I had scarcely laid the first tier of the masonry when I discovered that the .
intoxication of Fortunado had in a great measure worn off. The earliest indication I had .
of this was a low moaning cry from the depth of the recess. It was not the cry of a .
drunken man. There was then a long and obstinate silence. I laid the second tier, and .
the third, and the fourth; and then I heard the furious vibrations of the chain. The noise .
lasted for several minutes, during which, that I might hearken to it with the more .
satisfaction, I ceased my labors and sat down upon the bones. When at last the clanking .
subsided, I resumed the trowel, and finished without interruption the fifth, the sixth, and .
the seventh tier. The wall was now nearly upon a level with my breast. I again paused, .
and holding the flambeaux over the mason work, threw a few feeble rays upon the figure .
within.
The narrator in this passage is involved in the story. He is speaking in the .
past tense, relating a past experience he had been a part of. The reader can tell that the .
narrator is the main character in the story since he is telling a story about something he .
has done in the past and also refers to someone else directly. The use of "I" throughout .
concretes this assumption. He is also referring to the reading directly in progress. He .
tells the story along the lines of the order that it occurred. This is illustrated in the .
succession of the laying of the tiers he speaks about.
The atmosphere created by the narrator is one of anxiousness. "I had .
scarcely laid the first tier of the masonry when I discovered that the intoxication of .
Fortunado had in a great measure worn off," tell us that the narrator was trying to .
complete something before someone else woke up from his or her drunken stupor. "It .
was not the cry of a drunken man," reiterates this notion. Also the italicizing of the .
word "not" is telling the reader that it is important to know this bit of information.
