We see
the secretary with a lantern in his hand going through the money-box.
'Surrender in the name of the authorities!' shouted the governor, and
with the revolver that he held in his hand he fired a shot into the
air. The secretary was paralyzed at the sight of us; then the governor
aimed the gun at the fellow's chest and fired again point blank; and
the man wavered, turned convulsively in the air and fell dead.
"The governor was jealous and the truth is that Rosita was in love
with the secretary. I never in my life saw grief as great as that
woman's when she found her lover dead. She wept and dragged along
after him, uttering wails that simply tore your soul in two. Napoleon,
too, wept.
"We buried the secretary and four or five days later the chief of
police of the island informed us that the school could no longer serve
as a circus and that we'd have to clear out. We obeyed the order, for
there was no way out of it, and for another couple of years we
wandered from town to town through Central America, Yucatan, Mexico,
until we struck Tampico, where the company disbanded. As there was no
outlook for us there, Perez and I took a vessel for New Orleans."
"Beautiful town, eh?" said Roberto.
"Beautiful. Have you been there?"
"Yes."
"Man, how happy I am to hear it!"
"What a river, eh?"
"An ocean! Well, to continue my story.
Pages:
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134