Then came a lull. I had regarded the subjugation of the men as merely the lighter preparatory work for some grave procedure which Captain Mason would direct after that was accomplished. At first I was doubtful of my wisdom in withholding restorative measures from Hobart, but I had done so hoping that it would have the effect both of softening Captain Mason and of impressing the other prisoners and the camp at large. Now I had to face unknown plans, but Captain Mason still remained mute. It was evident that, since quiet had come, it was from him rather than me that the camp awaited the next move; it was his crushing mastery that all felt; it was his iron hand that lay on every heart. He quietly seated himself, and without a glance at me waited, his face wearing the undisturbed calm that distinguished it always in dramatic situations.
The women in hiding peered out cautiously, and then joined those on the scene. A slight stir, accompanied with murmurs, rose in a spot where the women stood thickest, and a shrill voice came angrily.
“Yes, I will! You can’t stop me! I say it’s an outrage, and I’m going to untie that boy and take that strangling thing out of his mouth.” She was advancing, a middle-aged woman, with a determined air, and she walked straight toward Hobart, ignoring me as I stood near him. “I just want to say to you, Mr. Tudor, that it was enough to knock the senses out of him, and that it’s inhuman and brutal to keep him tied up like an animal. If the men in this camp can be bullied and scared, I’ll let you know that there’s a woman who can’t. I’m going to untie that lad, and———”
I had stepped forward and laid a kindly hand on her arm as she spoke, but she threw it off.
“Let me alone!” she cried. “If you want to strike a woman dead, you murdering bully, do it! I dare you!”
Nodding to two of the guards, I said: “Take her to her hut, and keep her there. If she makes the least noise, bind and gag her.”
“You brute! You coward!” she cried, making a dash forward.
The guards gingerly seized her, and she talked and struggled wildly. But they dragged her away, and no sound came from the hut. Captain Mason gave not the slightest attention to the incident, which greatly deepened the depression on the camp.
Hobart’s slow, heavy breathing became regular, then fluttered; his eyes opened, and rolled unseeing. Intelligence began to dawn in his face, and with it came an unconscious straining at his bonds. That hastened his recovery. A wild, clear look that roved a moment and settled malignantly on me, showed that he had come to himself. His astonished glance at his helpless state preceded an effort for speech that his gag turned to a growl, and he made a mighty tug to snap the cords. That failing, he twisted his head to see the line of prisoners standing bound. Then his gaze found Captain Mason, who was not observing him, and he savagely growled and champed his gag.
I looked furtively round for Beelo, and found him staring at me as at something strange and monstrous. It was more than I could bear, and on looking away I discovered the gathering of clouds, and then heard low thunder in the distance.