g ropes of the long beam, they had the appearance of a
group of statuary to forlorn misery. Festoons of chains completed the
"composition."

One was a very old man with long yellow-white hair, one a negro
whose skin had no lustre at all. The rest were very dark-skinned,
peak-bearded, and had long hair falling round their necks. A soldier
with a hammer and a small anvil climbed into the cart, and bent down out
of sight. There was a ring of iron on iron, and the man next the very
old man raised his arms and began to speak very slowly, very distinctly,
and very mournfully. It was quite easy to understand him; he declared
his perfect innocence. No one listened to him; his name was Pedro Nones.
He ceased speaking, and someone on a horse, the High Sheriff, I think,
galloped impatiently past the cart and shouted. Two men got into the
cart, one pulled the rope, the other caught the pirate by the elbows.
He jerked himself loose, and began to cry out; he seemed to be lost in
amazement, and shrieked:

"_Adonde esta el padre?... Adonde esta el padre?_" No one answered; there
wasn't a priest of any denomination; I don't know whether the omission
was purposed. The man's face grew convulsed with agony, his eyeballs
stared out very white and vivid, as he struggled with the two men. He
began to curse us epileptically for compassing his damnation. A hoarse
patter of Spanish imprecations came from the crowd immediately round me.
The man with the voice like Ramon's groaned in a lamentable way; someone
else said, "What infamy . . . what infamy!"

An aged voice said tremulously in the carriage, "This shall be a matter
of official remonstrance." Another said, "Ah, these English heretics!"

There was a forward rush of the crowd, which carried me away. Someone
in front began to shout orders, and the crowd swayed back again. The
infantry muskets rattled. The commotion lasted some time. When it
ceased, I saw that the man about to die had been kissing the very old
man; tears were streaming down the gray, parchment-coloured cheeks.
Pedro Nones had the rope round his neck; it curved upwards loosely
towards the beam, growing taut as the cart jolted away. He shouted:

"_Adios, viejo, para siempre adi------_"

My whole body seemed to go dead all over. I happened to look downwards
at my hands; they were extraordinarily white, with the veins standing
out all over them. They felt as if they had been sodden in water, and
it was quite a long time befo