1876 Facts About Sherry by Henry Vizetelly

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Facts about Shc'rry.

halt, that he might bind his arms,according to custom, behind his "bach. The left arm was first secured,and as the brigand was preparing to bind the right one, his victim, glancing over his shoulder, perceived that his captor had laid down his gun some little distance off. Quick as thought he drew a long knife from his sash and made a stab at the brigand, but the knife having stuck fast in its sheath,merely dealt a stoutblow,though fortunately sufficient to stagger the ruffian. Before the latter could recover himself and seize his gun the nephew of Aunt Matias clenched the sheath between his teeth, and, swiftly drawing out the knife, stabbed the brigand mortally. Ere the scoundrel died he called upon his comrade by name for help; but by the time the latter came up their prisoner was beyond reach of the shots fired after him. The brigand, after giving useless chase, returned and calmly mutilated the face of his dead companion in order that he might not be recognised. Aunt Matias's nephew, however, remembered the name that the dying man had called out, and this led to its owner being captured by the authorities with several others of the band. At that moment they were believed to be in prison at Seville awaiting trial, still it is not unlikely they were already shot. In Spain it is a common practice to shoot prisoners of their class,and by official order, while conducting them from one place ofimprisonment to another,on the pretence that they have either mutinied against their guards or made an attempt to escape. Some political prisoners who heard the ominous order given,"Take especial care your prisoners do not escape," and knew that it meant"Kill them on the road, at once asked leave to have their hands and feet shackled,that their guards might have no excuse for shooting them down in cold blood. The brigands who make occasional descents in the more immediate vicinity of the sherry metropolis are not, it would appear, devoid of all feelings of humanity,for a Jerez gentle man sequestrated by them a few years ago was considerately provided with white bread daily, and duly prayed with at night during his enforced sojourn among the bracing air of the Sierra.