ips. Again and again cries of
agony escaped him as the red-hot iron touched him, although he exerted
every nerve to maintain a dogged silence. From his back, shoulders, and
chest the brutal negro ruthlessly tore pieces, holding them up to the
assembled court in triumph, while the air was filled with the nauseating
odour of burning flesh.

The sight was so sickening that I turned faint, and with difficulty
prevented myself from falling.

"Wilt thou now impart to us the knowledge that we seek?" asked Samory in
ringing tones that sounded above the whispered exultations of his
courtiers.

"Never," gasped Omar in a weak voice, his eyes starting from his head.
"Life cannot be unchequered by the frowns of fate, but death must bring
dumbness to my lips. Caution, when besmeared in blood, is no longer
virtue, or wisdom, but wretched and degenerate cowardice; no, never let
him that was born to execute judgment secure his honours by cruelty and
oppression. Hath not thy Koran told thee that fear and submission is a
subject's tribute, yet mercy is the attribute of Allah, and the most
pleasing endowment of the vicegerents of earth."

"From the lips of a fool there sometimes falleth wisdom," Samory said
impatiently. "Thou hast deemed it wise to thwart the will of one whose
wish is law, therefore ere the bud of thy youth unfolds in the fulness of
manhood, thou shalt be cut off as the husbandman destroyeth the deadly
serpent in the field."

"Is there no way to build up the seat of justice and mercy but in
murder?" cried Omar. At a signal from the slave-raider, however, the
scarred-face brute again withdrew the pincers from the fiery brazier, and
applied them once more to the wretched prince's back.

He winced and turned with such strength that his limbs, fettered as they
were in bonds of blood-smeared iron, cracked, while the muscles and veins
stood out knotted like cords. The spotless marble of the floor was
stained by a dark red pool, becoming larger every moment as the
life-blood dripped slowly from beneath.

The scene was revolting. I placed my hands over my eyes to shut out from
my gaze the horrible contortions of the victim's face.

Yet those assembled were gleeful and excited. Omar was the son of their
unconquerable enemy, and they delighted in witnessing his humiliation and
agony. Times without number the negro with the strangely-marked visage
seared the flesh of my helpless companion; then in response to his orders
his