In another moment the emissaries had bound him and carried him to the alcove in which hung the noosed rope.
The hypnotist now pulled a lever and the method of the death intended for Locke was revealed. Directly under the suspended rope was a trap-door, which opened. Locke gazed down into blackness, nothingness. An emissary threw some small, heavy object into the yawning hole. For a long time nothing was heard. Then finally, far, far below there came to their ears the sound of a distant splash.
The fiendish plan was simple—to hang him and then to cut the rope. His body would go hurtling down to the subterranean river below and be carried out to sea.
The hypnotist reversed the lever. The trap-door closed. Locke was dragged beneath the rope and it was adjusted around his neck.
Even in this awful moment his sole thought was of Eva. Would they throw her, unconscious, down the same yawning trap?
Powerless, he stood bound, fascinated, as he saw three emissaries seize her. But instead of dragging her to the trap, they dragged her toward one of the panels in the wall.
What nameless torture was in store for her?
He struggled furiously to get free to rush to her, but the noose only tightened on his neck.
The hypnotist stepped to the lever that operated the trap under Locke's feet and began to pull the lever down.