Caesar or Nothing | Page 8

it.
When it began to be day they were already getting near Rome. The
train was running through a flat, treeless plain of swampy aspect,
covered with green grass; from time to time there was a poor hut, a

hay-stack, on the uninhabited, monotonous stretch.
The grey sky kept on resolving itself into a rain which, at the impulse
of gusts of wind, traced oblique lines in the air.
Laura had waked and was in the dressing-room. A little later she came
out, fresh and hearty, without the least sign of fatigue.
They began to see the yellowish walls of Rome, and certain big edifices
blackened by the wet. A moment more and the train stopped.
"It's not worth the trouble to take a cab," said Laura. "The hotel is here,
just a step."
They gave a porter orders to attend to the luggage. Laura took her
brother's arm, they went out on the Piazza Esedra, and entered the
hotel.

II
AN EXTRAORDINARY FAMILY
_JUAN GUILLÉN_
The Valencian family of Guillén was really fecund in men of energy
and cleverness. It is true that with the exception of Father Francisco
Guillén and of his nephew Juan Fort, none of them became known; but
in spite of the fact that the members of this family lived in obscurity in
a humble sphere, they performed deeds of unheard-of valour, daring,
and impertinence.
Juan Guillén, the first of the Guilléns whose memory is preserved, was
a highwayman of Villanueva.
What motives for vengeance Juan Guillén had against the Peyró family
is not known. The old folk of the period, two or three who are still alive,
always say that these Peyrós devoted themselves to usury; and there is
some talk of a certain sister of Juan Guillén's, ruined by one of the
Peyrós, whom they made disappear from the town.
Whatever the motive was, the fact is that one day Peyró, the father, and
his eldest son were found, full of bullet holes, in an orange orchard.
Juan Guillén was arrested; in court he affirmed his innocence with great
tenacity; but after he had been sentenced to ten years' imprisonment, he
said that there were still two Peyrós left to kill, whom he would put off
until he got out of prison.
As it turned out, Guillén was set free after six years and returned to
Villanueva. The two threatened Peyrós did their utmost to keep away

from the revengeful Guillén; but it did not work. Juan Guillén killed
one of the Peyrós while he was watering the flowers in the balcony of
his house. The other took refuge in a remote farm-house rented to
peasants in his confidence. This man, who was very crafty, always took
great precautions about all the people that came there, and never forgot
to close the doors and windows at night.
One morning he was found in bed with his head shot to pieces by a
blunderbuss. No doubt death overtook him while he slept. It was said
that Guillén had got in down the chimney, and going close to where
Peyró lay asleep, had fired the blunderbuss right against him. Then he
had gone tranquilly out by the door, without anybody's daring to stop
him.
These two last deaths did not cause Guillén any trouble with the law.
All the witnesses in the suit testified in his favour. When the trial was
over, Guillén arranged to stay and live tranquilly in Villanueva.
There was a highwayman in the town, who levied small sums on the
farms for cleaning young sneak-thieves out of the country, and for
escorting rich persons when they travelled; Guillén requested him to
give up his job and he did not offer the least resistance.
Juan Guillén married a peasant-girl, bought a truck-garden, and a
wine-cave, had several children, and was one of the most respectable
highwaymen in the district. He was the terror of the country,
particularly to evil-doers; for him there were neither scruples nor perils;
might was always right; his only limitation his blunderbuss.
To live in a continual state of war seemed to him a natural condition.
Half in earnest, half in jest, it is told of the truck-gardeners of Valencia
that the father always says to his wife or his daughter, when he is going
to have an interview with somebody:
"Bring me my pistol, sweetheart, I am going out to talk to a man."
To Guillén it seemed indispensable that he should carry his blunderbuss
when discussing an affair with anybody.
Juan's energy did not diminish with age; he kept on being as barbarous
and brutal as when he was young. His barbarity did not prevent his
being very fine and polite, because he was under the conviction that his
life was a well-nigh exemplary life.

TENDER-HEARTED