Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1918-04-23
CHAPTER II-Continued.

NO! Shes only an Ordinary sIl'
| My wife doesn't like her, and so de-
termined to get rid Of her. She Is
| yours, fairly enough" Varona told him.
Then send her to my house. I'll
breed her to Salvador my cochero.
| He's the strongest man l have"
Sebastian uttered a strangled cry
| and rose to his feet. Master You
| must not"
"Silence" ordered Esteban. go
about your business. What do you
mean by this, anyhow"
But Sebastian, dazed of mind and
sick of soul, went on, unheeding. "She
is my girl You promised me her free
dom. / warn you"
'Eh? The planter swayed forward
and with blazing e. es surveyed his
slave. "You warn me? Of what" he
grOwled.
At this moment neither master nor
man knew exactly what he said or DID.
| Sebastian raised his hand on high. In
reality the gesture was meant TO call
heaven as a witness to his years or
III EGINICS, Ddt, lLAoNChObA NAANS ---0
intent, Pablo Pea brought his riding
whip down across the old mans back,
crying:
'HO! None of that"
A shudder ran through Sebastian's
frame. Whirling, he seized Don Pab-
los wrist and tore the whip from ms
fingers. Although the Spaniard was a
strong man, he uttered a cry of pain.
At this indignity to a guest Esteban
flew into a fury. "Pancho! he cried.
"Ho! PanchO" When the manager
came running, Esteban explained !:
"This fool is dangerous. he raised his
hand to me and to Don Pablo"
Sebastian's protests were drowned
by The angry voices Of the others.
"Tie him to yOnder grating" di-
rected Esteban, who was still in the
grip of a senseless rage. "Flog him
we'll and make haste about it"
Sebastian, who had no time in which
to recover himself, made but a weak
resistance when PanchO Cueto locked
his wrists into Il pair of clumsy, old
fashioned manaclGs, first passing the
chain around one of the bars of the
iron window grating which Esteban
had indicated.
CuetO swung a heavy lash; the
sound of his blows echoed through the
quinta, and they summoned, among
others, Donna Isabel, who watched
the scene from behind her shutter with
much satisfaction. The guests looked
on apprOvingly.
Sebastian made no cutlery. The whip
bit deep; it drew blood and raised
WeltS the thickness of ones thumb ;
nevertheless, for the first few moments
the victim suffered less in body than in
spirit. His brain was so benumbed, so
shocked with other eXcitatiOnS, that
he was well-nigh insensible to physical
pain. That Evangelina, flesh of his
flesh, had been sold, that his lifelong
faithfulness had brought such reward
as this, that Esteban, light of his soul,
mad turned against him-all this was
simply astounding. Gradually he be-
gan to resent the shrieking injustice of
it all, and unsupported forces gathered
inside of him. They grew until his
frame was shaken by primitive savage
impulses.
After a time Don Esteban cried 4:
''That will do, Cueto! Leave him now
for the flies to punish. They will re-
mind him of his insOlence"
Then the guests departed, and Este
ban staggered into the house and went
to bed.
All that morning Sebastian stood
with his hands chained high over his
head. The sun grew hotter and ever
hotter upon his lacerated back; the
blood dried and clotted there; a cloud
of flies gathered, swarming over the
raw gashes left by Cueto's whip.
Since Don Esteban's nerves, or per-
haps it was his conscience, did not
permit him TO sleep, he arose about
noontime and dressed himself. He was
still drunk, and the mad rage of the
early morning still possessed him;
Therefore, when he mounted his horse
ne pretended not TO see the figure
ch:ined TO the window grating. Sebas-
tlan'S affection for his master was dog
like and he had taken his punishment
as a dog takes his, more in surprise
than in anger,~but at this proof of cal
louS indifference a fire kindled in the
old fellows breast, hotter by far than
the fever from his fly-blown sores. He
was thirsty. too, but that was the least
of his sufferings.
Some time during the afternoon the
negro heard himself addressed through
the window against the bars of which
he leaned. The speaker was Donna
Isabel.
do you suffer. Sebastian" she be-
gan in a tone of gentleneSs and pity.
yes, mistress" The speakers
tongue was thick and swollen.
"Can help you?"
The negro raised his head: he shook
his body to rid himself of the insects
which were devouring him.
"Give me a drink of water" he said,
hoarSely.
surely. a great gourdful. all cool
and dripping from the Well But first
want you TO tell me something"
"A drink. for the love of heaven. -
painted the old man, and Donna Isabel
sew how cracked and dry were his
thick lips, how near the torture had
come to prostrating him.
IN do more. she promised, and her
voice was like honey. I'll tell Pancho
Cseto TO unlock you, even if I risk Es-
tcean'S anger by so doing. viii you be
ny friend? win you tell me some
thing?"
''What can tell youi"