"And what happened to you here?" demanded the earl. "Why, first they carried me up to a place called the castle, my lord," answered Austin Jute, "where I was crammed into a dark, cold hole, and had nothing given me to eat but nasty stuff made of oatmeal and water; but, at the end of some hours, they took me down to what they called the abbey, where I was not so well off as before. Bad's the best, they say, but better bad than worse; and so it was in my case, for now I was left in the dark without anything to eat or drink at all for a great many hours, till the sunshine came in at a hole up above, and I began to whistle to pass the time. Soon after I was taken out, and was carried to a room where there were five or six people, and a large curtain across one end of the room. There was a table, too, with several things upon it, some little and some big, made of iron, and of very odd unpleasant shapes. One was like a barbecuing spit, only not so big; and I heard them call it the boot. A stout man was standing by the table, twice as big as I am, with his jerkin off and his sleeves turned up. I did not like his look at all. When I was brought in, those who were at the table began to cross-question me in all manner of ways as to what I did in Scotland, and how I came to be at Trochrie; and I beat about the bush a long time, especially when they asked me about my lady----" "Then they knew already she was there?" said the earl. "I'm not quite sure, my lord, now," said Austin Jute, frankly. "They seemed to know at the time; but I believe they took me in. I would not tell you a lie, my lord, for the world; but I've a strong notion they made me betray myself, by pretending to know more than they did. I'm very sorry for it; but what's done can't be undone. A bolt that's shot must go its own way. However, when I found that, either by what I said or by what they themselves knew, they were quite sure of the matter, I refused to answer any more questions as to how she was brought there, and all the rest. Then they threatened to put the boot on me, as they called it. I did not like that at all. I should have fancied my leg a pig being roasted alive; but instead of that they put a thing upon my thumb, and told me to answer truly, or it should be screwed up."