He thought that he knew why Espato had reserved him for the last. It was to spin out his agony, to multiply his sufferings many times. He found himself almost longing to have the thing over.
What was his surprise therefore to see Espato rise and signify by a wave of his hand that the horrid treat that he had given his bloodthirsty followers was over. The crowd dispersed, reluctantly, Phil thought, as though they were not yet sated, and this impression was confirmed by the many malignant looks cast at him as the throng gradually drifted away, leaving the solitary prisoner alone with Espato and his lieutenant.
The bandit chief sauntered down to where Phil was standing.
“Eet was a long time waiting for your time to come, eh Americano?” he said with a mocking grin. “But no. That would have been too e—eezy. When ze time come for you to die, eet must be hard and slow and long. Yes,” he repeated, “hard and slow and long. Take him away, Arigo.”
Phil followed the lieutenant, hardly able to believe that he had a reprieve. But what a reprieve and with what unimaginable horror at the end!
Still he was alive, while had he met the fate of the others, he would already have been food for the vultures. The hope that springs eternal still buoyed him up.
Almost exhausted by the terrific strain he had undergone, he was dragging himself over to the stone bench in his cell when he stumbled and would have fallen had he not reached out his hand against the wall and steadied himself. In the dim light he saw that he had knocked against a box that, with a number of other articles of loot, had been piled in his room during his absence.
He reached the bench and threw himself down on it. The tension under which he had been made him feel bruised and sore all over.
For a long time he lay there, resting and brooding over his plight. The entry of the man who brought his midday meal aroused him. He ate heartily and his spirits revived in some measure.
The box over which he had stumbled met his eye. He glanced at it indifferently, and then something familiar in it aroused his curiosity. Then suddenly with a great leap of his heart he realized what it was.