happened to be passing just at the moment. Indignant at what he saw,
he seized the tax collector by the arm and severely reproached him for
his actions. The tax collector in anger raised his cane to strike,
but your father was too quick for him. With that strength which he
inherited from his forefathers, he, as some say, struck the collector,
or, as others claim, only gave him a push. The fact is that the man
staggered and fell to the ground, and, in falling, struck his head
against a stone. Don Rafael quietly lifted up the wounded boy and
carried him to the court house near by, leaving the collector where
he had fallen. The ex-artilleryman began to bleed at the mouth and
died without regaining consciousness.

"Naturally the law stepped in. They showered calumnies of all
kinds upon your father and accused him of being a heretic and a
revolutionist. To be a heretic is a great misfortune anywhere or
at any time, but it was especially so at this particular time,
for the chief magistrate of the province was the loudest prayer
maker in the Church. To be a revolutionist is still worse. One might
better have killed three highly educated tax collectors than be thus
accused. Everybody deserted your father, and his books and papers
were seized. He was accused of being a subscriber to 'El Correo del
Ultramar' and to Madrid newspapers, of having sent you to Germany,
of having in his possession incriminating papers and pictures,
and--well, I don't know what not. He was even attacked because,
although he was the descendant of Spaniards, he wore the dress of
the natives. If your father had been anybody else, he would have been
acquitted, for the doctors pronounced the death of the collector due
to natural causes. His fortune, however, his confidence in the law,
and his hatred for everything which seemed unlawful and unjust, cost
him his life. I myself, much as I dislike begging for mercy, called
upon the Governor General, the predecessor of the present Governor. I
brought out the fact that a man who aided every poor Spaniard, who
gave food and shelter to all, and whose veins were filled with the
generous blood of Spain--such a man could not be a revolutionist. In
vain I argued for him, pledged my own life for him, and swore by
my military honor. What did it all amount to? I was badly received,
curtly and summarily dismissed, and called a fool."

The old man paused to take breath. His young companion neither looked
up nor made a so