This youth, barely of age at the time of his crime, had sought his father's consent to his marriage with an unworthy character, and when refused, he retaliated by beating in his parent's brain with a pickaxe. The fit of homicidal fury which possessed him drove him to kill his father's donkey also and the dog which had been at his heels. Then, having satiated his rage, he went home seemingly undisturbed, and made some paltry excuse for his father's absence. When the corpse was found he was arrested on suspicion, but for want of more than circumstantial evidence escaped the garrote, and was sent to Ceuta for life. Yet this miscreant betrayed no outward sign of the horrible passions that sometimes dominated him, but was always placid and of an engaging countenance. He was lamblike in his demeanour, most attentive to his religious duties, never missed a mass or failed to confess. He was devoted to children and his greatest pleasure was to fondle the baby child of one of the warders which he carried about in his arms in the streets of Ceuta. He seemed absolutely callous and insensible to the prickings of conscience, but he showed in two ways that he was consumed with remorse. When any reference was made to his crime, at the slightest hint or the vaguest question, a fierce look came into his eyes, his mouth closed, his hand sought his knife and he was ready to attempt some fresh act of violence. The other sign of his mental distress was that he seldom slept and never soundly or for long, and his nights were disturbed with groans, deep sighs, even yells of despair. Yet his general health was good, he ate with appetite, maintained his strength well, and there was no apparent mental failure. But he was no doubt mad and under a more intelligent system of jurisprudence he would have been relegated to a criminal lunatic asylum. There is no record however that at Ceuta he had been seized again by homicidal mania.
There were many other types of murderers in Ceuta. The husbands who had killed their wives formed a distinct group. Jealousy because of real or fancied injury led to the vindictive thirst for revenge and this was more frequently found in the peasant than in the higher and better educated classes. Death had been inflicted in most cases by violence, but one aggrieved Othello chose poison, rejoicing in the acute suffering produced by arsenic. Another, who was half a Frenchman, adopted the French method of dismemberment, and to dispose of the damning evidence of the corpse, cut it up into small pieces and distributed them far and wide, but could not hide them effectually. Extenuating circumstances were allowed him and he went to Ceuta, where he is said to have lived quite contentedly, never regretting the savage act that had avenged his dishonour and made him a widower.
Ceuta made its own murderers. Duels to the death were of constant occurrence as elsewhere, and the authorities rarely interfered even when fatal consequences ensued. On this point Relosillas says: "During my stay of fourteen months in Ceuta hardly an hour passed without a serious quarrel, not a day when some one was not wounded, not a week without a violent death in the Cuartel Principal. These troubles were due invariably to the same causes, the admission of aguardiente and the facility with which knives and lethal weapons could be obtained—points already noted and discussed at the beginning of this chapter. The drink was always on tap, as it could be introduced without difficulty through the dishonesty of the warders and the unlimited traffic with the townspeople. The weapons were never wanting, as it was impossible to check their presence, for no convict would be without his long sharp knife ready for instant use.
CHAPTER IX
BRIGANDS AND BRIGANDAGE
Disordered state of Spain at the accession of Isabella—Brigandage raised into an organised system by lawless nobility and rebels—The revival of the Santa Hermandad or Holy Brotherhood—This institution revived again in the 19th century under the name of "Migueletes"—Attack on the mail coach outside Madrid—The famous brigand José Maria—His daring robberies in the Serrania—His early life—English officers from Gibraltar captured and held to ransom—Beloved and venerated by the peasants—In 1833 appointed an officer of the Migueletes—Brigandage not extinct in Spain—Don Julian de Zugasti appointed governor of Cordova—Methods of procedure—The famous robber Vizco el Borje—His seizure of Don Pedro de M.—Enormous ransom extorted—Agua Dulce.
Brigandage, the form of organised highway robbery practised by bands of thieves in countries where roads are long and lonely and imperfectly guarded, has been always popular with the Latin races. It suited the tastes and temperament of reckless people who defied the law and laughed at the attempt to protect defenceless wayfarers. Their activity was stimulated by the long wastes of rugged country that separated the towns, giving harbourage and security to the robbers who issued forth to prey upon travellers and easily retired to their rocky fastnesses and escaped pursuit. These Ishmaelites have been especially active in Spain and Italy and the aggressive spirit that moved them is not yet entirely extinct. More settled government has produced a more effective police in these latter days, but acts of brigandage in its latest development, that of "holding up" modern means of conveyance, express trains, bicycles and motor cars, have occurred, and may be reasonably expected to increase.
Brigandage is as old as the hills in Spain and some of its earliest phases are well worth describing before they are forgotten or replaced by newer processes. We may look back and gather some idea of those early days in Spain.