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that I eat poison me , and the earthT that T tread upon sink in , under my feet , if any of these vows that I have made are not true . " " Be it so , " said the president . " Edmund Waltham , clerk in the employment of Senor Darkle , has been denounced by Joachim Breves . What say ye , members of the society ? " "Death ! " was the unanimous answer .
" Joachim Breves is ordered to seek out Edmund Waltham , and execute the sentence upon him . " " Edmund Waltham is here , " said Joachim Breves , pointing down to the area in the centre of the room . " He was one of the two who . broke into our dwelling . "
The president touched a spring , and a trap-door rose through the floor , bearing upon it Villiers , tied hand and foot , with his eyes bandaged . " This is one , but where is the other ? " said the president . , "" He has not escaped , that were impossible . " The Freemason , who had hitherto sat perfectly still by me , now rose and said , " Sefior , it is possible that the accused might have some defence to make . "
" The society is ready to hear any defence that can be offered , " replied the president ; " we do not condemn unheard . " I hereupon placed a paper in the hands of my neighbour , containing a pretty accurate statement of my ease . Looking over it , he
read aloud several parts of it , and laid much stress upon the overseer s treatment of the slave . Unfortunately , Joachim Breves ' s character was somewhat too well known for the society to have any doubt about the truth of this defence . Nevertheless , a reply was expected from him , and when my advocate sat down , the president called on Breves . A silence of a few moments ensued , and then it was discovered that his
place was vacant . A murmur of disgust ran round the room , and the president , rising , announced that Joachim Breves had forfeited his privileges as a member of that society , and ordered that he should be either seized and brought there to incur the punishment that he had invoked upon his own head , or that any member of the society should inflict it upon him wherever he might happen to find him . Judgment was now to be pronounced upon Villiers . A short
consultation took place , while my Masonic neighbour whispered to me , that I was not yet safe . If any search was instituted for me , he said , I should very probably be discovered . I must not , therefore , reckon on safety too soon . " Members , " said the president , "the prisoner has penetrated into our secret place by force ; he has burst open the door , and found out our habitation . Secrecy must be preserved , that the dealings of this society may not yet be made known . How can his mouth be stopped ? "
' By stopping his breath , " was the reply . " The member through whom the door was discovered will take the dagger from its sheath , " said the president . While this member went to perform this task there was a dead
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Untitled Article
that I eat poison me , and the earthT that T tread upon sink in , under my feet , if any of these vows that I have made are not true . " " Be it so , " said the president . " Edmund Waltham , clerk in the employment of Senor Darkle , has been denounced by Joachim Breves . What say ye , members of the society ? " "Death ! " was the unanimous answer .
" Joachim Breves is ordered to seek out Edmund Waltham , and execute the sentence upon him . " " Edmund Waltham is here , " said Joachim Breves , pointing down to the area in the centre of the room . " He was one of the two who . broke into our dwelling . "
The president touched a spring , and a trap-door rose through the floor , bearing upon it Villiers , tied hand and foot , with his eyes bandaged . " This is one , but where is the other ? " said the president . , "" He has not escaped , that were impossible . " The Freemason , who had hitherto sat perfectly still by me , now rose and said , " Sefior , it is possible that the accused might have some defence to make . "
" The society is ready to hear any defence that can be offered , " replied the president ; " we do not condemn unheard . " I hereupon placed a paper in the hands of my neighbour , containing a pretty accurate statement of my ease . Looking over it , he
read aloud several parts of it , and laid much stress upon the overseer s treatment of the slave . Unfortunately , Joachim Breves ' s character was somewhat too well known for the society to have any doubt about the truth of this defence . Nevertheless , a reply was expected from him , and when my advocate sat down , the president called on Breves . A silence of a few moments ensued , and then it was discovered that his
place was vacant . A murmur of disgust ran round the room , and the president , rising , announced that Joachim Breves had forfeited his privileges as a member of that society , and ordered that he should be either seized and brought there to incur the punishment that he had invoked upon his own head , or that any member of the society should inflict it upon him wherever he might happen to find him . Judgment was now to be pronounced upon Villiers . A short
consultation took place , while my Masonic neighbour whispered to me , that I was not yet safe . If any search was instituted for me , he said , I should very probably be discovered . I must not , therefore , reckon on safety too soon . " Members , " said the president , "the prisoner has penetrated into our secret place by force ; he has burst open the door , and found out our habitation . Secrecy must be preserved , that the dealings of this society may not yet be made known . How can his mouth be stopped ? "
' By stopping his breath , " was the reply . " The member through whom the door was discovered will take the dagger from its sheath , " said the president . While this member went to perform this task there was a dead