Up till now, Raby had been rigidly fettered, in that his right hand had
been fastened to his left foot, while another chain had bound his left
hand to his right foot. Now as an addition to this came the whole
equipment involved in "heavy irons." Two chains, consisting of six iron
rings linked together, weighing in all about a quarter of a hundred
weight, were now produced for the prisoner.
These fetters were no longer fastened, as the lighter ones had been,
with a padlock, but were to be rivetted on an anvil, so that they could
only be sawn asunder when taken off.
For the operation the prisoner was led into the yard of the Assembly
House, much to the excitement of the townspeople who gathered to witness
so unusual a spectacle, including all the women-folk. They were aghast
at seeing a young and richly clad gentleman being loaded with heavy
irons. In such a scene the crowd is on the side of the criminal, and
they were now.
When they saw Raby forced to sit down on the paving-stones, and heard
him groan with pain as his already fettered ankle received the first
stroke of the heavy hammer on the anvil, a cry burst from the
bystanders, and they could not restrain their indignation.
"Poor fellow! What has he done to deserve it?" they asked, and the women
wept freely. One of them took off her kerchief, and, kneeling down
beside him, was fain to bind it round the ankle-bone, so that the iron
should not cut it too severely, but the gaoler sternly thrust her away.
"What do condemned criminals want with that sort of thing, you stupid?
Away with you and your silly feelings. Would you have his fetters lined
with velvet? He'll soon get accustomed to them, I'll warrant you."
And he brutally tore the kerchief off Raby's ankle.
When at last the work was done, the prisoner had to rise. But this was
easier said than done, for with his fettered hands and feet, he was
almost powerless to move. Small wonder he fell back in the attempt.
Janosics laughed aloud.
But it is no laughing matter when a man in irons tries to walk.
Meantime, the women became more sympathetic than ever with the prisoner,
and openly railed at the heydukes.
"You murderers! It is a sin and a shame to treat him thus! And such a
pretty gentleman too! If we were only men we would soon teach you
gaolers to mend your manners. Why you are worse than the Turks
themselves."
"Drive the women out of the yard," cried Janosics furiously, "and then
let us be getting on, for the cage is ready for the bird."
And some of the heydukes promptly drove out the women, while the rest
looked after Raby. In one of them, who helped him to rise, Raby
recognised the man who had brought him the pitcher with the false bottom
when he was in prison. The man also evidently pitied him in his
stumbling efforts to drag one foot before the other, and showed him how
he could best do it by carefully measuring each step forward. But the
pain of the irons which had already begun to cut into his flesh, was
well-nigh unbearable, and it was with the greatest difficulty he
staggered to the cell prepared for him--a small damp dark hole with a
little grated orifice for air through which the falling snow was
drifting.
No stove warmed the frozen depths of his dungeon, but there was a huge
stake in the wall to which was affixed an iron chain: to this the
fetters of the prisoner were made fast, so that he could stir no further
than the small tether it allowed, and had to lie or crouch day and night
in the heap of straw, which was his only bed. An earthen pitcher and a
wooden bowl held respectively the drinking water and black bread which
were to last him a week, for having provided them, they needed not to
trouble further for some days about the inmate of the cell. And there
was no pitcher this time with a false bottom!
Now Raby was to know what it meant to be a captive indeed.