The Iron Collar Was Adjusted To The Neck Of The Victim, And
Fastened Under The Chin.
The athletic negro in blue, standing behind the
post, took the handle of the screw and turned it deliberately.
After a few
turns, the criminal gave a sudden shrug of the shoulders; another turn of
the screw, and a shudder ran over his whole frame, his eyes rolled wildly,
his hands, still tied with the rope, were convulsively jerked upward, and
then dropped back to their place motionless forever. The priest advanced
and turned the peak of the white cap over the face to hide it from the
sight of the multitude.
I had never seen, and never intended to see an execution, but the
strangeness of this manner of inflicting death, and the desire to witness
the behavior of an assembly of the people of Cuba on such an occasion, had
overcome my previous determination. The horror of the spectacle now caused
me to regret that I made one of a crowd drawn to look at it by an idle
curiosity.
The negro in blue then stepped forward and felt the limbs of the dead man
one by one, to ascertain whether life were wholly extinct, and then
returning to the screw, gave it two or three turns more, as if to make his
work sure. In the mean time my attention was attracted by a sound like
that of a light buffet and a whimpering voice near me. I looked, and two
men were standing by me, with a little white boy at their side, and a
black boy of nearly the same age before them, holding his hat in his hand,
and crying.
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