Max emerged from his hiding place, and stood with arms folded before the servants of the pasha.
“I am to blame. I was pursued. I fell in your cellar and was trying to get away. I found myself here by mistake. Do with me as you like.”
“Don’t hurt him,” pleaded Lalla, and all the others took up the prayer.
But the men were inexorable, they knew their duty.
“He must die,” said they.
“No, no, no!” shrieked the women, but in the midst of their cries Max was seized, his hands tied by his sides, after which he was carried down the steps into the great noisome cellar by which he had entered.
Max did not try to bribe his captors.
He never made a sound, but kept his teeth close together.
“If I die,” he thought, “they shall see I can die game.”
But he felt that he had not a hope nor a chance to escape, when they produced a great sack and covered him with it.