The Press., 1898-06-16

Uncle Curro took a rope and went
again into the field to hang himself.
This time he persisted in his purpose of
hanging himself, and the dwarf persist
ed in his that he should not. At last
the little friar ended the discussion by
giving Uncle Curro a cudgeI, telling
him that with that in his hands he
need never be troubled by any one
again, and that all he had to do was to
say, "Cudgel, lay about you, for every
one to run away from him and leave
him in peace and quiet. ...#.
Uncle Curro took the road home with
his cudgel as proud as an alcalde with
his wand of Office, and the moment he
saw his children coming toward him,
asking him for something to eat with
insulting and abusive words, as they
were accustomed to see their mother do,
he said to his cudgel, "Cudgel lay about
youP' No sooner had he pronounced the
words than the oudgel began to shower
blows to right and left among the chill
dren until they had scarcely a whole
bone left in their bodies His wife ran
to her children's assistance. cat her,
cudgel," said Uncle Curro; eat her,
and with a willl'' And the cudgel be.
labored the wife so numerically that
| she died of her injuries.
The authorities being notified, the
| alcalde, accompanied by his officers,
| presented himself upon the scene.
"Cudgel, lay about you'll" said Uncle
| Curro, as soon as they appeared, and
the cudgel proceeded to deal such lusty
blows among them that every blow was
worth dollar, so that the alcalde was
| killed and the officers took to their
heels and were out of sight in a trice.
A messenger was sent to the king to
inform him of what was going on, and
| the king sent regiment of grenadiers
to seize Uncle Curro and his cudgel.
| No sooner did Uncle Curro see them
approach than, throwing the cudgel
among their ranks, he cried, "Cudgel,
lay about you'll And the cudgel straight
| way began to dance upon the ribs of
/ the grenadiers, making noise like the
| olapper of a mill. One it left lame,
another with disabled arm, and the
captain it left blind of an eye To make
an end of the business the grenadiers
all threw their guns and knapsacks on
the ground and ran off, heller SHELTER,
as if they thought the devil had broken
loose and was running after them.
| With his mind at rest, Uncle Ourro
lay down to take a nap, hiding his
oudgel in his breast lest it should be
stolen from him during his sleep. When
he awoke, he found himself bound hand
and foot and on his way to prison,
where, on his arrival, he was sentenced
to the ignominious death of the gar
| rote.
On the following morning he was
taken from his cell and led out to exc
oution. On the scaffold his hands were
unbound, whereupon he took out his
oudgel, and saying, "Cudgel, lay about
you,' he threw it at the exeoutioner,
who was quickly beaten by it to death.
"Set that man free, " said the king,
''or he will not leave me a subject
alive. Tell him that will give him q
province in America on condition that
he shall leave the country" And thus
it was done. The king gave him prov
ince in the island of Cuba, where he
built city, and there he killed so many
people with his oudgel that from that
day to this it has been called Matanzas
(the Spanish for slaughter). Buffalo
| Express.