Now he realised where he was, and what it all meant. The little door to the left, behind him, that he had noticed as he came in, was the door of which he had heard other Catholics speak, that led down to the great crypt, where so many before him had screamed and fainted and called on God, from the rack that stood at the foot of the stairs, or from the pillar with the fixed ring at its summit.
He had faced all this in his mind again and again, but it was a different thing to have the horror within arm’s length; old phrases he had heard of the torture rang in his mind—a boast of Norton’s, the rackmaster, who had racked Brian, and which had been repeated from mouth to mouth—that he had “made Brian a foot longer than God made him”; words of James Maxwell’s that he had let drop at Douai; the remembrance of his limp; and of Campion’s powerlessness to raise his hand when called upon to swear—all these things crowded on him now; and there seemed to rest on him a crushing swarm of fearful images and words. He made a great effort, and closed his eyes, and repeated the holy name of Jesus over and over again; but the struggle was still fierce when Wade’s voice, harsh and dry, broke in and scattered the confusion of mind that bewildered him.
“Take the prisoner to a cell; he is not to go back to the Clink.”
Anthony felt a hand on his arm, and the gaoler was looking at him with compassion.
“Come, sir,” he said.
Anthony rose feeling heavy and exhausted; but remembered to bow to the Commissioners, one or two of whom returned it. Then he followed the gaoler out into the ante-room, who handed him over to one of the Tower officials.
“I must leave you here, sir,” he said; “but keep a good heart; it will not be for to-day.”
When Anthony got to his new cell, which was in the Salt Tower, he was bitterly angry and disappointed with himself. Why, he had turned white and sick like a child, not at the pain of the rack, not even at the sight of it, but at the mere warrant! He threw himself on his knees, and bowed down till his head beat against the boards.
“O Lord Jesus,” he prayed, “give me of Thy Manhood.”