"
"We do not use the knout in the Russian prisons nowadays," he said
briefly. "His Majesty has decreed its abolition."
"But you adopt torture in Kajana and Schusselburg instead."
"My time is too limited to discuss our penal system, m'sieur," he
exclaimed impatiently, while I could well see that he was anxious to
escape before I made any further charges against him. I had already
shown him that Elma had spoken, and he feared that she had told the
truth. While this would embitter him against her and cause him to seek
to silence her at all hazards, it was of course in my own interests that
he should fear any revelations that I might make.
"You have posed in England as the uncle of Elma Heath, and yet you here
hold her prisoner. For what reason?" I demanded.
"She is held prisoner by the State--for conspiracy against Russian
rule--not by herself personally."
"Who enticed her here? Why you, yourself. Who conspired to throw the
guilt of this attempted murder of the general's wife upon her? You--you,
the man whom they call 'The Strangler of Finland'! But I will avenge the
cruel and abominable affliction you have placed upon her.
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