"Howl away, old chap," said Don Luis, serenely, "howl as much as you like! You can only wake the sisters Archignat and the others in the thirty coffins! Howl away, my lad! But, good Lord, how ugly you are! What a face!"
He took a few steps back, to appreciate the sight better:
"Excellent! You look very well there; it couldn't be better. Even the inscription fits: 'V. d'H.,' Vorski de Hohenzollern! For I presume that, as the son of a king, you are allied to that noble house. And now, Vorski, all you have to do is to lend me an attentive ear: I'm going to make you the little speech I promised you."
Vorski was wriggling on the tree and trying to burst his bonds. But, since every effort merely served to increase his suffering, he kept still and, to vent his fury, began to swear and blaspheme most hideously and to inveigh against Don Luis:
"Robber! Murderer! It's you that are the murderer, it's you that are condemning François to death! François was wounded by his brother; it's a bad wound and may be poisoned . . . ."
Stéphane and Patrice pleaded with Don Luis. Stéphane expressed his alarm:
"You can never tell," he said. "With a monster like that, anything is possible. And suppose the boy's ill?"
"It's bunkum and blackmail!" Don Luis declared. "The boy's quite well."
"Are you sure?"
"Well enough, in any case, to wait an hour. In an hour the Superhun will have spoken. He won't hold out any longer. Hanging loosens the tongue."