I replied faithfully, "I won't tell you. She trusts me!" Diamond's temper flared, and he yelled, "Wrap her up, boys!" I backed away with a sudden new fear, but rough hands grabbed me and shoved me onto that stone cold chair. They held me to that awful chair, despite my eagerness to get free. Man, they were strong! Two others reached into the bad and got- a rope! I moved around, so that they couldn't tie it properly. I had to get free! I couldn't just let them tie me down; it would ruin my reputation! Although, no matter how hard I tried to get free, I couldn't. They took that rope, and I could see my fate, plain as day. Around and around they went on my arms and then they proceeded to my legs. Already I could feel the rope slitting into my arms and legs, as if it were on fire! I wanted to cry out, but my pride was too high to do that. Curse my pride. I happened to notice that they tied huge knots. I guess it was because they wanted to stall anyone who might try to set me free. Diamond went into some storeroom in his basement, obviously looking for something, but, what? As he finally came out, he held something in his hands, but since he was standing in the shadows, I couldn't tell what it was. I noticed that the gang was leaning forward slightly, trying to see what he had. Abruptly, mike started chuckling. Why? What was so funny, and what did he have? He came out of the shadows, step by step. Each step seemed longer than the last. At last he came into the light and he was holding the one thing to shut me up. It was.