Pablo De Segovia

They clapped on each of us, as we came in, two pair of irons, and took / us off to the dungeon; but I made use of the money I had to prevent / falling into that hell, pulling out a pistole, and making it glitter in / the gaoler's eyes, saying, "Pray, Sir, be pleased to hear me a word in / private. " He having seen a glimpse of the gold, took me aside, and I / went on, "I beseech you, Sir, take pity of an unfortunate man. " Then I / took him lovingly by the hand, and clapped in the piece, which he / greedily grasped, being used to such ceremonies, and answered, "I will / examine into your disorder, and if it is dangerous, you shall not go / down into the hole. " I understood him, and submitted myself humbly, so / that he left me out, and turned down my companions. I will not take up / time by relating what sport we made in the prison and as we went along / the streets; for being pushed and dragged along, bound, some of us / without cloaks, and others with them, it was comical to see such a / parcel of ragamuffins, all patches, and parti-coloured black and white, / like magpies. The officers knew not how to take fast hold of them, they / were all in such tatters; some they thought to grasp by the flesh, and / finding none, for it was all starved away, they feared to be answerable / for disjointing the bones. Others lost their coats and breeches by the / rough handling of those unmerciful fellows. When they unbound the rope, / as they led them all in, the rags and clouts dropped off with it. At / night I was carried to the common side, where I had a little bed / allotted me. It was odd to see some lie down in their whole case, / without taking of the least rag they wore in the day. Others at one / motion put off all the clothes they had; others played; but at last we / were made fast, and the light put out. We all forgot our irons, and took / our rest very favourably.

The gaoler then fancying I would drop him another pistole rather than be / let down into the hole, ordered me to be buried among the rest, which I / resolved to endure rather than break bulk any more. I was conveyed down, / where my old friends received me with a great shout and much / satisfaction. That night I lay cool, without anything to cover me; when / it was day, we all came out of the dungeon, saw one another's faces, and / presently our companions demanded the usual garnish-money, on pain of a / good liquoring. I presently disbursed six reals; but my companions / having nothing to give, the matter was left over till night. Among the / rest in the dungeon, was a tall one-eyed young fellow, with a great pair / of whiskers, a sour look, round shouldered, and those well flogged. He / had a whole smith's forge upon him, double fetters on his legs, and a / great chain hanging from his neck; they called him the Giant; and he / said of himself that he was in prison for petty trifles, which I / concluded to be some mere larceny; and if anybody asked him whether that / was the crime, he answered in the negative, but that it was for backward / sins. When the gaoler reproved him for his tricks, he would call him the / hangman's pantryman, and general storekeeper of sin. At other times he / would cry, "You are a fool to contend with one that will vanish in / smoke; by the Lord I will stifle you as I go off. " This he had said, / expecting to be burnt alive. He contracted friendship with another they / called Robledo, and by a nickname the Tumbler, who said he was in prison / for his dexterity, which consisted in making everything vanish he laid / his hands on.