whom they had never heard aught but good; and they felt
loath to perform the awful deed. But not so the patriotic sons of
Skerbood.

"Why not throw the guilty rebels in?" cried Shagoth, with an air of
importance.

"As ye appear to take far more pleasure in this transaction than we do,
we are very willing to bestow the honor of throwing them in on
yourselves. So proceed with your delightful performance," said an
officer, at the same time giving way, while his companions followed him
some two or three steps downward.

"With all pleasure!" answered Scribbo, while, with fiendish eagerness,
they both turned to perform the foul deed. With a firm grasp they first
laid hold on Azariah, and he was thrown into the midst of the flames. The
same was done to Mishael; and, finally, as Hananiah dropped to the
burning depth below, the ascending flames became doubly fierce; at the
same moment the wind shifted and became strong, and, as sudden as a flash
of lightning, the flames poured their awful vengeance on the guilty heads
of Scribbo and Shagoth. For a moment they whirled in the midst of God's
avenging scourges, crying loudly for help; but no help could be
administered! In another instant they became bewildered, and soon their
blackened forms fell on the edge of the furnace, where a few moments
before had lain the sons of Judah!

The king had not accompanied the prisoners to the fatal spot, but
continued, in a surly mood, to sit on his elevated throne. He was far
from being satisfied, and he inwardly regretted his severity toward the
best of his officers.

The furnace was a roofless inclosure, twenty feet square, built of very
thick walls in solid masonry. At the height of about twenty-five feet
from the ground, on the inside, there were ponderous bars of iron, which
were made to cross each other at right angles, and which fastened in the
walls, forming the bottom of the furnace into which the victims were
thrown from above. Below, in different parts, were appropriate places for
fagots and light combustibles wherewith to heat the furnace. To the lower
story there were eight doors or openings, two on each square, through
which easy access was obtained to the fireplaces. On the outside there
was but one entrance to the top. This was by means of massive stone
steps. The depth from the edge of the furnace to the crossbars below was
fifteen feet, making the whole height, from the ground, forty feet. From
above also, there were step