On a certain day they came to tell him that the emperor was no more.

Soon he was all alone but one; these brave soldiers who had planned with him were no more.

An alien, an outcast, he too longed for night.

And what should he do with it, this vast treasure, every franc of which meant sacrifice and unselfishness, bravery and loyalty?
Let the gold rot.

He would bury all knowledge of it in yonder chimney, confident that no one would ever find the treasure, since he alone possessed the key to it, having buried it himself.