The great cave, lighted by electricity, was certainly a remarkable
sight, filled as it was with a picturesque crowd of men, some of them
in what looked like stage costumes, nearly all chattering like excited
children anticipating a treat as they watched some of their fellows
erecting a whipping-post in the centre of the place, while another was
busy working the bellows of what looked like a blacksmith's furnace and
making irons red-hot. A scene a great artist might have loved to
paint, yet the atmosphere was so sinister that Myra shivered
involuntarily.
"You are frightened, señorita?" queried Don Carlos, and it seemed to
Myra there was something mocking and sardonic in his tone. "In
England, I remember, you were renowned for your courage and your love
of adventure. Surely this is a great adventure?"
The remark stung Myra's pride, and her fair face flushed hotly.
"It disgusts and revolts me that you should try to terrorise a
defenceless man to gratify your own vanity and humiliate me," she
answered angrily. "As for being afraid, the remote prospect of having
to marry you certainly frightens me."
Don Carlos made no answer, but strode across and talked rapidly to the
men gathered round the whipping post and the furnace, evidently
explaining to them at length what he wished them to do. Myra, of
course, could not understand what was said, but she saw that some of
the men laughed while others looked disappointed, and she concluded
that Don Carlos was telling them that the preparations for the torture
of the Englishman were all bluff.
"God grant that Tony's courage does not fail him, and that he stands
the test," she whispered under her breath.
"It will be necessary for you to remain and witness the performance,
señorita," said Don Carlos coldly, returning to her. "If I spared you
the ordeal, you might again refuse to believe me when I reported the
result."
"I wish to stay," Myra answered, and her red-gold head went up proudly.
"My presence will give the man I love courage."
"It is a great gamble, and you, fair lady, are the stake," said Don
Carlos. "The stage is set and our fate will be decided within a few
minutes."
He nodded his cowled head, shouted some orders in Spanish to his men,
and took up a position beside the whipping-post, which somewhat
resembled an ancient pillory. Four men hurried to the cell in which
Standish was confined, to reappear after the lapse of a few minutes
with the prisoner between them.