Then he was led to the tree. I turned my back, covering my face with my hands.
“For the Cause!” I heard his gentle voice say. The carbines rang out again, and a convulsive sob burst from my throat in spite of my strong efforts to control my emotion.
Again I listened to the solemn tread of the soldiers, while from far away the sound of a shout was borne to us upon the still evening air.
Somehow, that distant shout thrilled me with a new-born hope, and I gazed eagerly along the line of roadway that skirted the forest.
De Souza was gazing there, too, with a disturbed look upon his face; but the light was growing dim, and we could see nothing.
“Number three!”
It was Paola’s turn, and he walked unassisted to the tree and set his back to it, while the soldiers passed the rope under his arms and then retired. But they left Valcour confronting the prisoner, and I saw the simper fade from Paola’s lips and an eager gleam light his pale features.
For a few moments they stood thus, separated from all the rest, and exchanging earnest whispers, while the captain stamped his foot with savage impatience.
“Come, come, Valcour!” he called, at last. “You are interfering with my duty. Leave the prisoner, I command you!”
The spy turned around, and his face was positively startling in its expression of intense agony.