"
"Bring them before me!" cried the duke. "We will determine this matter
for ourselves. We have a score of brave, well-paid Italians who may be
able to protect our person from the onslaught of two manacled men."
* * * * *
On this same morning the guard had been to my cell with bread and water,
and had departed. I did not know, of course, whether it was morning,
noon, or night, but I had learned to measure with some degree of
accuracy the lapse of time between the visits of the guard, and was
surprised to hear the rusty lock turn long before the time for his
reappearance. When the man entered my cell, bearing his lantern,
he said:--
"Come with me."
The words were both welcome and terrible. I could not know their
meaning--whether it was liberty or death. I stepped from the cell and,
while I waited for the guard to relock the door, I saw the light of a
lantern at the other end of a passageway. Two men with Max between them
came out of the darkness and stopped in front of me. Our wrists were
manacled behind us, and we could not touch hands. I could have wept for
joy and grief at seeing Max.
"Forgive me, Max, for bringing you to this," I cried.
"Forgive me, Karl. It is I who have brought you to these straits," said
Max. "Which is it to be, think you, Karl, liberty or death?"
"God only knows," I answered.
"For your sake, Karl, I hope He cares more than I. I would prefer death
to the black cell I have just left.
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