sharp-staved

Updated: February 27, 2025

"Confess!" said the judge. But Dom Diego set his teeth. The executioner drew the cords tighter and tighter, till the blood burst from under his victim's nails, and ever and anon he let the sharp-staved iron ladder fall against his naked shins. "O Sancta Maria!" groaned the physician at length. "These be but the beginning of thy tortures, an thou confessest not," said the judge, "Draw tighter."

Israel Zangwill - Dreamers of the Ghetto