(_From the "Quarterly" Review, of "A Year in Spain." Unpublished._)
The author takes his seat about two in the morning in the cabriolet
or front part of a diligence from Tarragona, and gives many amusing
particulars concerning his fellow travellers, who, one after another,
all surrender themselves to slumber. Thus powerfully invited by the
examples of those near him, the lieutenant catches the drowsy infection,
and having nestled snugly into his corner, soon loses entirely the
realities of existence "in that mysterious state which Providence has
provided as a cure for every ill." In short, he is indulged with a
dream, which transports him into the midst of his own family circle
beyond the Atlantic; but from this comfortable and sentimental nap he is
soon aroused by the sudden stopping of the diligence, and a loud clamour
all about him.
There were voices without, speaking in accents of violence, and whose
idiom was not of my country. I roused myself, rubbed my eyes, and
directed them out of the windows. By the light of a lantern that blazed
from the top of the diligence, I could discover that this part of the
road was skirted by olive-trees, and that the mules, having come in
contact with some obstacle to their progress, had been thrown into
confusion, and stood huddled together, as if afraid to move, gazing upon
each other, with pricked ears and frightened aspect. A single glance to
the right-hand gave a clue to the mystery. Just beside the fore-wheel of
the diligence stood a man, dressed in that wild garb of Valencia which
I had seen for the first time in Amposta: his red cap, which flaunted
far down his back, was in front drawn closely over his forehead;
and his striped manta, instead of being rolled round him, hung
unembarrassed from one shoulder. Whilst his left leg was thrown forward
in preparation, a musket was levelled in his hands, along the barrel of
which his eye glared fiercely upon the visage of the conductor. On the
other side the scene was somewhat different. Pepe (the postilion) being
awake when the interruption took place, was at once sensible of its
nature. He had abandoned the reins, and jumped from his seat to the
road-side, intending to escape among the trees. Unhappy youth, that
he should not have accomplished his purpose! He was met by the muzzle
of a musket when he had scarce touched the ground, and a third ruffian
appearing at the same moment from the treacherous concealment of the
very trees towards which he was flying, he was effectually taken, and
brought round into the road, where he was made to stretch himself upon
his face, as had already been done with the conductor.
I could now distinctly hear one of these robbers--for such they
were--inquire in Spanish of the mayoral as to the number of passengers:
if any were armed; whether there was any money in the diligence; and
then, as a conclusion to the interrogatory, demanding _La bolsa!_ in
a more angry tone. The poor fellow meekly obeyed: he raised himself
high enough to draw a large leathern purse from an inner pocket,
and stretching his hand upward to deliver it, said, _Toma usted,
caballero, pero no me quita usted la vida!_ "Take it, cavalier; but
do not take away my life!" The robber, however, was pitiless. Bringing
a stone from a large heap, collected for the repair of the road, he
fell to beating the mayoral upon the head with it. The unhappy man sent
forth the most piteous cries for _misericordia_ and _piedad_.
He might as well have asked pity of that stone that smote him, as of the
wretch who wielded it. In his agony he invoked _Jesu Christo, Santiago
Apostol y Martir, La Virgin del Pilar_, and all those sacred names
held in awful reverence by the people, and the most likely to arrest the
rage of his assassin. All in vain: the murderer redoubled his blows,
until, growing furious in the task, he laid his musket beside him, and
worked with both hands upon his victim. The cries for pity which blows
at first excited, blows at length quelled. They had gradually increased
with the suffering to the most terrible shrieks; then declined into low
and inarticulate moans; until a deep-drawn and agonized gasp for breath,
and an occasional convulsion, alone remained to show that the vital
principle had not yet departed.
It fared even worse with Pepe, though, instead of the cries for pity,
which had availed the mayoral so little, he uttered nothing but low
moans, that died away in the dust beneath him. One might have thought
that the extreme youth of the lad would have ensured him compassion; but
no such thing. The robbers were doubtless of Amposta; and, being known
to him, dreaded discovery. When both the victims had been rendered
insensible, there was a short pause, and a consultation in a low tone
between the ruffians, who then proceeded to execute their plans. The
first went round to the left side of the diligence, and, having unhooked
the iron shoe and placed it under the wheel, as an additional security
against escape, opened the door of the interior, and mounted on the
steps. I could hear him distinctly utter a terrible threat in Spanish,
and demand an ounce of gold from each of the passengers. This was
answered by an expostulation from the Valencian shopkeeper, who said
that they had not so much money, but what they had would be given
willingly. There was then a jingling of purses, some pieces dropping on
the floor in the hurry and agitation of the moment. Having remained
a short time at the door of the interior, he did not come to the
cabriolet, but passed at once to the rotunda. Here he used greater
caution, doubtless from having seen the evening before, at Amposta,
that it contained no women, but six young students, who were all stout
fellows. They were made to come down, one by one, from their strong
hold, deliver their money and watches, and then lie flat upon their
faces in the road.
Meanwhile the second robber, after consulting with his companion,
returned to the spot where the zagal Pepe lay rolling from side to side.
As he went towards him, he drew a knife from the folds of his sash, and
having opened it, placed one of his naked legs on either side of his
victim. Pushing aside the jacket of the youth, he bent forward and dealt
him repeated blows in every part of the body. The young priest, my
companion, shrunk back shuddering into his corner, and hid his face
within his trembling fingers; but my own eyes seemed spell-bound, for
I could not withdraw them from the cruel spectacle, and my ears were
more sensible than ever. Though the windows at the front and sides were
still closed, I could distinctly hear each stroke of the murderous
knife, as it entered its victim. It was not a blunt sound as of
a weapon that meets with positive resistance, but a hissing noise, as
if the household implement, made to part the bread of peace, performed
unwillingly its task of treachery. This moment was the unhappiest of my
life; and it struck me at the time, that if any situation could be more
worthy of pity, than to die the dog's death of poor Pepe, it was to be
compelled to witness his fate, without the power to aid him.
Having completed the deed to his satisfaction, this cold-blooded
murderer came to the door of the cabriolet, and endeavoured to open it.
He shook it violently, calling to us to assist him; but it had chanced
hitherto, that we had always got out on the other side, and the young
priest, who had never before been in a diligence, thought, from the
circumstance, that there was but one door, and therefore answered the
fellow that he must go to the other side. On the first arrival of these
unwelcome visitors, I had taken a valuable watch which I wore from my
waistcoat pocket, and slipped it into my boot; but when they fell to
beating in the heads of our guides, I bethought me that the few dollars
I carried in my purse might not satisfy them, and replaced it again in
readiness to be delivered at the shortest notice. These precautions
were, however, unnecessary. The third ruffian, who had continued to
make the circuit of the diligence with his musket in his hand, paused
a moment in the road a-head of us, and having placed his head to the
ground, as if to listen, presently came and spoke in an under tone to
his companions. They stood for a moment over the mayoral, and struck his
head with the butts of their muskets, whilst the fellow who had before
used the knife returned to make a few farewell thrusts, and in another
moment they had all disappeared from around us.
In consequence of the darkness, which was only partially dispelled in
front of the diligence by the lantern, which had enabled me to see what
occurred so immediately before me, we were not at once sensible of the
departure of the robbers, but continued near half an hour after their
disappearance in the same situation in which they left us. The short
breathings and the chattering of teeth, lately so audible from within
the interior, gradually subsided, and were succeeded by whispers of the
females, and soon after by words pronounced in a louder tone; whilst our
mangled guides, by groans and writhings, gave evidence of returning
animation.
Our first care, when thus left to ourselves, was to see if anything
could be done for our unfortunate guides. We found them rolling over in
the dust, and moaning inarticulately, excepting that the conductor would
occasionally murmur forth some of those sainted names whose aid he had
vainly invoked in the moment of tribulation. Having taken down the light
from the top of the coach, we found them so much disfigured with bruises
and with blood, that recognition would have been impossible. The finery
of poor Pepe, his silver buttons and his sash of silk, were scarcely
less disfigured than his features. There happened to be in our party a
student of medicine, who now took the lead in the Samaritan office of
binding, with pieces of linen and pocket handkerchiefs, the wounds of
these unhappy men.
The wounded men were at length placed in a cart, and sent back slowly
to Amposta, the mayoral showing some signs of returning sensibility,
but the unfortunate Pepe evidently in his last agony. The diligence
proceeded on its route, and stopped to breakfast at Vinaroz.
The kitchen of the posada at Vinaroz offered a scene of unusual
confusion. The hostess was no other than the mother of Pepe, a very
decent-looking Catalan woman, who, I understood, had been sent there the
year before by the Diligence Company, which is concerned in all the inns
at which their coaches stop throughout the line. She had already been
told of the probable fate of her son, and was preparing to set off for
Amposta in the deepest affliction; and yet her sorrow, though evidently
real, was singularly combined with her habitual household cares. The
unusual demand for breakfast by fourteen hungry passengers had created
some little confusion, and the poor woman, instead of leaving these
matters to take care of themselves, felt the force of habit, and was
issuing a variety of orders to her assistant; nor was she unmindful
of her appearance, but had already changed her frock and stockings,
and thrown on her mantilla, preparatory to departure. It was indeed a
singular and piteous sight to see the poor perplexed woman changing some
fish that were frying, lest they should be burnt on one side, adjusting
and repinning her mantilla, and sobbing and crying all the while. When
the man came, however, to say that the mule was in readiness, every
thing was forgotten but the feelings of the mother, and she hurried
off in deep and unsuppressed affliction.
We may as well add here the catastrophe of this tragical tale. From
information received by the Lieutenant, after his arrival in Madrid, it
appears that poor Pepe breathed his last about eight hours after the
attack, and long before his widowed mother could arrive to close the
eyes of her child. The mayoral lingered for about a week, and then
shared the fate of Pepe. The three robbers were detected and taken into
custody; two of them were townsmen, and all three acquaintances of Pepe,
whom they had doubtless murdered to prevent discovery. We ourselves
passed over the scene of the robbery between two and three years after
the event: there were two crosses to mark the bloody spot. The mayoral
and the zagal of our diligence, the successors of those who had been
murdered, pointed to the crosses with the _sang froid_ with which
Spaniards, from long habitude, contemplate mementos of the kind. The
mayoral showed the very place where his predecessor had been beaten to
death. On our expressing horror at the detail he readily concurred,
though he appeared more indignant at the manner in which the crime had
been committed than at the crime itself. "It is the ugliest thing (_lo
mas feo_) that has been done in this neighbourhood for a long time
past. Look you, sir, to shoot a man with a blunderbuss, or to stab him
with a knife, is quite another kind of business; but to beat his brains
out with a stone is to treat him, not like a Christian, but a dog!" It
was evident that a frequent occurrence of such scenes had rendered the
mayoral a critic in the art of murder.
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