St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1888-08-11
EASTER IN vUCATAN.


Hands Of . Noisy Mob.
It was the dawn Of Easter Sunday.
Suddenly the bells of all the churches
broke loose. Again and again they
rang out at their lOudest, till the cir
seemed to flash with the strokes and
the drowsy earth to reel and quiver.
Then came the rumbling Of drums. no
longer muffled, tho shrill ch0rusing Of
the fighting cooks, the yelping Of dogs
and the bleating and lowing Of focks
and herds in the suburbs. In less than
half an hour every house poured forth
its inmates-ponchas and mantillas,
zarapcs and embroidered jackets. vel
vet-collared coats and shirt-sleeves-
all bound for the plaza And there, "A
the sun suddenly leaped from behind
the clouds that vailed the eastern
horizon, startling spectacle was pro.
sented. The plaza was packed with
people. The steps and spacious es-
planade OF the cathedral were thronged
to overflowing and the balconies and
windows Of overlooking houses were
filed with spectators. Everybody was
laughing and chattering. most Of them
smoking, many on tiptoe. and all nerv-
GUS. impatient and excited. Clearly,
something was in the wind! In the
center Of the plaza, high above the
crowd. were four lines of cleaning steel,
where the troops had formed a hollow
square. and over-topping tho lifted
bayonets by twenty feet stood mon
strous gibbet. Fastened together by
throngs of raw-hide and bits Of old
rope. the rude contrivance looked
gaunt and ghastly enough h
frighten the boldest malefactor.
From the cross-beam there dangled
an efigy-that OF the despised
Judas Iscariot. 1t was clothed in
a waistcoat of yellow flannel striped
with black. red night-cap. . pair Of
torn. brown breeches, and its musty
old boots were wonderfully down at the
heels and crumpled at the toes. Poor
Judas! Night-cap. boots and waist
coat were stuffed with squibs, crackers
and Roman candles. while the brceches
were burdcncd with bomb-shell made
of the toughest pasteboard and swollen
with combustibles. There. in the
dewy dawn. with the soft light Of the
Easter morning playing on his gro
tesque habiliments, hung the SINH
lacrnm of the traitor in view Of thou.
sands, slowly turning half way around
ut times. having been ignominiously
clbowcd by vagrant hreezcs- The
trumpet sounded, n barfooted cor
poral stepped from the ranks and.
erect, cmotionlcss, with the cold
sclcmni,y Of IN cxccutioncr. ap-
preached tho gibbct carrying long
sugar-cane, ut the end of which was
tuft Of lighted tow. Instantly the hub
bub Of the multitude subsidized ant
profound calm set In. Even the
gamin, frenzied as they were with fun
and mischief, huddled together. ani
held their breath. Step by step
marched the corporal till Mt last he
came to an abrupt halt right under
the cross-beam. The sugar-cane was
lifted; it touched the bctraycr's left
heel, and in the twinkling Of an eye
there was a terrific explosion. The
boots few into shrctls, flames leapcd
from the stomach, the bomb
shell burst and split the brown
breechcs into shower OF
rags, rockets whizzed from the
ribs, the Outstretchcd arms vanished
from their sockets and the might
cap shot skyward clean out Of sight.
all in less than two minutes, amid the
crashing OF drums. the ringing Of bells.
the ear-splitting screams of the boys
and the hOOting. maldiciones and up
roariOus merriment Of soldiers, civil
ians, priests, paupers and patricians.
Half an hour later not living creature
was left in the plaza, for there were
bull-fights and cock-fghts, balls and
gambling bouts yet to be attended be-
fore the celebration Of Easter Sunday
could be considered satisfactorily COM
pletcd in q strictly religious manner
Cor. Philadelphia Record.