Part 14 (1/2)
CHAPTER XXIII.
PREACHING IN PRISON.
Diego was not suffered long to monopolize conversation with the new-comer. One of the smugglers drew near, and addressed himself to Alcala.
”I trow, caballero, that you've not seen the inside of a prison quite so often as I have; you are new to this kind of lodging. Maybe you've been sent hither for some little duelling affair; you've run some rival through the body, and, to judge by your looks, he has returned the compliment by giving you a taste of his steel.”
There was a general hush in the conversation which had been going on amongst the various groups of prisoners, all listening to hear Alcala's reply.
”No,” answered De Aguilera, ”I have injured no man.”
”You're a Carlist?” suggested the brigand, who stood near, with his brawny arms folded across his broad chest.
”I have taken no part in politics,” was the reply.
”What then have you done?” asked Diego; ”gentlemen are not given free quarters for nothing.”
”I have been placed under confinement,” answered Alcala, ”for the crime of reading a book aloud in my own private dwelling.”
This reply excited a good deal of surprise amongst the a.s.semblage of gipsies, foot-pads, smugglers, and thieves. They were acquainted with most kinds of crimes; the novelty of this one whetted their curiosity.
”What was the book, senor?” was asked by half-a-dozen voices at once.
”The Bible,” replied Alcala.
”Ah! that's what the friars are mad against,” said one.
”What the monks want to burn,” muttered another.
”What is to Claret and the rest of 'em what the red flag is to the bull,” observed Diego the chulo.
Alcala remarked that not one of the speakers appeared inclined to make common cause with the priests.
”I wonder what there is in that Bible to make men fear it as if a stiletto were hidden between its two boards!” said the robber.
”Have you the book with you, caballero?” asked the smuggler who had before addressed Aguilera.
”Unfortunately I have not,” said Alcala; ”but I have committed to memory many portions of its contents. If it would be any gratification to the gentlemen present,”--Alcala glanced around him as he spoke,--”I would willingly let them judge for themselves whether or not it is wise and right in the priests to try to put the Bible beyond the reach of the people.”
”Let's hear, let's hear,” resounded from every side, and the groups at the further end of the dungeon drew nearer to listen. Curiosity, the love of novelty, and eagerness to hear anything that would break on the wretched monotony of prison life, were powerful incentives with all.
That was a strange audience indeed! Villains stained with various crimes thus brought together to hear for the first time in their lives the gospel message of mercy. Alcala silently prayed for wisdom and the bodily strength which he so sorely needed; for what with the heat and the scent of the place, the fatigue which his weakened frame had undergone, and the reaction after excitement, the cavalier doubted whether his physical powers would hold out under the strain. Diego noticed the deadly pallor of the prisoner's face, and stretching out his hand where he lay, the chulo drew towards him a jar partly filled with water, which had been left near the wall.
”Let the senor drink first,” said Diego. ”Pity 'tis that we cannot offer him the good wine of Xeres; but water is better than nothing.”
”It is the gift of G.o.d,” thought Alcala, as he first drank eagerly of the contents of the jar, and then pouring some into his hand, moistened with it his feverish brow and aching temples. The refreshment was great, and Alcala's strong will could now for a time master the weakness of nature. Diego, who seemed to think that the fact of their having attacked the same bull formed a kind of link between himself and Alcala, now helped the cavalier to rise to his feet. It was only in a standing posture that Aguilera could make himself heard by his numerous auditors, but he still leaned for support against the friendly wall of the prison.
”I will repeat to you,” began Alcala, ”the Bible account of the imprisonment, after severe scourging, of the Apostle Paul and Silas his friend and companion. You shall hear how they endured their sufferings, how they prayed and received such an answer from Heaven, that their jailer himself, struck with terror, came trembling and fell at their feet.”
This preface commanded the silent attention of those who were themselves inmates of a prison.