tortures whose effects could be seen. The podesta
would be satisfied that Erculio had done his work well.

Daoud did his part too. The rest had restored his strength, and now
Daoud screamed so loudly he woke the guards and the clerk. Erculio set
the guards to work replacing the burned-down candles in the sconces
around the dungeon. When Daoud turned his throbbing head to look at the
candles, he saw hazy rings around them and rays radiating from them.
Sweat stung his eyes.

The thick wooden door of the cellar swung inward, and d'Ucello entered.
He walked over to where Daoud lay on the rack, and stood staring at him
with his peculiar, glazed expression. D'Ucello's face was more sour than
usual, and his eyelids were puffed. He looked just awakened from a sleep
that had given him little refreshment. His mouth twitched under the thin
mustache.

Daoud noticed that in one hand d'Ucello held a small silver flask with a
narrow neck and a glass stopper. D'Ucello clenched his hand around it
tightly, as if he feared to drop it.

"What has he said?" he demanded, turning to Erculio.

"Just much screaming, Signore." Erculio looked across the room at the
bearded clerk, who nodded vigorously.

"You have not hurt him enough, then, Erculio," said the podesta. "He
should be offering us _something_ by now. To withstand torture for so
long almost smacks of sorcery."

"Perhaps he really has nothing to tell," Erculio ventured.

"Nonsense!" D'Ucello glared at the dwarf. "Even an innocent man would
make the torture stop, if he had to lie to do it. And this man is not
innocent."

_By that one remark Erculio risks much for me_, thought Daoud, praying
the little man would not again endanger himself.

"Attenzione," said d'Ucello, coming close to Daoud's head and holding
the flask so Daoud could see it. He withdrew the stopper, a long icicle
of glass. He held the flask low over the rack table and tilted it
momentarily. A few drops of dark brown liquid splashed onto the wood. At
once d'Ucello righted and stopped the flask.

A white flash, bright as lightning, burst before Daoud's face, blinding
him.

He jerked his head back and squeezed his eyes shut. He heard Erculio
curse in Italian and the clerk and the guards cry out.

Smoke burned Daoud's nostrils and throat. As he coughed, he opened his
eyes and saw a small fire burning its way into the wood a hand's breadth
from his face. He felt a wave of heat. D'Ucello and his men watched in