"There," muttered the hangman; "these bracelets might have been made for your Excellency; they just fit on over the fur cuffs." And so saying, he pushed the prisoner against the wall, and placed both his arms in rings. "_Santissima Madre, ora pro nobis!_" prayed poor Cosmo between his teeth, which chattered as he spoke. Then suddenly he raised his voice, and broke out into the beautiful hymn, "Madre dolorosa, dulcissima y hermosa," which he sang, in this his moment of extreme anguish, with such expression and melody, that even the executioner suspended his proceedings, and listened for a moment, visibly moved. A sign from the alguazil recalled him to his duty. "A little farther back, Senoria. The legs asunder, on either side of this stone. We want you to sit comfortably." "It is cold, bitter cold!" whined the poor fellow. "Oh, my poor mother!" "The head higher," resumed the hangman, "or the springs might catch your skull. So--that is right. Don't be afraid. We are not going to hurt you." The prisoner now stood with his legs straddled out, a large stone, that projected from the wall, between them, his neck in a huge iron collar, his arms spread out and hanging in the rings. "Remain standing, Senoria, till we have fastened your cravat. Don't tremble. We are doing nothing to you. In two minutes you will be as you should be." While uttering these words of consolation, the executioner had fastened a thinner chain, of which the end was secured to the stone above mentioned, round the neck of the victim, who stood shaking and trembling, and allowing himself to be thus dealt with as unresistingly as a lamb. The poor fellow had left off sobbing, and was now repeating Ave Marias in a low hurried voice, with all the agonized eagerness of one who in his last moments would fain make up for former omissions. "Would you, Senoria, wish to have the sentence read?" enquired the alcalde of the man in the blue cloak, who stood observing the proceedings in deep silence, and now made no answer to the question. "Would Don Ruy Gomez be pleased to hear the sentence read?" repeated the alcalde in a hoarse whisper. Still no reply. The alguazil made a sign to the executioner. The latter pressed the prisoner down upon the stone--the snap of a spring was heard--the stone fell out of the wall. "Jesus Maria! Todos Santos!" shrieked Cosmo. "Madre mi"---- The last syllable was not uttered; in its place there was the noise of crushed and breaking bones; and then the tongue protruded from the mouth, and the eyes from their sockets, the face became of a deep purple colour, and the victim hung a corpse in his manacles. "_El ultimo suspiro!_" said the executioner, in an unusually solemn tone. The viceroy's secretary shuddered, and gazed fixedly and in silence upon the corpse. "The finest youth in Mexico!" he murmured. And then, as if devils had been goading him, he hurried to the door.