George looked at his tormentor, and shuddered.
"Lina, I think, was her name," continued the Serb, drawling out his words with a refinement of cruelty.
"What—what mean you?" asked the trembling father.
"A comely maiden, by my word. Fair to look upon, is she not?"
"The devil seize thee! What next?"
"So young and delicate, and yet—six husbands. Hard to choose. Your wife could not decide to which she should belong. I stepped in, and settled the matter. I married her—to all six——" He burst into fiendish laughter.
Mute and giddy with horror, the father raised himself from the ground.
"I am sorry," continued the Serb, "that you were not here for the wedding."
"May God's justice fall upon you!" shrieked the wretched father, stifling his tears. But the parent's heart overpowered the pride of the man. He fell with his face upon the ground, and wept—tears of blood.
"Lift him up," said Basil, "that we may see him weep for the first time in his life. Weep a little, George; and you, sot, tune up your pipes, that he may have accompaniment to his tears."