As soon as it was dark I set to work on the bar, and managed to get it completely out of its socket, so that I could move it in a moment without making any noise. I then put my bed to rights, and getting in, went to sleep.
So sound were my slumbers, I did not awake till I found the jailer leaning over me, and shaking me by the shoulders. I looked up, and asked him what was the matter.
“Only that I have come to tell you that you are to be put to death to-morrow—which is a very unpleasant announcement,” he answered. “However, the commandant, being a religious man, will send a padre to you, that you may confess to him, and prepare yourself for your inevitable fate.”
“Am I to be shot?” I asked, in a tone as full of alarm as I could assume.
“No,” he answered. “A new machine has just arrived from Spain, called a garotte. From what I hear, it is a very clever invention. You will only have to sit down in a chair which has a hollow in the back, and a piece of wood which is also hollowed out comes in front; then, by turning a large screw, the two are pressed together till the windpipe is stopped up. In consequence, you will cease to breathe; but do not be alarmed, you will find it very easy, if not agreeable. You will afterwards be cut up, and the portions of your body will be exposed in various parts of the town, to show our brave soldiers how traitors are treated; but that will be a matter of indifference to you, I suppose. I only mention it that you may give a full description to your friends of what is to happen, to whom I would advise you to write during the day. You will be furnished with paper and ink for the purpose. In the meantime, the padre will visit you, and you will be wise to make a clean breast to him.”
The man spoke with a sardonic grin on his countenance, which would have been very trying had I not fully expected to disappoint him. Leaving me an ample supply of provisions, he went away, chuckling at my fancied alarm.
As soon as he closed the door, I got up and made a capital breakfast, and then prepared to receive the padre whenever he should come. My chief fear was that the doctor might not be allowed again to visit me, and that I should lose the opportunity of fixing a time with Captain Longswill for making my escape. I did not wish to offend the padre; at the same time, I determined not to make a confession of any sort to him. He might prove a kind-hearted man; and if so, I would spend the time of his visit in trying to get him to intercede for me.
I had just finished my meal, when a friar with a cowl over his head entered the cell.
“I can give you half an hour, señor padre. That will be long enough to shrive the young Englishman,” observed the jailer, as he closed the door.
“You are in a bad case, my son, I fear,” said the monk as he approached me.