The hoodwink was removed, and Stevens looked about him, treading warily,
like one on the top of a tower; the great height of the mountain made
him giddy. Obediently he lay face downward on the thunderbolt, and
yielded up his wrists and ankles to fastenings provided for them.
"They're not going to lower him with those cords, are they?"
It was a stage-whisper from the darkness which spake thus.
"Oh, I guess it's safe enough!" said another, in the same sort of
agitated whisper.
"Safe!" was the reply. "I tell you, it's sure to break! Some one stop
'em--"
To the heart of the martyred Stevens these words struck panic. But as he
opened his mouth to protest, the catastrophe occurred. There was a snap,
and the toboggan shot downward. Bound as he was, the victim could see
below him a brick wall right across the path of his descent. He was
helpless to move; it was useless to cry out. For all that, as he felt in
imagination the crushing shock of his head driven like a battering-ram
against this wall, he uttered a roar such as from Achilles might have
roused armed nations to battle.
Pages:
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233