If your verdict on
any or all of the accused is death, I shall use neither the ax nor the
cord, but propose flinging them into the river, and if God wills them to
reach the shore alive, their binding will be no hindrance to escape."
Kurzbold and his lieutenant broke out into alternate curses and appeals,
protesting that Greusel and Ebearhard had not been expelled from the
guild, and calling upon them by their solemn oath of brotherhood to
release them now that they possessed the power. To these appeals the
newly-appointed judges made no reply, and for once Ebearhard did not
laugh.
The other four directed their supplications to Roland himself. They had
been misled, they cried, and deeply regretted it. Already they suffered
punishment of a severity almost beyond power of human endurance, and
they feared their bones were broken with the cudgeling, since which
assault their bonds grievously tortured them. All swore amendment, and
their grim commander still remaining silent, they asked him in what
respect they were more guilty than the dozen others whom seemingly he
intended to spare.
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