utioners! You are
killing me! You are killing me!' But nothing more would she say.

"Seeing which, and that she persisted in her denial, we ordered the
torturer to proceed to the torture by jerks.

"He accordingly hoisted her ten feet from the ground, and when there we
enjoined her to tell the truth; but whether she would not or could not
speak, she answered only by a motion of the head indicating that she
could say nothing.

"Seeing which, we made a sign to the executioner, to let go the rope,
and she fell with all her weight from the height of ten feet to that of
two feet; her arms, from the shock, were dislocated from their sockets;
she uttered a loud cry, and swooned away.

"We again caused water to be dashed in her face; she returned to
herself, and again cried out, 'Infamous assassins! You are killing me;
but were you to tear out my arms, I would tell you nothing else.'

"Upon this, we ordered a weight of fifty pounds to be fastened to
her feet. But at this moment the door opened, and many voices cried,
'Enough! Enough! Do not torture her any more!'"

These voices were those of Giacomo, Bernardo, and Lucrezia Petroni.
The judges, perceiving the obstinacy of Beatrice, had ordered that the
accused, who had been separated for five months, should be confronted.

They advanced into the torture chamber, and seeing Beatrice hanging by
the wrists, her arms disjointed, and covered with blood, Giacomo cried
out:--

"The sin is committed; nothing further remains but to save our souls by
repentance, undergo death courageously, and not suffer you to be thus
tortured."

Then said Beatrice, shaking her head as if to cast off grief--

"Do you then wish to die? Since you wish it, be it so."

Then turning to the officers:--

"Untie me," said she, "read the examination to me; and what I have to
confess, I will confess; what I have to deny, I will deny."

Beatrice was then lowered and untied; a barber reduced the dislocation
of her arms in the usual manner; the examination was read over to her,
and, as she had promised, she made a full confession.

After this confession, at the request of the two brothers, they were all
confined in the same prison; but the next day Giacomo and Bernardo were
taken to the cells of Tordinona; as for the women, they remained where
they were.

The pope was so horrified on reading the particulars of the crime
contained in the confessions, that he ordered the culprits to be dragged
by wil