In another moment the emissaries had bound him and carried him to the
alcove in which hung the noosed rope.
The hypnotist now pulled a lever and the method of the death intended
for Locke was revealed. Directly under the suspended rope was a
trap-door, which opened. Locke gazed down into blackness, nothingness.
An emissary threw some small, heavy object into the yawning hole. For a
long time nothing was heard. Then finally, far, far below there came to
their ears the sound of a distant splash.
The fiendish plan was simple--to hang him and then to cut the rope. His
body would go hurtling down to the subterranean river below and be
carried out to sea.
The hypnotist reversed the lever. The trap-door closed. Locke was
dragged beneath the rope and it was adjusted around his neck.
Even in this awful moment his sole thought was of Eva. Would they throw
her, unconscious, down the same yawning trap?
Powerless, he stood bound, fascinated, as he saw three emissaries seize
her. But instead of dragging her to the trap, they dragged her toward
one of the panels in the wall.
What nameless torture was in store for her?
He struggled furiously to get free to rush to her, but the noose only
tightened on his neck.
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