CHAPTER XXXVII
VAE VICTIS!
Civil Guards were passing with a sinister air to and fro in front of
the door of the tribunal, threatening with the butts of their guns
the daring boys who stood on tip-toe or raised each other up in order
to look through the grates in the windows.
The sala did not present that same joyful aspect as it did when the
program for the festival was being discussed. It was gloomy and the
silence was almost death-like. The Civil Guards and the cuaderilleros
who were occupying the room scarcely spoke and the few words that
they did pronounce were in a low tone. Around the table sat the
directorcillo, two writers and some soldiers scribbling papers. The
alferez walked from one side to the other, looking from time to time
ferociously toward the door. Themistocles after the battle of Salamis
could not have shown more pride at the Olympic games. Doña Consolacion
yawned in one corner of the room, and disclosed her black palate and
her crooked teeth. Her cold and evil look was fixed on the door of
the jail, covered with indecent pictures. Her husband, made amiable
by the victory, had yielded to her request to be allowed to witness
the interrogation and, perhaps, the tortures which were to follow. The
hyena smelled the dead body, she licked her chops and was wearied at
the delay in the punishment.
The gobernadorcillo's chair, that large chair under the portrait of
His Majesty, was empty and seemed destined for some other person.
At nearly nine o'clock, the curate, pale and with eyebrows knit,
arrived.
"Well, you haven't made any one wait!" said the alferez sarcastically
to the friar.
"I would have preferred not to be present," replied Father Salví,
in a low voice, without taking notice of the bitter tone.... "I am
very nervous."
"As no one came, I decided that, in order not to leave the chair
empty, your presence.... You already know that the prisoners are to
leave town this afternoon."
"Young Ibarra and the teniente mayor?"
The alferez pointed toward the jail.
"Eight are in there," said he. "Bruno died last night at midnight,
but his declaration has been obtained."
The curate saluted Doña Consolacion, who responded with a yawn and an
"aah!" The friar took the big chair under the picture of His Majesty.
"We can begin," said he.
"Bring out the two who are in the stocks!" ordered the alferez in his
most terrifying voice. And turning to the curate, he added, changing
