Chapter 50

Theodore looked around for another route by which to get away. There seemed to be none. Just then a third and even more powerful quake hit. The shaking and heaving were intense. Suddenly the building started to sink. It was as if the soil beneath the structure had liquefied.

Theodore was sucked into a powerful vortex and dragged under a swirling mass of sand-filled water and wreckage from the disintegrating courtroom where he had been sentenced to death. Was the sea now to carry out that sentence instead of the hangman?

Theodore was submerged for what seemed an extremely long time as he struggled against the forces that pulled him downward. With supreme effort he fought his way toward the surface, his lungs screaming for air. Impossible though it seemed, he resisted the urge to open his mouth and breathe. Just when he thought his chest would explode, he emerged into bright sunlight. Coughing and choking, he took in several lungfuls of precious air.