Part 14 (1/2)
”What have you done?” her friends asked her.
”I have nothing else to give him,” she replied, concealing the tears in her eyes by a smile.
”And what is he going to do with the relic?” said Victoria to her. ”One day they gave him money but he pushed it away from him with his cane. Why would he care for it, if no one would accept anything coming from him? If he could only eat the relic!”
Maria Clara looked longingly at the women who were selling provisions and shrugged her shoulders.
But the leper approached the basket, picked up the piece of jewelry which shone in his hands, knelt down, kissed it, and, after taking off his hat, buried his face in the dust on which the young girl had walked.
Maria Clara hid her face behind her fan and raised her handkerchief to her eyes.
CHAPTER XVI
THE HOISTING CRANE.
While two of the actors were singing the Incarnatus est in the church at the celebration of ma.s.s on the last day of the fiesta, and all were kneeling and the priests were bowing their heads, a man whispered in Ibarra's ear: ”During the ceremony of the blessing of the corner stone, do not go near the priest, do not go in the ditch, do not approach the corner stone. Your life will depend on it.”
Ibarra looked and saw that it was Elias, the pilot, but, as soon as he had spoken, he lost himself in the crowd.
The yellow-skinned man kept his word. It was not a simple lifting crane which he had built over the ditch for the purpose of lowering the enormous block of granite. It was not the mere tripod which nor Juan had wanted for holding a tackle-block. It was something more. It was at the same time a machine and an ornament, grand and imposing.
The confusing and complicated scaffolding had been raised to a height of more than eight meters. Four heavy timbers buried in the ground and supporting each other with colossal, diagonal braces, served as the base. The braces were joined to each other by immense nails, about half driven into the wood, perhaps because the apparatus was only of a provisional nature, and it could then be more easily taken down. Enormous cables were hanging from all sides, giving the entire apparatus an aspect of solidity and grandeur. The top was gay with flags and banners of various colors, floating pennants, and ma.s.sive garlands of flowers and leaves, all artistically interwoven.
On high, in the shade of the projecting timbers, banners and wreaths, a large three-wheeled tackle-block was suspended by ropes and iron hooks. Over the s.h.i.+ning rims of these pulleys great cables pa.s.sed, holding suspended in the air a ma.s.sive stone. The center of this stone had been chiseled out so that when lowered upon the hollowed stone, which had already been placed in the ditch, a small enclosure would be formed between the two. This s.p.a.ce was to contain an account of the ceremonies, newspapers, ma.n.u.scripts and coins, to be transmitted, perhaps, to other generations, in the far distant future. From this tackle-block at the top of the structure, the cable pa.s.sed down to another smaller pulley which was fastened at the base of the apparatus. Through this pulley, the cable pa.s.sed to the cylinder of a windla.s.s which was held to the ground by ma.s.sive beams. This windla.s.s which can be operated by only two hands, multiplies man's strength by means of a series of cog-wheels. Although there is a gain in force, there is of course a loss in velocity.
”Look!” said the yellow-skinned man, as he gave the crank a turn. ”Look, nor Juan, with my strength alone, I can raise and lower that ma.s.sive block of stone. This is so nicely arranged that I can control the ascent or descent of the stone by inches. Thus one man below can arrange the two stones in place, while I manipulate the apparatus from here.”
nor Juan could but admire the man as he smiled in such a peculiar manner. The curious people standing about made comments and praised the yellow-skinned man for his work.
”Who taught you the mechanism?” asked nor Juan.
”My father, my father who is now dead,” he replied, with that same peculiar smile.
”And who taught your father?”
”Don Saturnino, the grandfather of Don Crisostomo.”
”I did not know that Don Saturnino----”
”Oh, he knew a good many things. Not only did he know how to whip well and how to expose his workmen to the rays of the sun, but he knew also how to awaken the sleeping and how to make those awake sleep. In time, you will see what my father has taught me, you will see!”
And the yellow fellow smiled in a strange manner.
At two eating stands, there was now being prepared a sumptuous and abundant breakfast. However, on the table designated for the little ones of the school, there was no wine, but instead a larger amount of fruit. In a covered pa.s.sage which joined the two stands, there were seats for the musicians and a table covered with sweetmeats, candies and flasks of water, ornamented with leaves and flowers, for the thirsty public.
The crowd, resplendent in gay-colored clothes, was already fleeing from the hot rays of the sun and gathering under the shade of the trees or of the covering. The small boys climbed the trees near the place, in order to get a better view of the ceremony, and looked with envy upon the school children, who, clean and well dressed, were occupying a place designated for them. The fathers of the school children were enthusiastic. They, poor countrymen that they were, would have the pleasure of seeing their children eat on a white table cloth, just like the curate and the Alcalde. Merely to think of it was enough to drive away their hunger.