It is in Chapter Eight that Baron Henry chops of Otto's
hand as an act of vengeance for the way that his father was killed by Otto's father.
Yet, because of the younger target audience of this book, it is important to note the
way that Pyle as the author carefully steers away from providing any precise description
of this act of maiming, and the actual event is not mentioned in the novel, with only
the events immediately before the torture being referred
to:
The fellow stooped, and loosening
Otto's hold, in spite of his struggles and cries, carried him to the bench, against
which he held him, whilst the Baron stood above
him.
After this, the
Baron is shown to exit the cell, instructing one of his servants to send a "leech" or a
doctor to Otto in order to help bind the limb. Otto's hand that is taken from him is of
course an excellent way for him to continue to demonstrate saint-like qualities later on
in the novel when he shows an incredible capacity to forgive and to demonstrate grace in
order to bring peace to the two feuding families. It is his insistence upon keeping his
promise and marrying Pauline, Baron Henry's daughter, in spite of the damage that Baron
Henry did to him, that brings the novel to a resolution.
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