"Have you no pity?"
"None."
"If we refuse the food you offer us, if we prefer to die, at once, we can deprive you of the pleasure of torturing us."
"You can suit yourself. My experience is that life is sweet; hope lives eternal, you know. You can amuse yourself with the hope that you have still a chance. Do so; it is immaterial to me. I know what the end will be. Be silent now; you have talked enough."
He examined our fastenings to see that they were secure, and then he gagged us. Before he did so, however, I said to Sophy:
"Can you forgive me, my dear, for bringing this upon you?"
"There ain't nothink to forgive," she replied. "If I've got to die I'll die game."
Dr. Peterssen laughed sardonically, and did not give me time to say another word. The spirit of the child amazed me; she was of the stuff of which heroes are made. "If by a fortunate chance," I thought, "we escape the deadly danger which holds us fast she shall be richly rewarded." I saw no hope of escape, but I would cling to life to the last. Dr. Peterssen was right in his conjecture; I would not hasten the doom with which we were threatened, and which seemed inevitable. I slept fitfully, and in my intervals of wakefulness I judged from Sophy's regular breathing that she slept more peacefully than I. I was thankful for that. Where our gaoler took his rest I do not know. He did not disturb us for many hours. My eyes had grown accustomed to the darkness, and when I fully awoke I could dimly see Sophy's face. She could see me too, for when I smiled at her she smiled at me in return. Clearly it was Dr. Peterssen's intention to keep us alive for some time at least. He gave us bread and biscuits to eat and water to drink. Days passed in this miserable way and if I do not dwell upon them it is because I have little that is new to relate. Occasionally Dr. Peterssen allowed us to talk, and bandied words with us for his own malicious gratification. I asked him once whether we could purchase our release.
"You would give a large sum for it," he said.
"All that I possess in the world," I answered.