again the King commanded that they should
be thrown into prison, and this time they were sentenced to torture.
Albozaida was the name of the officer who was to carry out this
sentence. In his heart he pitied and admired the missionaries, and
notwithstanding the order he had received, he merely had them shut up,
and begged of the King to pardon them. But it was no use. The King was
very angry, and demanded that his will be carried out without delay.
So there was nothing for Albozaida to do but to hand them over to the
executioner.

[Sidenote: _The End._]

Alas for them! this man was a renegade Christian, and no torture was
too great for him to inflict upon them. They were dragged through the
streets with cords round their necks, they were beaten, they were
rolled over pieces of glass and broken tiles, and when evening came,
vinegar was poured into their open wounds, lest the night should bring
too much cessation from pain. But they smiled at pain, and praised God
in the midst of the greatest tortures. This treatment failing to kill
them, the King desired to see them again. He spoke to them at first as
though he had never seen them before.

"Are you the impious men who despise the true faith, the madmen who
blaspheme the Prophet of the Lord?" he said.

"Oh King," they replied, "far from despising the true faith, we are
ready to die for it. It is true that our faith is not your faith."

The King did not appear to be displeased with this bold statement. He
had another argument at hand. He sent for a number of richly-dressed
women, and presenting them to the missionaries he said, "If you will
follow the law of Mahomet, I will give you these women for wives, and
you shall have positions of honor and power in my kingdom. If not, you
shall die by the sword!"

"Prince," they answered, "We want neither your women nor your honors.
Be such things yours, and Jesus Christ ours. Make us suffer all your
tortures, kill us. Pain will be light to us. We look to Heaven!"

Maddened by his own insufficiency the King got up, seized a sword, and
cleft their heads as though he were but a common executioner. Thus
perished the first Franciscan Martyrs.

And did they accomplish nothing? Was their mission an utter failure,
as some historians write it? Let us see for ourselves.

As soon as the missionaries had been killed, the mob took their
bodies, and dragged them in the mire, and horribly mutilated them.
However, Don Pedro, who up till