Page:The Writings of Prosper Merimee-Volume 1.djvu/112

34 my watch than have to give evidence in court to hang a poor unlucky devil, and especially because—because"

"Oh, you needn't be alarmed! He's thoroughly done for; they might hang him twice over. But when I say hang, I say wrong. Your thief is an Hidalgo. So he's to be garrotted the day after to-morrow, without fail. So you see one theft more or less won't affect his position. Would to God he had done nothing but steal! But he has committed several murders, one more hideous than the other."

"What's his name?"

"In this country he is only known as José Navarro, but he has another Basque name, which neither you nor I will ever be able to pronounce. By the way, the man is worth seeing, and you, who like to study the peculiar features of each country, shouldn't lose this chance of noting how a rascal bids farewell to this world in Spain. He is in jail, and Father Martinez will take you to him."

So bent was my Dominican friend on my seeing the preparations for this "neat little hanging job" that I was fain to agree. I went to see the prisoner, having provided myself with