Note 2 — Chapter XV · The Administration of Justice

“On another occasion, I met the brother of my house muchacha,2 a boy about eight. He had a sort of protuberance on one side caused by broken ribs which had not been set. I questioned my muchacha. She said her step-father had kicked the child across the room some weeks before and broken his ribs. The next day, I took the child together with Señora Bayot, the wife of the Governor’s secretary, before the local Justice of the Peace. Señora Bayot translated and the child told the same story as had his sister. The Justice of the Peace issued an order for the step-father to report to him on the next day. That night my muchacha told me that her step-father had threatened to kill the child if he did not tell the Justice that he got the hurt by falling out of an orange tree. The child did as ordered, and the step-father was dismissed. When I questioned the Justice of the Peace as to why he credited the second tale, he said the child was under oath then, and was not under oath in the first statements.”