Colonel Clery, who was turning over the photographs, quickly looked up at this moment and cast a searching look on Frederick.
“Now, Charlie,” said Lady Alice, crossing over to him, “you have been in India. Do tell us if you have ever heard of this mode of execution?”
“Yes,” replied the colonel, slowly, “I have. It is, however, a very rare occurrence, and during the whole of my long stay in the East I have only known it to be applied on two occasions, both of which, as far as I can remember, took place at Baroda, a God-forsaken spot, ruled by a cruel and tyrannical man, who snaps his fingers at English laws. I particularly remember the last of these two executions, for the victim was a poor devil whose innocence was discovered some weeks after his having been put to death.”
“Oh, now, you must tell us all about it,” cried Lady Margaret, whose love of the horrible was a standing joke in the family. “It positively sounds like a story out of a novel.”
Colonel Clery, who had risen and was now standing before the fire-place, turned his eyes full upon Frederick and remarked:
“You really ought to ask Count de Vaugelade to tell you all about it, instead of me. Having been present on one of these occasions, he is certainly in a better position to satisfy your curiosity than I am.”
“Not at all, my dear colonel. If the ladies insist on hearing about this vilaine affaire, I had much rather that you would tell them. But,” he added, in a somewhat agitated voice, “is it not rather a dismal subject to discuss? Let us talk of something else.”
“No, no,” urged Lady Margaret. “We are in for the horrible! Don't disappoint us, I beg of you.”
“Well, then, as the count is so modest and declines to give us another proof of his talents as a narrator, I will tell you what I know about the matter,” said Colonel Clery, as he resumed his seat.
“It was about eight or nine years ago, and I had only recently returned to India from a long furlough in England, when all Baroda and Bombay society were startled by the announcement of the murder of a very prominent and well-known Hindoo widow, whose body had been discovered among the ruins of a temple in the outskirts of Baroda. A poor, half-witted beggar had been found removing some jewels from the corpse as it lay in the long grass, and it was immediately taken for granted that it was he who had killed her. He was immediately seized and dragged before the guicowar or king, who lost no time in sentencing him to suffer death by the elephant. This most atrocious punishment, as Monsieur de Vaugelade will doubtless have informed you, consists in tying the culprit, who is securely bound hand and foot and unable to stir, by a long rope to the hind leg of the monster. The latter is then urged to a sharp trot, and at each movement of its leg the helpless body of the victim is jerked with a bound over the stone pavement. This is kept up for about the space of half a mile or so, after which the poor wretch's sufferings are brought to a close, his head being placed on a stone block and crushed flat by the ponderous foot of the elephant.”