THE WHIPPING
The natives jeered and applauded. Don Diego's face went white, and for
an instant his eyes met those of Fray Felipe, and in the face of the
latter he saw resignation.
The office was cleared, and the soldiers led the _fray_ to the place
of execution in the middle of the plaza. Don Diego observed that the
_magistrado_ was grinning, and he realized what a farce the trial had
been.
"These turbulent times!" he said to a gentleman of his acquaintance who
stood near.
They tore Felipe's robe from his back and started to lash him to the
post. But the _fray_ had been a man of great strength in his day, and
some of it remained to him in his advanced years; and it came to him
now what ignominy he was to suffer.
Suddenly he whirled the soldiers aside and stooped to grasp the whip
from the ground.
"You have removed my robe!" he cried. "I am man now, not _fray_! One
side, dogs!"
He lashed out with the whip. He cut a soldier across the face. He
struck at two natives who sprang toward him. And then the throng was
upon him, beating him down, kicking and striking at him, disregarding
even the soldiers' orders.
Don Diego Vega felt moved to action. He could not see his friend
treated in this manner despite his docile disposition. He rushed into
the midst of the throng, calling upon the natives to clear the way. But
he felt a hand grasp his arm, and turned to look into the eyes of the
_magistrado_.
"These are no actions for a _caballero_," the judge said in a low tone.
"The man has been sentenced properly. When you raise hand to give him
aid, you raise hand against his excellency. Have you stopped to think
of that, Don Diego Vega?"
Apparently Don Diego had not. And he realized, too, that he could do
no good to his friend by interfering now. He nodded his head to the
_magistrado_ and turned away.
But he did not go far. The soldiers had subdued Fray Felipe by now, and
had lashed him to the whipping-post. This was added insult, for the
post was used for none except insubordinate natives. The lash was swung
through the air, and Don Diego saw blood spurt from Fray Felipe's bare
back.
He turned his face away then, for he could not bear to look. But he
could count the lashes by the singing of the whip through the air, and
he knew that proud, old Fray Felipe was making not the slightest sound
of pain, and would die without doing so.
He heard the natives laughing, and turned back again to find that the
whipping was at an end.
"The money must be repaid within two days, or you shall have fifteen
lashes more," the _magistrado_ was saying.
Fray Felipe was untied and dropped to the ground at the foot of the
post. The crowd began to melt away. Two _frailes_ who had followed from
San Gabriel aided their brother to his feet, and led him aside while
the natives hooted. Don Diego Vega returned to his house.
"Send me Bernardo," he ordered his _despensero_.
The butler bit his lip to keep from grinning as he went to do as he was
bidden. Bernardo was a deaf and dumb native servant for whom Don Diego
had a peculiar use. Within the minute he entered the great living-room
and bowed before his master.
"Bernardo, you are a gem!" Don Diego said. "You cannot speak or hear,
cannot write or read, and have not sense enough to make your wants
known by the sign-language. You are the one man in the world to whom I
can speak without having my ears talked off in reply. You do not 'Ha!'
me at every turn."
Bernardo bobbed his head as if he understood. He always bobbed his head
in that fashion when Don Diego's lips ceased to move.
"These are turbulent times, Bernardo," Don Diego continued. "A man
can find no place where he can meditate. Even at Fray Felipe's night
before last there came a big sergeant pounding at the door. A man with
nerves is in a sorry state. And this whipping of old Fray Felipe--
Bernardo, let us hope that this Señor Zorro, who punishes those who
work injustice, hears of the affair and acts accordingly."
Bernardo bobbed his head again.
"As for myself, I am in a pretty pickle," Don Diego went on. "My father
has ordered that I get me a wife, and the _señorita_ I selected will
have none of me. I shall have my father taking me by the ear in short
order.
"Bernardo, it is time for me to leave this _pueblo_ for a few days.
I shall go to the _hacienda_ of my father, to tell him I have got no
woman to wed me yet, and ask his indulgence. And there, on the wide
hills behind his house, may I hope to find some spot where I may
rest and consult the poets for one entire day without highwaymen and
sergeants and unjust _magistrados_ bothering me. And you, Bernardo,
shall accompany me, of course. I can talk to you without your taking
the words out of my mouth."
Bernardo bobbed his head again. He guessed what was to come. It was
a habit of Don Diego's to talk to him thus for a long time, and
always there was a journey afterward. Bernardo liked that, because he
worshiped Don Diego, and because he liked to visit the _hacienda_ of
Don Diego's father, where he always was treated with kindness.
The _despensero_ had been listening in the other room and had heard
what was said, and now he gave orders for Don Diego's horse to be made
ready, and prepared a bottle of wine and water for the master to take
with him.
Within a short time Don Diego set out, Bernardo riding a mule a short
distance behind him. They hurried along the highroad, and presently
caught up with a small _carreta_, beside which walked two robed
Franciscans, and in which was Fray Felipe, trying to keep back moans of
pain.
Don Diego dismounted beside the _carreta_ as it stopped. He went over
to it and clasped Fray Felipe's hands in his own.
"My poor friend!" he said.
"It is but another instance of injustice," Fray Felipe said. "For
twenty years we, of the missions, have been subjected to it, and it
grows. The sainted Junipero Serra invaded this land when other men
feared, and at San Diego de Alcála he built the first mission of what
became a chain, thus giving an empire to the world. Our mistake was
that we prospered. We did the work, and others reap the advantages."
Don Diego nodded, and the other went on:
"They began taking our mission-lands from us, lands we had cultivated,
which had formed a wilderness and which my brothers had turned into
gardens and orchards. They robbed us of worldly goods. And not content
with that they now are persecuting us.
"The mission-empire is doomed, _caballero_. The time is not far distant
when mission roofs will fall in and the walls crumble away. Some day
people will look at the ruins and wonder how such a thing could come to
pass.
"But we can do naught except submit. It is one of our principles. I did
forget myself for a moment in the plaza at Reina de Los Angeles, when I
took the whip and struck a man. It is our lot to submit."
"Sometimes," mused Don Diego, "I wish I were a man of action."
"You give sympathy, my friend, which is worth its weight in precious
stones. And action expressed in a wrong channel is worse than no action
at all. Where do you ride?"
"To the _hacienda_ of my father, good friend. I must crave his pardon
and ask his indulgence. He has ordered that I get me a wife, and I find
it a difficult task."
"That should be an easy task for a Vega. Any maiden would be proud to
take that name."
"I had hoped to wed with the Señorita Lolita Pulido, she having taken
my fancy."
"A worthy maiden! Her father, too, has been subjected to unjust
oppression. Did you join your family to his, none would dare raise hand
against him."
"All that is very well, _fray_, and the absolute truth, of course. But
the _señorita_ will have none of me," Don Diego complained. "It appears
that I have not dash and spirit enough."
"She is hard to please, perhaps. Or possibly she is but playing at
being a coquette with the hope of leading you on and increasing your
ardor. A maid loves to tantalize a man, _caballero_. It is her
privilege."
"I showed her my house in the _pueblo_, and mentioned my great wealth,
and agreed to purchase a new carriage for her," Don Diego told him.
"Did you show her your heart, mention your love, and agree to be a
perfect husband?"
Don Diego looked at him blankly, then batted his eyes rapidly, and
scratched at his chin, as he did sometimes when he was puzzled over a
matter.
"What a perfectly silly idea!" he exclaimed after a time.
"Try it, _caballero_. It may have an excellent effect."