ck down two or three
others before he fell himself. They came up to him again and again;
it looked as if they meant to drink the well dry before going to their
death; but the soldiers were so amused by Gaspar Ruiz's systematic
proceedings that they carried the water up to the window cheerfully.

"When the adjutant came out after his siesta there was some trouble over
this affair, I can assure you. And the worst of it, that the general
whom we expected never came to the castle that day."

The guests of General Santierra unanimously expressed their regret that
the man of such strength and patience had not been saved.

"He was not saved by my interference," said the General. "The prisoners
were led to execution half an hour before sunset. Gaspar Ruiz, contrary
to the sergeant's apprehensions, gave no trouble. There was no necessity
to get a cavalry man with a lasso in order to subdue him, as if he were
a wild bull of the campo. I believe he marched out with his arms free
amongst the others who were bound. I did not see. I was not there. I had
been put under arrest for interfering with the prisoner's guard. About
dusk, sitting dismally in my quarters, I heard three volleys fired, and
thought that I should never hear of Gaspar Ruiz again. He fell with the
others. But we were to hear of him nevertheless, though the sergeant
boasted that, as he lay on his face expiring or dead in the heap of the
slain, he had slashed his neck with a sword. He had done this, he said,
to make sure of ridding the world of a dangerous traitor.

"I confess to you, senores, that I thought of that strong man with a
sort of gratitude, and with some admiration. He had used his strength
honourably. There dwelt, then, in his soul no fierceness corresponding
to the vigour of his body."

V

GASPAR RUIZ, who could with ease bend apart the heavy iron bars of the
prison, was led out with others to summary execution. "Every bullet has
its billet," runs the proverb. All the merit of proverbs consists in
the concise and picturesque expression. In the surprise of our minds is
found their persuasiveness. In other words, we are struck and convinced
by the shock.

What surprises us is the form, not the substance. Proverbs are
art--cheap art. As a general rule they are not true; unless indeed they
happen to be mere platitudes, as for instance the proverb, "Half a
loaf is better than no bread," or "A miss is as good as a mile." Some
proverbs are simply i