"We mustn"t be behindhand then."
"No," added Harry Girdwood; "they must see how Englishmen can face death."
And then, led by the girl who had, to her sorrow, brought them to this dire pa.s.s, they came to the spot where the tragedy was to take place.
Lirico, the traitor, was already pinioned, and he stood with his eyes bandaged upon the edge of the grave which was shortly to receive his lifeless body.
Upon either side of this was a newly-dug trench or grave.
One of these was for young Jack.
The other was for his stout-hearted comrade.
They needed no telling what to do now; but each went through his part in the horrible ceremony as though it had been previously rehea.r.s.ed.
Not a word was spoken.
The only signs of emotion which the boys exhibited were when they silently wrung each other"s hands before taking their places before their graves.
The girl pa.s.sed before each of the unhappy victims and shook them by the hand one after the other. "Courage," she said, in a low but firm voice, "courage, brave hearts."
"Bandage their eyes," said Hunston.
"No; let us look upon our fate," said young Jack.
"The old Harkaway brag to the very last," said Hunston, with a sneer.
"You don"t like to look a Harkaway in the face, a.s.sa.s.sin!" retorted the boy.
"Fool!" exclaimed Hunston, "since you want it, you shall have it. Fire at the middle first. They can have an opportunity of seeing a real man die before their eyes. It may give them a relish for their own share to follow."
The word was given.
"Ready! Present! Fire!"
The six rifles flashed simultaneously.
Then, as the wounded Lirico was struck, he bounded into the air and fell back into the grave--stone dead!
Hunston stood smiling grimly, even while the very men turned sick at the butchery they were forced to enact.
He, with fiend-like satisfaction, noticed the sickly pallor of the two boys" faces, and it gladdened his black heart.
"They aren"t quite so happy now," he muttered. "Now it is they suffer.
Oh, if Harkaway were here too. It would make me drunk with joy."
The girl turned to young Jack.
"Courage," she whispered, "courage; be bold."
And then turning to the firing party, she said--
"Come, do not delay. It is needless to prolong the sufferings which these poor boys feel already."
"Silence, and begone!" exclaimed Hunston fiercely. "You have no right to speak to the men."
"I have every right," returned the woman, boldly. "Silence yourself, I say, and know your place!"
Her voice and manner half-awed Hunston, who fell back a pace or two.
"My poor comrades," she went on, addressing the firing party, "this work is not to your taste. I"ll load for you."
So saying, she set to work to reload the rifles, which were piled now.
And she observed the very greatest care in this task.
"Not a shot must miss," she said to the men of the firing party, earnestly. "Every bullet must have its billet. We have to murder, but even then not to torture, these unhappy boys."
Hunston smiled sardonically.
"How very tender-hearted you have become," he said, with a sneer of contempt.
"Silence!" said the girl, turning fiercely upon him, so that he actually quailed before her indignant gaze. "Silence, I tell you, bully--butcher--villain--silence!"
Hunston would have retorted at this, but prudence bade him be silent.
For the girl was a great favourite with all the men, and he feared that they might take up the cudgels for her in a way which might be unpleasant for him.
"So, young Harkaway," he said, jeeringly, "you wish to see it all go before you. It prolongs your pleasure, and so I can"t complain. This one next."
He pointed with his sword to Harry Girdwood.
The latter looked deadly pale but resolute.
"Ready! Present! Fire!"
Young Jack turned half round, and saw his brave comrade clap his hand to his breast, totter and fall.
A cry rose to his lips.
But he stifled it ere Hunston should have this small gratification.
Hunston looked round at young Jack, and he positively bit his lips with sheer vexation to find that he was unable to make the boy betray the least sign of fear.
"You keep it up well, boy," said Hunston, "but I know well that you are ready to sink through the ground with fear, nevertheless."
"Liar!"