CHAPTER XXXI
ELIAS'S FAMILY.
"Some sixty years ago my grandfather lived in Manila and kept books
for a Spanish merchant. My grandfather was then very young, but was
married and had a son. One night, without any one knowing the cause,
the store-house was burned. The fire spread to the store and from the
store to many others. The losses were very heavy. Search was made for
the incendiary, and the merchant accused my grandfather. In vain he
protested and, as he was poor and could not pay celebrated lawyers,
he was condemned to be whipped publicly and to be led through the
streets of Manila. It was not a great while ago that this infamous
punishment was still in use here. It was a thousand times worse than
death itself. My grandfather, abandoned by everybody except his wife,
was tied to a horse and, followed by a cruel multitude, was whipped on
every corner, in the sight of men, his brothers, and in the vicinity of
the numerous temples of the God of Peace. When the unfortunate man,
disgraced forever, had satisfied the punishment by his blood, his
tortures and his cries, they untied him from the horse, for he had
become unconscious. Would to God he had died! As a refined cruelty,
they gave him liberty. His wife, embarrassed with a child at the time,
begged in vain from door to door for work or alms that she might care
for her sick husband and the poor son. But who would have confidence
in the wife of an infamous man guilty of arson? The wife, then,
had to give herself up to prostitution."
Ibarra started from his seat.
"Oh! do not be disturbed! Prostitution was not the only dishonor
which she and her husband suffered. Honor and shame no longer existed
for them. The husband cured his wounds, and, with his wife and son,
hid in the mountains of this province. Here the woman brought forth
a still-born child, deformed and full of disease. In the mountains,
they lived for several months, miserable, isolated, hated and fleeing
from all. Unable to endure the misery, less valorous than his wife,
and growing desperate at seeing her ill and deprived of all aid and
comfort, my grandfather hanged himself. The body rotted in the sight of
the son, who was now scarcely able to take care of his sick mother. The
bad odor of the rotting corpse disclosed it to Justice. My grandmother
was accused and condemned for not having given notice. The death of
her husband was attributed to her and people believed it. For, what
is a wife of a wretch not capable of doing after having prostituted
herself? If she took oath, they said she perjured herself; if she wept,
