Suddenly one day all the letters from Sulaco by the overland
courier were carried off by a file of soldiers from the post office to
the Commandancia, without disguise, concealment, or apology. Sotillo had
heard through Cayta of the final defeat of Ribiera.
This was the first open sign of the change in his convictions. Presently
notorious democrats, who had been living till then in constant fear of
arrest, leg irons, and even floggings, could be observed going in and
out at the great door of the Commandancia, where the horses of the
orderlies doze under their heavy saddles, while the men, in ragged
uniforms and pointed straw hats, lounge on a bench, with their naked
feet stuck out beyond the strip of shade; and a sentry, in a red baize
coat with holes at the elbows, stands at the top of the steps glaring
haughtily at the common people, who uncover their heads to him as they
pass.
Sotillo's ideas did not soar above the care for his personal safety and
the chance of plundering the town in his charge, but he feared that such
a late adhesion would earn but scant gratitude from the victors.
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