Chapter Six
Tried, Convicted and Punished
The crowd was restless. Half past two and still no sign of the convicted appearing on the scene. The creaking bleachers seemed hardly able to hold up under the mounting tension in the Punishment Hall.
Suddenly, the far door to the left of the audience swept open and a line of women in thin grey shifts that barely covered the important parts were ushered through. Like the chain-gang of old, they were attached to each other by chains. Although not only were they linked together through chains connecting left ankle to left ankle, the collars that circled their throats were attached by a second length of crude metal chain that assured them very little freedom of movement. About their waists was a third chain used to anchor their cuffed wrists behind
