Short Fiction · Chapter
The Flag Paramount explained
Don Sabas Placido, a fugitive revolutionary leader, attempts to escape Coralio by sea with two officers.
What happens
Don Sabas Placido, a fugitive revolutionary leader, attempts to escape Coralio by sea with two officers. They commandeer a sloop under the command of a crazed admiral, who recognizes Sabas as a traitor and steers toward shore to deliver him to execution. A struggle ensues, the admiral is shot dead, and the flag of the defunct navy is taken. Don Sabas, a passionate collector, rejoices in the flag's uniqueness, valuing it above all else, and pins it on the dead admiral before boarding the steamer Salvador.
Themes in this chapter
Deception and Appearance vs. Reality
The admiral's uniform and title are a farce, yet he acts with deadly seriousness; the flag is a symbol of a nonexistent navy, but becomes a priceless collector's item.
Ambition and Failure
Sabas's revolutionary ambitions fail, but his collector's passion triumphs; the admiral's deluded loyalty ends in death.
Crime and Consequence
Sabas is a traitor fleeing execution; the admiral is killed for his loyalty; the escape involves violence and deception.
Characters to notice
- Don Sabas Placido
Fugitive revolutionary leader; collector of battle flags; kills the admiral and later treasures the unique naval flag.
- The Admiral
Crazed commander of the sloop El Nacional; recognizes Sabas as a traitor and attempts to deliver him to execution; shot dead by Sabas.
- Colonel Rafael
Officer accompanying Sabas; takes the helm after the admiral is killed.
- Captain McLeod
Captain of the steamer Salvador; assists in the escape by freeing the Carib crew.
Key passages
“He was trying to estimate this sombre and fantastic lad, whose impenetrable stolidity puzzled him.”
He studied the strange, serious young man, whose unreadable calm confused him.
Sabas observes the admiral's inscrutable demeanor.
“With your face to a wall and shoot you dead. That is the way they kill traitors.”
They execute traitors by shooting them against a wall.
The admiral reveals the fate awaiting Sabas.
“Thus ended the Minister of War's little piece of after-dinner drollery, and by the same hand that began it.”
The joke that started as a dinner amusement ended with the same person who began it.
The admiral's commission and the flag's origin are tied to the Minister of War's jest.
“Beautiful flag! Only flag! Little devil of a most heaven-born flag!”
What a beautiful, unique, and almost divine flag!
Sabas exults over the rare naval flag.