The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-03-18
CT 7 MINK,
'til3 LADY ~JrANTrA

The chain gang in which We presently found
ourselves was made ~ chiefly Of men from those
10 France. From the man to whom ] was chained
] learned much lie WAS a Freuch,nan named
Jean Carrel, born AT MILAN in the tcvennrs
AT the outbreak Of the later religious wars he had
sold his vineyard near Carcas>Onne and crossed
The mountains into Spain Settling a, bilbao,
he had become very successful in trade with Eng
land Al too successful indeed, Tor his growing
wealth attracted the notice Of the inQuisi,ion,
and he was seized and cast int" the dungeon, Of
the holy office. He spoke very excellent English.
and being a good and kindly man, though with
no great profession Of religion about him, AT least
from the Scots point OF view, he told me many
things which were Yer, useful 10 me n how 10
lie in chains most comfortably. how To- pad the
waistbelt and ankle rings 10 keep them from
chatting, how 10 fasten up the connecting links
in a ie>toon To keep the weight from trailing. with
other matters Of great assistance To me AT this
time. .\pai, from this his discourse WAS mostly
uf wine growing and vintages and by no means
SO much u religion as | had anticipated, which
relieved me much.
! had hoped 10 have VIII With me as my CON
pani3n, but II was better iT US both that al the
u mate who was able Ia instruct him On these
points
Have you yet seen the commandan,e'' said
Jean CHrrrl as We rested on our straw at noon
that day | told Lin No" adding hat ! did not
know there were any other authorities upon the
island besides the abbot and the Grand InquisitOr
The Frenrhman uhiSilad low
Mas he said, the Abbot whom you fear is
our only friend here The grand inquisitor is
an evil D%hS', ana does what hArm ne can lp poor
men, but a. for the ummandante"-
Words seemed 10 fail him 10 describe the pc
Culiari'icS 81 this man, and even while he paused
We were again summoned To- our feet by a sharp
purport However, BY watching carefully what
my companion did and moving RAPIDLY, ! man
aged pretty well. ct not So well but that az
passed. a huge grinning black who stood a. the
door Of the long wooden shed. where Wa had our
midday meals, he lifted his whip and smote me-
across the shoulders.
How you d. English like thar he cried:
you fog mein JamaiCam'er much heap whip
how you like II YOURSELF
And he followed along after rs, Cursing me
and all English AZ the top ~ his voice
Jean tatrel whispered 10 me not Ia answer back
or show that the man annoyed me and then he
would most likely in time Tire Of his amusement
III You speak back Ia him he will send you to
the ilOgging post, and II you survive, to the log
gang in the store qnar1es. That is worse than
Great God most merciful" cried !, involun-
tanlv, is here vet worse torture than this"
Yes, truly" ha said, this Is but n preparation
for the auto da-fe, the burning alive by fire, We
are all only waiting our Turn. But the most
unhappy men are those who have 10 drag q great
log after them wherever they are called upon 10
go and whatever duty they perform"
You are all under sentence of death by fire"
gasl~d.
lie nodded, smiling at my ignorance.
Each day Of high festival there is q burning
in the great square" he explained and il there
he not enough ~ hapless Indians from the in
terror or maroon negroes recaptured by the com
muhtlhnW = 1tTis~ Siiilf NTf tllttSfn nom 1ltTG
us to afford sport to the faithful Of Puerto Rico
lie shrugged his shoulders.
"Aftcr oil, IT IL best SO he SAID lis a fiery
gate 10 n fair heaven But AT least those that
enter IN are not long IN passing through They
generally pour oil upon us
Then was my heart sick and sore indeed not.
| think. so much on account Of myself as because
! thought Of my mother and Anna. .
| asked the French liuguenot II they treated
women no better lie shook his head
The Grand lnquisitor would burn them all
and rub his hands To see the yOungpgt and ia rest
Of them writhe If so I've they would not receive
the faith. Yet even that is better than that they
| should find favor in the eyes NJ the commandante
and his officers
Then he told me that the chief of the Spanish
troops on the island, Don Nicholas. Sllveda, was
under the sole government Of his wife, a foreigner
81 think Of your nation sad my FrrnchmanJ.
whom he had ca rried of from one Of the English
plantations, or, as some SAID, captured. on an
English ship This woman. the Signora Ut anitH,
, was so Jealous of every won m who cam near
the commandante that she would inevitably com
lHSs their destruction. IF III" ladies" the gave
his national bow, courteous even IN his fettrrs)
in whom you are interested are beautiful well,
there is the worst 10 fear All the world knew
what the Signom Juanlta Silveda was There
was n story thu she was of very low origin, and
even But need not repeat what Jean CarIrl
told me-, which. after all, was propahly no more
than tn" gossip Of the chain gang or some ribaldry
Ovprhpar from the black OverSeerS
An tins time We had no news Of Eborra. !
feared that they had put him to death or done
HIM some injury for his defence of MS. Judge
III WN SuTDIlNft lllFlt NI'it ui'Il iltlN llIe nv
10 work in the patio, | found him busily employed
experimenting the digging operations, clad in
a white suit like the other negro oNerSeers, and
like them welding a whip
Immediately upon seeing me he came along
and began Ia rpyile me, calling me pirate and
assassin. Then he changed his speech and
shouted opprnbrous words in Spanish, so that
| wha dumbfOundei, and. indeed, knew not what
10 say or do Then all ut once he LAID his whip
with apparent force across my back, Again
AMI again he struck me. his eyes fairly starting
out Of his head with fury Yet for all the energy
81 his anger, strangely enough the blows did
me no hurt
VI the sight Of his fury all the blacks gathered
together and encouraged him with shouts and
laughter. At which h" waXed very furious,
and, coming closer 10 me- he struck me- on the face
with his hand, yet also without doing mo any m
lur,. Then he thrust his hook almost into my
eyes, all the while crying ont In Spanish. stamping
his feet aud splitting upon thu ground, which
'hrs" black men do 10 express the height Of
their anger.
And II cut me To- thu heart TO see him and to
harkcn. For | remembered all his former kind
nesses N Anna and all Of us. But | said " myself
that there Is a great difference between n man
VINO Is a slave and who expects favors and one
In the position Of power and authority over his for.
mer masters. Yet withal, | was full Of heart