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The hall was about twelve to fifteen meters long by eight to ten wide. Its whitewashed walls were covered with drawings in charcoal, more or less ugly and obscene, with inscriptions to complete their meanings. Stacked neatly against the wall in one corner were to be seen about a dozen old flint-locks among rusty swords and talibons, the armament of the cuadrilleros.
He came to me one Sunday morning in great distress. His twin brother had been dragged into the tribunal that morning by the 'cuadrilleros, and was at that very moment being flogged. Could I not help him? Would I not go to the Governor and tell him that Pedro would pay his brother's tribute as soon as he could earn the money? "If course I would.
"Since the town was sacked by Balat, I've never seen another night equal to it," responded Sister Puté. "What a lot of shots! They say that it was old Pablo's band." "Tulisanes? That can't be! They say that it was the cuadrilleros against the civil-guards. That's why Don Filipo has been arrested." "Sanctus Deus! They say that at least fourteen were killed."
"Take care of my sister," murmured the unhappy boy as he gazed beseechingly toward one of the cuadrilleros. The bamboo sweep again creaked, and the condemned boy once more disappeared. Doña Consolacion observed that the water remained quiet. The alferez counted a minute. When Tarsilo again came up his features were contracted and livid.
Ibarra with his servants had tried to kidnap Maria Clara, and Capitan Tiago had defended her, aided by the Civil Guard. The number of killed was now not fourteen but thirty. Capitan Tiago was wounded and would leave that very day with his family for Manila. The arrival of two cuadrilleros carrying a human form on a covered stretcher and followed by a civil-guard produced a great sensation.
As the wild people could not understand why they should not cultivate on their own fields a plant which had become a necessity to them, they saw in the Cuadrilleros, not functionaries of a civilized State, but robbers, against whom they were obliged to defend themselves by force; and appearances contributed no less to confirm them in their error; for these did not content themselves with destroying the plantations of tobacco, but the huts were burnt to the ground, the fruit-trees hewn down, and the fields laid waste.
By half-past seven, when other guards arrived from neighboring towns, the current version was clear and detailed. "I've just come from the town hall, where I've seen Don Filipo and Don Crisostomo prisoners," a man told Sister Puté. "I've talked with one of the cuadrilleros who are on guard. Well, Bruno, the son of that fellow who was flogged to death, confessed everything last night.
"The men whom the Governor employed to round up his delinquent subjects were called 'cuadrilleros. Sunday was the day he devoted to the sport, for such I think he really regarded it. The 'cuadrilleros' would start out in the morning with a list of the men who were wanted.
We'll take the law into our own hands! To the barracks!" In vain the teniente-mayor pleaded with them. The crowd maintained its hostile attitude, so he looked about him for help and noticed Ibarra. "Señor Ibarra, as a favor! Restrain them while I get some cuadrilleros." "What can I do?" asked the perplexed youth, but the teniente-mayor was already at a distance.
After half an hour, an alguazil and the directorcillo arrived with two cuadrilleros, who took the body down and placed it on a stretcher. "People are getting in a hurry to die," remarked the directorcillo with a smile, as he took a pen from behind his ear.
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