Again, there was but
one victim; for it seems to have ever been the custom of the Spanish
rulers to associate in these gruesome affairs some real criminals
with the political offenders, no doubt with the intentional purpose
of confusing the issue in the general mind. Rizal standing alone,
the occasion of so much hurried preparation and fearful precaution,
is a pathetic testimonial to the degree of incapacity into which the
ruling powers had fallen, even in chicanery.
After bidding good-by to his sister and making final disposition
regarding some personal property, the doomed man, under close guard,
walked calmly, even cheerfully, from Fort Santiago along the Malecon
to the Luneta, accompanied by his Jesuit confessors. Arrived there, he
thanked those about him for their kindness and requested the officer
in charge to allow him to face the firing-squad, since he had never
been a traitor to Spain. This the officer declined to permit, for
the order was to shoot him in the back. Rizal assented with a slight
protest, pointed out to the soldiers the spot in his back at which
they should aim, and with a firm step took his place in front of them.
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