alive and knew each other. In a
few hours they would be up and out on the streets, walking past him as
that "cat" had just walked past, but nudging each other at sight of him
and whispering: "There goes Pascualo _el llanut!_" Never! Ch--st, he
would die first! His mother hadn't brought him into the world to be the
butt of the whole Cabanal. First, Tonet! And then Dolores! And then
every damned man who got in his way. And then--well, then,--what were
jails for, anyway, but for men worth the salt they eat! And if it was
worse than jail ... ready for that, too. He might die at sea sometime,
anyhow. Well, suppose they did squeeze his gullet up there on a
scaffold! He would be dying like a sailor with good boards under his
feet. And they would know they were garroting a man, and not a weakling!

He broke into a run, his elbows drawn in, and his head lowered, roaring
as though he were running to grapple with a mortal enemy. In the dark he
collided with posts and trees. But he did not care. A mad instinct to
kill, to destroy, was carrying him wildly toward his dwelling.

He tore at the latch violently, but the door was locked. He began to
pound and kick and throw himself against it, till the hinges and
fastenings creaked under the blows. He opened his mouth to shout, insult
the wretches inside, call to them to come out and be killed, spit upon
their heads the terrible threats that were boiling in his feverish
brain. But he could say nothing. His tongue seemed to be paralyzed in
his throat. His whole strength had gone to his hands, that were pulling
at the latch, and into his feet, that were eating into the wood of the
door with the hobnails on his boots.

And all that was not enough. He would have done anything to fill those
guilty rats with terror! And he stooped down, picked up a big stone, and
hurled it with all his might into the door, which boomed in agony and
made the whole house tremble.

Then silence! The Rector thought he heard several windows in the
neighborhood opening cautiously at the uproar. He wanted vengeance, but
he didn't have to make the whole town laugh in the meantime! A sense of
the absurdity of the situation came over him--the thought of himself
storming out there in the street while the lovers were inside quite
comfortable. What a clown he would be if he were seen! He ran off around
the corner of the house and crouched there in hiding. There was talking
for a time and some laughter. Then the windows