_Question._ "Did the ropes with which your hands were tied hurt you?"
_Answer._. "My hands were not tightly bound. They did not hurt me mch."
_Question._ "Did the rope round the neck hurt?"
_Answer._ "No... I don't know. I was terrified. I thought that I had been blinded, that I was dead, that it was all over...."
_Question._ "Did the ropes round your feet hurt you?"
_Answer._ "Yes, very much. But I did not feel it at the time. It was only when I came back to my senses several times, and that was terrible."
[Illustration: THE BED ON WHICH I WAS BOUND DURING THE "FATAL NIGHT."]
_In reply to a Question._ "They gagged me with cottonwool, but I don't remember at what precise moment. The cottonwool was forced down my mouth. It nearly choked me and I thought I was dying. When I came back to my senses, I had an awful sensation of agony. I was stifling... I moved my arms, but felt that by doing so I was strangling myself; I felt that when I moved my arms either to the right or to the left, they acted upon the rope round my neck and I felt then a terrible pressure on my throat.... But when I did not move at all, the rope round my neck did not hurt. The cottonwool made breathing almost impossible. So I began to push it forward with my tongue. It was very difficult to remove the gag... I moved my tongue; I moved my jaw... I turned and twisted the cottonwool in my mouth and it was a long time before I could remove it. I even think I had not got rid of it all when the ropes were cut. The ropes round my hands were cut by Rémy Couillard, I believe. Whilst I moved the wadding with my tongue, my mouth was quite dry... I breathed as best I could.... No, I don't know whether I breathed with my nose only. I cannot remember things quite clearly. I came back to my senses several times, but it was only at daybreak, when I recovered a little, that I was able to remove the gag...."
_Question._ "When you moved your head, you say that those movements tightened the rope round your neck?"
_Answer._ "I felt I was strangling myself; but I tried to be brave.... I also tried to free my hands, but found it was impossible, for when I moved them the ropes tightened round my neck.... I did not know if the men were still there.... My mind was in a whirl.... But I had courage, for they had said they would not kill any one."