"But it was necessary to recover the corpse of the dead woman. I attached
the young man securely by the waist to the end of the pulley rope and
lowered him very slowly, watching him disappear in the darkness. In one
hand he held the lantern and a rope in the other. Soon I recognized his
voice, which seemed to come from the centre of the earth, saying:

"'Stop!'

"I then saw him fish something out of the water. It was the other leg. He
then bound the two feet together and shouted anew:

"'Haul up!'

"I began to wind up, but I felt my arms crack, my muscles twitch, and I
was in terror lest I should let the man fall to the bottom. When his head
appeared at the brink I asked:

"'Well?' as if I expected he had a message from the drowned woman.

"We both got on the stone slab at the edge of the well and from opposite
sides we began to haul up the body.

"Mother Lecacheur and Celeste watched us from a distance, concealed from
view behind the wall of the house. When they saw issuing from the hole
the black slippers and white stockings of the drowned person they
disappeared.

"Sapeur seized the ankles, and we drew up the body of the poor woman. The
head was shocking to look at, being bruised and lacerated, and the long