CHAPTER LV
The Catastrophe
There in the dining-room Capitan Tiago, Linares, and Aunt Isabel wereat supper, so that even in the sala the rattling of plates and disheswas plainly heard. Maria Clara had said that she was not hungry andhad seated herself at the piano in company with the merry Sinang,who was murmuring mysterious words into her ear. Meanwhile PadreSalvi paced nervously back and forth in the room.
It was not, indeed, that the convalescent was not hungry, no; but shewas expecting the arrival of a certain person and was taking advantageof this moment when her Argus was not present, Linares' supper-hour.
"You'll see how that specter will stay till eight," murmured Sinang,indicating the curate. "And at eight _he_ will come. The curate's inlove with Linares."
Maria Clara gazed in consternation at her friend, who went onheedlessly with her terrible chatter: "Oh, I know why he doesn'tgo, in spite of my hints--he doesn't want to burn up oil in theconvento! Don't you know that since you've been sick the two lamps thathe used to keep lighted he has had put out? But look how he stares,and what a face!"
At that moment a clock in the house struck eight. The curate shudderedand sat down in a corner.
"Here he comes!" exclaimed Sinang, pinching Maria Clara. "Don't youhear him?"
The church bell boomed out the hour of eight and all rose topray. Padre Salvi offered up a prayer in a weak and trembling voice,but as each was busy with his own thoughts no one paid any attentionto the priest's agitation.
Scarcely had the prayer ceased when Ibarra appeared. The youth wasin mourning not only in his attire but also in his face, to such anextent that, on seeing him, Maria Clara arose and took a step towardhim to ask what the matter was. But at that instant the report offirearms was heard. Ibarra stopped, his eyes rolled, he lost the powerof speech. The curate had concealed himself behind a post. More shots,more reports were heard from the direction of the convento, followedby cries and the sound of persons running. Capitan Tiago, Aunt Isabel,and Linares rushed in pell-mell, crying, "Tulisan! Tulisan!" Andengfollowed, flourishing the gridiron as she ran toward her foster-sister.
Aunt Isabel fell on her knees weeping and reciting the _Kyrie eleyson_;Capitan Tiago, pale and trembling, carried on his fork a chicken-liverwhich he offered tearfully to the Virgin of Antipolo; Linares with hismouth full of food was armed with a case-knife; Sinang and Maria Clarawere in each other's arms; while the only one that remained motionless,as if petrified, was Crisostomo, whose paleness was indescribable.
The cries and sound of blows continued, windows were closed noisily,the report of a gun was heard from time to time.
"_Christie eleyson!_ Santiago, let the prophecy be fulfilled! Shutthe windows!" groaned Aunt Isabel.
"Fifty big bombs and two thanksgiving masses!" responded CapitanTiago. "_Ora pro nobis!_"
Gradually there prevailed a heavy silence which was soon broken bythe voice of the alferez, calling as he ran: "Padre, Padre Salvi,come here!"
"_Miserere!_ The alferez is calling for confession," cried AuntIsabel. "The alferez is wounded?" asked Linares hastily. "Ah!!!" Onlythen did he notice that he had not yet swallowed what he had inhis mouth.
"Padre, come here! There's nothing more to fear!" the alferez continuedto call out.
The pallid Fray Salvi at last concluded to venture out from hishiding-place, and went down the stairs.
"The outlaws have killed the alferez! Maria, Sinang, go into yourroom and fasten the door! _Kyrie eleyson!_"
Ibarra also turned toward the stairway, in spite of Aunt Isabel'scries: "Don't go out, you haven't been shriven, don't go out!" Thegood old lady had been a particular friend of his mother's.
But Ibarra left the house. Everything seemed to reel around him,the ground was unstable. His ears buzzed, his legs moved heavily andirregularly. Waves of blood, lights and shadows chased one anotherbefore his eyes, and in spite of the bright moonlight he stumbledover the stones and blocks of wood in the vacant and deserted street.
Near the barracks he saw soldiers, with bayonets fixed, who weretalking among themselves so excitedly that he passed them unnoticed. Inthe town hall were to be heard blows, cries, and curses, with thevoice of the alferez dominating everything: "To the stocks! Handcuffthem! Shoot any one who moves! Sergeant, mount the guard! Today noone shall walk about, not even God! Captain, this is no time to goto sleep!"
Ibarra hastened his steps toward home, where his servants wereanxiously awaiting him. "Saddle the best horse and go to bed!" heordered them.
Going into his study, he hastily packed a traveling-bag, opened aniron safe, took out what money he found there and put it into somesacks. Then he collected his jewels, took clown a portrait of MariaClara, armed himself with a dagger and two revolvers, and turnedtoward a closet where he kept his instruments.
At that moment three heavy knocks sounded on the door. "Who'sthere?" asked Ibarra in a gloomy tone.
"Open, in the King's name, open at once, or we'll break the door down,"answered an imperious voice in Spanish.
Ibarra looked toward the window, his eyes gleamed, and he cocked hisrevolver. Then changing his mind, he put the weapons down and wentto open the door just as the servant appeared. Three guards instantlyseized him.
"Consider yourself a prisoner in the King's name," said the sergeant.
"For what?"
"They'll tell you over there. We're forbidden to say." The youthreflected a moment and then, perhaps not wishing that the soldiersshould discover his preparations for flight, picked up his hat, saying,"I'm at your service. I suppose that it will only be for a few hours."
"If you promise not to try to escape, we won't tie you the alferezgrants this favor--but if you run--"
Ibarra went with them, leaving his servants in consternation.
Meanwhile, what had become of Elias? Leaving the house of Crisostomo,he had run like one crazed, without heeding where he was going. Hecrossed the fields in violent agitation, he reached the woods; he fledfrom the town, from the light--even the moon so troubled him that heplunged into the mysterious shadows of the trees. There, sometimespausing, sometimes moving along unfrequented paths, supporting himselfon the hoary trunks or being entangled in the undergrowth, he gazedtoward the town, which, bathed in the light of the moon, spread outbefore him on the plain along the shore of the lake. Birds awakenedfrom their sleep flew about, huge bats and owls moved from branch tobranch with strident cries and gazed at him with their round eyes, butElias neither heard nor heeded them. In his fancy he was followed bythe offended shades of his family, he saw on every branch the gruesomebasket containing Balat's gory head, as his father had described itto him; at every tree he seemed to stumble over the corpse of hisgrandmother; he imagined that he saw the rotting skeleton of hisdishonored grandfather swinging among the shadows--and the skeletonand the corpse and the gory head cried after him, "Coward! Coward!"
Leaving the hill, Elias descended to the lake and ran along theshore excitedly. There at a distance in the midst of the waters,where the moonlight seemed to form a cloud, he thought he could see aspecter rise and soar the shade of his sister with her breast bloodyand her loose hair streaming about. He fell to his knees on the sandand extending his arms cried out, "You, too!"
Then with his gaze fixed on the cloud he arose slowly and went forwardinto the water as if he were following some one. He passed over thegentle slope that forms the bar and was soon far from the shore. Thewater rose to his waist, but he plunged on like one fascinated,following, ever following, the ghostly charmer. Now the water coveredhis chest--a volley of rifle-shots sounded, the vision disappeared,the youth returned to his senses. In the stillness of the night andthe greater density of the air the reports reached him clearly anddistinctly. He stopped to reflect and found himself in the water--overthe peaceful ripples of the lake he could still make out the lightsin the fishermen's huts.
He returned to the shore and started toward the town, but for whatpurpose he himself knew not. The streets appeared to
be deserted,the houses were closed, and even the dogs that were wont to barkthrough the night had hidden themselves in fear. The silvery lightof the moon added to the sadness and loneliness.
Fearful of meeting the civil-guards, he made his way along throughyards and gardens, in one of which he thought he could discern twohuman figures, but he kept on his way, leaping over fences and walls,until after great labor he reached the other end of the town andwent toward Crisostomo's house. In the doorway were the servants,lamenting their master's arrest.
After learning about what had occurred Elias pretended to go away,but really went around behind the house, jumped over the wall, andcrawled through a window into the study where the candle that Ibarrahad lighted was still burning. He saw the books and papers and foundthe arms, the jewels, and the sacks of money. Reconstructing in hisimagination the scene that had taken place there and seeing so manypapers that might be of a compromising nature, he decided to gatherthem up, throw them from the window, and bury them.
But, on glancing toward the street, he saw two guards approaching,their bayonets and caps gleaming in the moonlight. With them was thedirectorcillo. He made a sudden resolution: throwing the papers andsome clothing into a heap in the center of the room, he poured overthem the oil from a lamp and set fire to the whole. He was hurriedlyplacing the arms in his belt when he caught sight of the portraitof Maria Clara and hesitated a moment, then thrust it into one ofthe sacks and with them in his hands leaped from the window intothe garden.
It was time that he did so, too, for the guards were forcingan entrance. "Let us in to get your master's papers!" cried thedirectorcillo.
"Have you permission? If you haven't, you won't get in,'" answeredan old man.
But the soldiers pushed him aside with the butts of their rifles andran up the stairway, just as a thick cloud of smoke rolled through thehouse and long tongues of flame shot out from the study, envelopingthe doors and windows.
"Fire! Fire!" was the cry, as each rushed to save what he could. Butthe blaze had reached the little laboratory and caught the inflammablematerials there, so the guards had to retire. The flames roared about,licking up everything in their way and cutting off the passages. Vainlywas water brought from the well and cries for help raised, for thehouse was set apart from the rest. The fire swept through all therooms and sent toward the sky thick spirals of smoke. Soon the wholestructure was at the mercy of the flames, fanned now by the wind,which in the heat grew stronger. Some few rustics came up, but onlyto gaze on this great bonfire, the end of that old building whichhad been so long respected by the elements.