CHAPTER XL
THE IRON CAGE
Tchigorsky made a long pause before he resumed his story. His nervesappeared to require composing. It was impossible to shake off the horrorof the past. At length he went on again.
"I saw the cruel light flame into the eyes of the princess; I saw thatshe was pleased and yet sorry to learn our decision. She gave a sign andwe were brought nearer to her.
"'You understand what your refusal means!' she said. 'You have been herelong enough to know how carefully our secrets are guarded and also howwe punish those who try to read them. Where are those scripts?'
"We had no scripts and I said so. As a matter of fact, such formul? andpapers as we had managed to become possessed of had been smuggled beyondLassa to Ralph Ravenspur's servant, Elphick, who had conveyed them to aplace of safety. But my statement was without effect.
"'Strip them,' she said, 'and put them in the baths.'
"We were going to learn then what those cages were for.
"There is no need to remove our clothing,' I cried. 'We will do itourselves!'
"I was afraid our revolvers should be discovered, or the cartridges berendered useless by immersion. Ralph seemed to understand, for, likemyself, he quickly discarded his robes and slippers and professedhimself to be ready.
"Then the grating was raised and we were placed on our back in ashallow bath formed in the shape of a coffin, and not more than teninches deep. As first the baths were empty, but gradually they werefilled with water until we had to raise our faces and press them againstthe bars to breathe. I thought that we were to be suffocated in thisshallow water--a dreadful idea that filled me with stifling anxiety--butthere was worse to come."
Again Tchigorsky paused and wiped his brow.
"The suspense was torture; the terrible uncertainty of what was going tohappen was agony. Imagine being drowned with a bare half-inch of waterover your lips and nostrils. I turned my head a fraction of an inch onone side, and then I saw that the water could not rise quite high enoughto drown me without overflowing the edge of the bath. Evidently this wasbut the first chapter in the book of lessons. We could breathe byplacing our faces against the bar. What next?
"There was no occasion to ask the question. Though my heart was drumminglike the wings of an imprisoned fly, and though there was the roar of afurnace in my ears, I could make out the crack and rattle of machinery,and the bars over the cage began to move. My face, to escape the water,was so closely pressed to the bars that the friction was painful.
"The bars slid along, and as they did so I remembered the longprojecting ends which were glowing yellow and blue in the braziers. Myheart ceased drumming and then seemed to stand still for the moment. Ihad guessed the riddle. A second later and the horizontal bars over myface were white hot.
"Here was the situation, then--I had either to press my face againstthose cruel bars or drown in a few inches of water. Could the mind ofman imagine a more diabolical torture? I cried aloud; I believe myfriend did also, but I cannot say. My face flinched involuntarily fromthe scar of the blistering iron; I held my breath till the green and redstars danced before my eyes.
"Flesh and blood could stand it no longer, and I was literally bound toraise my head. Into the flesh, as you have seen for yourself, those hotbarriers pressed, while I filled my lungs with a deep draught ofdelicious air. But the agony was so great that I had to go down again.The water cooled the burns for the moment. But you can imagine how itintensified the agony afterwards.
"When I raised myself again the bars were cool. But only for an instant,for they came hot once more, this time in a horizontal direction. Thesame ghastly business was enacted; again there was the sense ofsemi-suffocation, again the long draught of pure air and the pain fromthe bars. And then, while wondering, half-delirious, how long it couldlast, something gave way and I fainted.
"That I deemed to be death; but it was nothing of the kind. When I cameto I was lying on the floor writhing in agony from my wounds.Fortunately I had not lost my sight, nor had Ralph at that time. He wasto discover later that the injuries received were fatal to his eyes.
"He was lying by my side and groaning with pain like myself. A morehideous and more repulsive sight than my companion's face I never wishto look upon. And doubtless he had the same thoughts of me. But I didnot think of that at the moment.
"We were alone. I staggered to my feet and across to the door. It wasfastened, of course. For a time we were too maddened by pain to takeheed of anything, but gradually reason came back to us. My first ideawas of revenge. Ralph had grasped for his robes and his revolver was inhis hand.
"'Heaven help the first man who comes in!' he yelled.
"Like a drunken lunatic, I applauded the sentiment. For a minute we wereboth mad as the drugged Malay who runs amuck. Fortunately nobody didcome in for some time, and gradually wiser counsels prevailed. Weslipped into our garments and hid our revolvers. Then from ragingmadmen we passed to tears. We were so spent and exhausted that we criedlike little children.
"But men like ourselves are not easily daunted. The pain was stillgreat, but this only stimulated our desire to live and gain the betterof those who had so cruelly used us. Later a priest conducted us intoanother room, where the princess awaited us.
"She smiled as she looked at our faces. That smile was nearly the end ofher. Many a time since have I regretted that I didn't finish her careerthen and there. Had she betrayed the least sign of fear I should havedone so. And by so doing your people would have been saved many a bittersorrow."
"At the expense of your life," Geoffrey said.
Tchigorsky shrugged his shoulders.
"What matter?" he said. "The few suffer for the many. Well, as I wassaying----"
The speaker paused suddenly as his eye caught something moving along thebeach. It was the figure of a woman creeping along as if in search ofsome missing object. She proceeded very slowly until she approached thespot where the boat lay filled and sunk, and then she paused abruptly.
For a minute she stood fascinated by the sight, then she flung her handshigh in the air, and a bitter wailing cry escaped her. If she had been afisherman's wife suddenly brought face to face with the dead body of herhusband or lover, her wail of anguish had not been more poignant.
"Who can she be?" Geoffrey asked.
Tchigorsky said nothing. The woman stood with her hands raised. As sheturned and ran towards the cliffs, moaning as she went, Geoffreystarted.
"Marion," he said. "Marion."
He would have dashed forward, but Tchigorsky restrained him.
"That is not your Marion," he said. "Your Marion does not dress likethat."
Geoffrey looked again. It was Marion and yet not Marion. It was thegirl in the blue serge dress and red tam-o'-shanter who resembled her sostrikingly. What did this girl know about him, and why did she standwailing over his boat? He felt he must solve this mystery.
"Sit down," Tchigorsky said slowly. "Sit down."
"But," Geoffrey cried, "I insist upon knowing----"
"And spoiling everything. Sit down, I say, or I shall have to detainyou. I don't fancy you would care to measure your strength with mine."
Geoffrey dropped into his seat.
"Perhaps not," he said. "I don't believe you want me to know who thatgirl is."
"I have heard worse guesses," Tchigorsky said dryly.