Finally, in May of 1936, arrangements were made to baptize Nemesio, Antonio Gargallo and José Romanos in the river Ebro, close to Zaragoza.

MISTAKEN FOR FASCISTS

While Eric Cooke and Antonio Gargallo were witnessing in the village of Mediana, a woman falsely accused them of being Fascist agents and against the existing Spanish Republic. All the evidence she had was that a booklet placed with her spoke of God and of Christ! The village was practically 100 percent Communist, according to Brother Cooke, and to the villagers anything that spoke of God or Jesus Christ was Roman Catholic and therefore was Fascist. It was impossible to persuade them otherwise.

First, quite a crowd of women gathered. Then the town crier told Brother Cooke to clear out of the village or else he would notify the Civil Guard. The brothers did not leave and the police later arrived. At the headquarters the sergeant carefully examined the booklets and questioned Brothers Cooke and Gargallo. Finally, he said he could see nothing wrong at all, but would have to look into matters further since a complaint had been filed by the villagers. He then told Brother Cooke to take a letter to the lieutenant at the nearest town, feeling that he could better decide on the legality of our work.

As Eric and Antonio made their way down the rutted cart track, several coatless youths were running alongside them in the fields. Soon, a man and some boys came up behind the brothers. Over twenty of them converged at one point, reported Brother Cooke, who added: “Two seized our arms, accusing us of being Fascist propagandists. One bold youth stuck a pitchfork in my stomach in case I should try to escape. Another picked up the book Vindication in English, which I was carrying to read. ‘Look!’ he said, ‘Italian! These must be Fascist agents.’ Antonio attempted an explanation, but they were past being reasonable.”

Antonio’s book bag was pulled off the bike and the literature was thrown to the ground. Another assailant tried to tear the book bag off Eric’s back. Meanwhile, others were gathering sticks for a fire and some were trying to tear the volumes, preparing for a book-burning.

“Just at that point, when things looked hopeless,” reports Eric, “we saw their attitude change. The girls present started to run away. The grip on our wrists slackened. I looked behind, and coming round the bend were four members of the Guardia Civil. What a welcome sight! As Antonio said, Jehovah permitted matters to reach a certain point and then he intervened.”