our chin up, and we saw the red froth of
our mouth on the withered fingers, and the
Judge asked:

"Where have you been?"

But we jerked our head away, hid our
face upon our tied hands, and bit our lips.

The lash whistled again. We wondered
who was sprinkling burning coal dust upon
the floor, for we saw drops of red twinkling
on the stones around us.

Then we knew nothing, save two voices
snarling steadily, one after the other,
even though we knew they were speaking
many minutes apart:

"Where have you been where have you been
where have you been where have you been? . . ."

And our lips moved, but the sound trickled
back into our throat, and the sound was only:

"The light . . . The light . . . The light. . . ."

Then we knew nothing.

We opened our eyes, lying on our stomach