'Now, Jane,' says Miss Coote, 'hand us a couple of light birches. We must thoroughly cure them before they are let off.' Then taking hold of the birch, she directs Jane to tie both little victims to the whipping post, and puts a tight pair of drawers on each to hide their blushing rumps.
Jane ties them up, side by side, by their wrists, the arms well stretched above their heads, and their toes only just reaching the floor. Then she produces two little pairs of very thin lawn drawers almost as delicate as muslin, so that the rosy flesh was slightly perceptible through the material. They were, if anything, rather too small, and fitted quite tightly (the youthful bottoms are so finely developed, considering the age of their owners) and leave a space of nearly six inches wide behind, where they gave a delightfully seductive view of the pink roseate flesh and the cracks of the anus; altogether their shamefaced confusion and distress, as they gracefully lift their little legs, one by one, into the drawers, and go through all three positions Jane manages to put them in, as she fastidiously arranges them for sacrifice, was a most delightful sight to me, gloating as I was in the anticipation of the pleasure the whipping would be sure to afford.
Miss coote. – 'Now, Mademoiselle, will you assist me in the whipping? I will do all the talking.'
The mother here is so distressed at the sight of her children tied up for whipping that she tries to fall on her knees, but soon remembers herself, when her hands being tied up prevent her intention. 'Oh! Oh! Miss Coote, do have mercy on my little girls,' she sobs. 'To think I should bring this on them. Oh! Oh!' trying to wring her hands.
Miss coote. – 'Hold your foolish noise, woman. I'm just going to begin. How do you like it, Minnie? How is it, Lucy?' beginning to switch them finely, soon making a lot of thin red marks all over their backs and bottoms. 'Will you ever take my fruit again, you little hussies? Warm their bottoms well for them, Mademoiselle. Take the thieving impudence out of their posteriors.'
The victims shriek in a series of shrill screams, their faces are scarlet, and the tears roll in a little stream down their pretty pitiful faces, and they beg and pray to be let off. 'Oh! Oh! we will be good, c.'
Miss Coote and her friend are delighted; the sight is so stimulating, their blood rushes through their veins and raises their voluptuous feelings of sensuality to the highest pitch, the cries of pain are so much music to their ears, and they cut the little bottoms dreadfully till the blood starts from the weals; the poor agonized mother is another spirit, which only adds to their enjoyment, as although only a spectator she seems to feel every blow, and cries and sobs as if her heart would break.
mademoiselle. – 'Look at the silly woman, you'll have something to cry for presently, Mrs. White.'
The thin drawers are cut up, and torn into rags, the birches almost worn out, and the two flagellatrices would never have stopped, but Jane interposes, for little Minnie has fainted, and Lucy seems likely to go off too.
They untie them, and with a little water and pungent smelling salts soon revive the little one, then both mother and children are refreshed by some champagne, slightly dashed with a most stimulating liqueur.
Mrs. White, who had also been released, nurses her children on her lap, caressing and kissing them, crying and hysterically sobbing over their sore bottoms. 'Poor little dears; oh! Miss Coote, you have been cruel to the innocent things.'
Miss coote. – 'How dare you say innocent things when you taught them to steal. I'll make you confess your guilt, you bad woman.'
mrs. white, all of a tremble. – 'Oh! My heart bleeds for their poor rumps, I can't help what I say.'
Miss coote. – 'Take them away, and let Mary see to their bruises, then come back and help us to cheer up the mother a little; she's dreadfully depressed, poor thing,' laughing ironically at Mrs. White.
Jane soon returns, and begins to prepare the mother for her punishment.
Miss coote. – 'Stretch her properly on the ladder; she's the worst of the lot, first tempting her husband, and then making the children help to steal.'
mrs. white. – 'Oh! I didn't think you cared about the garden stuff, it would have been spoilt.'
Miss coote. – 'Then why didn't your husband ask me what to do with it? Did you not use the money to buy ribbons and dresses?'
The poor woman groans for very shame, and has nothing to say for herself. Jane and Mademoiselle pull off her bright blue dress, and expose a fine pair of white shoulders, showing that her blushes have extended all down her neck, which is slightly flushed as they uncover it. She is a fine woman with reddish brown hair and hazel eyes, fine plump arms, and hands which do not look as if they worked too hard at home, her underclothing, skirts, and petticoats, although not of the best material, are beautifully white and tastefully trimmed with cheap lace; they soon remove everything, and find her suite sans culottes like the little girls; the poor woman blushes scarlet at the exposure of all her luscious-looking charms, her splendid prominent mount being covered with a profusion of long, curly hair, similar to what she has on her head.
Miss coote. – 'My gracious, Mrs. White, how could you come here for a whipping and have nothing on to cover your modesty; it's shockingly indelicate; what can we do?'
mademoiselle. – 'I guessed what would happen; look here, Miss Coote, I amused myself before dinner, and have made her an apron of real fresh vine leaves; how pretty they will look on her, and set off the pink flesh.'
The poor woman fairly sobs with shame at our remarks, and laughing jokes about what a fine set of rumpsteaks she has got, and how nicely they will be grilled for her. They adjust the apron of vine leaves very tastefully about her loins, and then present her to me, to kiss the rod, a fine heavy bunch of long, green fresh birchen twigs, tastefully ornamented with gaily coloured ribbons. She is made to kneel, and giving the required kiss, stammer out as whispered in her ear by Jane. 'Oh! Oh! My dear young lady – Miss Coote- do – do – whip me – soundly – for I have been a wicked- dishonest woman. Oh! Oh! forgive me, don't be too hard,' she exclaims, forgetting the orders and in a tremble of anticipation, the tears coursing down her scarlet cheeks, as she gets upon her feet; and they lay her at full length along the ladder, which is at a great angle, both arms and feet stretched out as far as possible, and tied tightly so she can scarcely move her bottom, or wriggle in the least.
All being in readiness -
Miss coote. – 'You have only half confessed your guilt, but your bottom well warmed will bring you to a full sense of it,' as she waves the tremendous rod about and makes it fairly hiss through the air, keeping the victim in agitated expectation for several seconds, when – whack – whack- whack.
Three resounding blows sound through the room, the victim's bottom immediately shows the result of a confused appearance of long red marks and weals, whilst the green leaves are flying in all directions.
mrs. white, screaming in dreadful pain. – 'Ah! Oh! Ah- r – r-re! I can't bear it! Oh! Oh! Spare me, have mercy!' The muscles of her back and loins showing by their contortions the agonizing sensations caused by the cuts in her distended and distressing position.
Miss coote. – 'How she screams! where's your courage? why the little girls bore it better than you do; scream away, it will keep you from thinking too much of the pain, I'm only just beginning and have not got warm to my work yet,' going on whack – whack – swish – swish, all the while.
victim. – 'Oh! Oh! Frightful! Oh! you'll kill me! do have mercy now.'
Miss Coote. – 'You bad woman, will you be a thief again? will you bring your little ones up to be honest in future? what do you think of a good birching, does it make your posteriors feel warm?' cutting blow after blow, with great force and deliberation; the poor woman is in most excruciating pain, and sobs and moans in her distress.
victim, hysterically. – 'Oh! Oh! I know I deserve it. Oh! I will never do it again. Oh! Ah – r-re, how terrible, I feel like being burnt with hot irons!' The blood flows freely from the often bruised weals, and the operator varies her blows so as to inflict the greatest possible torture on the poor woman by cutting her round the loins, making long weals over the lower part of her belly, and stinging the front dreadfully, then across the tender thighs, making the tips of the birch go well in between her legs, causing intense agony.
The fig leaves are all cut off and scattered, making the stems which have been interlaced look like an exploded firework as they still hang about her lacerated loins and buttocks; Miss Coote works herself up into a perfect fury of excitement, and cuts away regardless of the victim's apparent exhaustion, upbraiding her continually and making her promise to take her children to church regularly every Sunday in future, and pay particular attention to the seventh commandment, 'Thou shalt not steal.'
Mrs. White is almost too far gone to hear half of this objurgation, but slightly moans, 'Oh! my God, I shall faint. Let me die in mercy. Thou shalt not. steal. My God how I am punished,' and fairly swoons under the rod, to the great pleasure of Jane and Mademoiselle, who have exquisitely enjoyed the scene.
The victim is released, when the marks on her wrists and ankles almost cut into the flesh by the tightly tied cords fully attest what she must have suffered from her fearfully stretched position, whilst her bottom and thighs
