“Certainly a very bad case; as bad as it could be. And the woman, who is she?” asked the Governor.
“A political suspect in league with the man. I have reason to believe that she incited him to attack me. I had the fellow separated from the rest and ordered them not to go near him on pain of sharing his punishment. I really did that as a test to find out if he had any close associates among them. She went to him at once in defiance of my orders; and I find that they are old companions. They acted together all the night in a very suspicious manner indeed.”
“She looks very young and fragile for such a punishment.”
“Your Excellency will see that flagrant disobedience of our orders such as this woman was guilty of cannot be passed over. She knew the penalty of disobedience; and if prisoners find that we can be set at defiance with impunity, the difficulty of keeping them in subjection will be very great. I feel that my sense of duty compels me to press this case.”
“I see that, of course. The doctor had better examine her to see if she can bear the punishment.”
“You may of course leave that to me,” was the reply; and the Governor was quite willing to do it.
A pause followed, and I was waiting to be questioned, for I had not even been asked my name, when Pia’s clear young voice broke the silence.
“General de Sama.”
If a bomb had exploded suddenly in the room it would not have produced much more astonishment. The Governor looked up with surprise; the captain shouted “Silence her;” and the two men holding Pia shook her angrily, one of them clapping a hand to her mouth. It was evident that none but official dogs must bark in that place, and for a prisoner to open her lips was a crime.
I made an effort to explain, but before a couple of words were out of my lips, I was silenced as Pia had been.