜But have you ever heard, my son, of a similar adventure befalling anyone?’ continued the hermit.
    I hesitated a moment before replying. ‘If this adventure befell Señor Pacheco, father, it could have befallen others. I will be better placed to pass judgement if you would kindly command him to carry on with his story.’
    The hermit turned to the possessed man and said to him, ‘Pacheco, Pacheco, in the name of your Redeemer, I command you to continue your story.’
    Pacheco uttered a ghastly howl and continued as follows:
    I was half-dead when I left the gallows. I dragged myself along without knowing where I was going. In the end I met some travellers who took pity on me and brought me back to the Venta Quemada. There I found the innkeeper and my servants, who were deeply worried about me. I asked them whether my father had slept at the farm. They told me that no one had come there.
    I was unable to bring myself to stay longer at the
venta
and took the road back to Andújar, where I arrived after sunset. The inn was full, so a bed was made up for me in the kitchen, where I lay down; but I was unable to sleep for I could not banish from my mind the horrors of the previous night.
    I had left the candle lit in the chimney of the kitchen. Suddenly itwent out and I felt immediately something like a mortal shiver, which froze my blood.
    There was a tug at my blanket and I heard a little voice say, ‘I am Camilla, your stepmother. I am cold, dear heart. Let me join you under your blanket.’
    Then another little voice said, ‘I am Insilla. Let me come into your bed, for I am cold, so cold.’
    Then I felt an icy hand grasp me under the chin. I drew together all of my strength and said aloud, ‘Get thee behind me, Satan.’
    Then the little voices said, ‘Why are you driving us away? Are you not our dear little husband? We are cold and we are going to light a little fire.’
    And indeed a moment later I saw a flame appear in the kitchen hearth. It gradually grew brighter and I was able to make out not Insilla and Camilla but Zoto’s two brothers hanging in the fireplace.
    These apparitions drove me out of my mind. I sprang from my bed, jumped through the window and began to rush about in the open country. For a moment I flattered myself with the hope that I had outrun all these horrors, but then I turned round, only to see that the two hanged men were pursuing me. I broke into a run again and soon saw that I had left Zoto’s brothers behind. But my joy was short-lived. Those foul creatures began to cartwheel towards me and were on me in a flash. I went on running, but in the end all my strength deserted me.
    Then I felt one of the hanged men seize