The passage talks about how Peter's attention was drawn to something specific. When your attention is on something, it is focused. Peter is not pulled out of place and he isn't drawing with a pen or pencil. Peter is also not being moved to one side.
He is captured by a colonel who is son of Don Lupe that was killed by Juvencio. When some men are trampling on his small property he goes out to tell them not to do that when he is captured. He doesn't want to die and he says that he is not a threat to anybody because he is too old then the colonel tells his men to get Juvencio drunk.
