door at one side; we then saw that the engine was of considerable
thickness, leaving just room enough inside for a man to be placed. The
door was of equal thickness and of great weight, for it took the
custodian all his strength, aided though he was by the contrivance of
the pulley, to open it. This weight was partly due to the fact that the
door was of manifest purpose hung so as to throw its weight downwards,
so that it might shut of its own accord when the strain was released.
The inside was honeycombed with rust--nay more, the rust alone that
comes through time would hardly have eaten so deep into the iron walls;
the rust of the cruel stains was deep indeed! It was only, however, when
we came to look at the inside of the door that the diabolical intention
was manifest to the full. Here were several long spikes, square and
massive, broad at the base and sharp at the points, placed in such a
position that when the door should close the upper ones would pierce the
eyes of the victim, and the lower ones his heart and vitals. The sight
was too much for poor Amelia, and this time she fainted dead off, and I
had to carry her down the stairs, and place her on a bench outside till
she recovered. That she felt it to the quick was afterwards shown by the
fact that my eldest son bears to this day a rude birthmark on his
breast, which has, by family consent, been accepted as representing the
Nurnberg Virgin.

When we got back to the chamber we found Hutcheson still opposite the
Iron Virgin; he had been evidently philosophising, and now gave us the
benefit of his thought in the shape of a sort of exordium.

'Wall, I guess I've been learnin' somethin' here while madam has been
gettin' over her faint. 'Pears to me that we're a long way behind the
times on our side of the big drink. We uster think out on the plains
that the Injun could give us points in tryin' to make a man