The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1903-11-21
u THE oath Of September. 1901.
Martin INLAND. the young man
in charge of the old castle of
Rothberg, followed the last

n MdFlln llniaHQ. the young man
in charge of the old castle of
Y Rothberg, followed the last
visitors to the door, and be-
gan to put everything in order
for the night. He PASSED through the
cells or the prison vault, arranged the
rusty chains and thumb-screws tongs.,
and other instruments of torture which
had been left in his care by the fathers
of the town. :.S<ft' 2 -
He was a slender young man. with
He lived i'll his books so entirely that
the. doctor had warned his father
against the sons exaggerated bent for
study. But the boy earned $500 crowns
by taking charge of the old castle, and
the money was welcome. for his father
was not rich, and. besides. he had a
cousin in the army who needed assist
ance.
Three DAYS before the opening of this
s sn Martin had lived through an
ne had suddenly had the halucination
mat the sinister room was full Of vic
Inns. He saw agonized faces, and he
heard the death groans of the prison.
changed into Il devlish joy. He i'm
aag'ned that he himself was the execu-
toner. and was torturing the victims
with his own hands Then he suddenly
came to and found himself alone with
his books. He told nobody of his ex-
perience. but while still under the i'm
preston Of it he vowed to give up his
study Of the middle ages.
When morning came. however, ne
laughed at his fears and continued his
work and his studies as before For
three days he hardly left the dungeons,
The evening on which this story opens
his cousin, Paul INLAND. who was at
nome on q .furlough. became anxious
over Martin s prolonged absence and
had ,,o1 1ate ,, IN the evening. his cousin
him in. and he raped on Martins
door several times before it was op-
ened, and Martin beckoned him to
my dear Martin. what is the mat
terri, he cried. startled by the CLEAN
in his cousins eyes. why do Won
1 I9t;. at me- in that way? Are you iii?
Wait | will go for doctor"
=, Martins only answer was to shut
the the heavy door and lock it. Paul was
not surprised. He was used to his cou-
SINS silence and followed him unsus-
pectlngly, through the hall into the
t xauit: WI Where in the middle ages I'M
again ne asked. What is the matter.
to me?"
- The 1naG answer vas a long: wailing cry.
II seemed to Paul like the howl of a
his cousin had gone raving mad. Paul
INLAND, however. was not afraid.
ln9ugh the scene was gruesome-the
oark prison lighted by a single lantern.
Tar from any living being-it did not
occur to the young soldier that he was
III DANCER You are i'll. Martin" he
repeated. come home with me-
His cousin did not answer but paced
up and down like Gagged beast, NUT
terlns the long forgotten names of
prisoners who had been tortnred 70
death in the chamber centuries ago.
once ne stopped at the rack. and bend
ing over 1t. gave fearful howl Of ioy
which echoed through the vaults
Then Paul made fearful mistake
ae tried to take Martin by force and
garry MN home in his strong arms.
But the madman sprang upon him with
superhnman strength and they rolled
over the stone floor.
PaW was dragged over the floor to-
ware the iron chamber. and then the
intention of his cousin began to daWn
upon him: The awful Thought para1vz.
ed him: he tainted where he lay. and