remind himself that there was something
classically funny in three financial giants demanding from him
information of which he was entirely ignorant and, technically
speaking, putting him on the rack in order to obtain it. The fun was
grim but it existed. No one ever thought of mentioning what it was
they wanted to find out--doubtless assuming that to do so was waste of
time. For his own satisfaction Richard would dearly have loved to ask
point blank what it was all about, but to indulge curiosity to that
extent would be to imperil the safety of the cause he represented.

To keep a record of days he made a scratch on the wall paper each
morning with his finger nail. There were seventeen scratches in all
and he was as proud of them as an old campaigner of his medals for they
stood for seventeen successful engagements. Whoever it was had charge
of arranging his persecution lacked nothing in the way of imagination.
Methods of destroying his repose and a course of rigorous fasting were
prominent features but these were varied with details of a terrifying
and sometimes abominable kind. On one occasion thirty or forty rats
were introduced into his apartment where they fought and squeaked and
scurried all night long. But Richard's experiences in France had
robbed him of any particular fear of rats. If anything he welcomed
their appearance and devoted the short periods when the light was on to
shooting at them with a catapult fashioned from the elastic of a sock
suspender and a piece of angle iron detached from the underside of a
broken armchair. For ammunition he used a few bits of anthracite coal
which he found in the sitting room grate. Altogether he accounted for
seventeen before the servants arrived and deprived him of his weapon.
The remainder of the rats were corralled and carried away rejoicing.
This little entertainment took place during the first week of his
imprisonment and served the unhappy purpose of convincing his captors
that Richard's nerves were not susceptible to frivolous attacks.
Thereafter they concentrated on sterner measures. Food was reduced to
a minimum and frequently doped with chemicals that caused him acute
internal suffering. When the pain was at its height either Van Diest,
Laurence or Hipps would pay him a visit and over and over again the
question would be asked.

Times out of number sheer desperation and want of sleep almost induced
him to give away the secret but something inside