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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 30278 ***
+
+                          Friars and Filipinos
+
+
+                       An abridged translation of
+
+                            Dr. José Rizal's
+
+                   Tagalog Novel, "Noli Me Tangere."
+
+                                   By
+                         Frank Ernest Gannett.
+
+
+                               New York:
+
+                          The St. James Press.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                            Copyright, 1900,
+                                   by
+                         Frank Ernest Gannett.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                                   To
+
+                         Jacob Gould Schurman,
+
+                    President of Cornell University.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+While serving on the staff of the first United States Commission to the
+Philippine Islands my attention was called to the life and writings
+of Dr. José Rizal. I found in his novel, "Noli Me Tangere," the best
+picture of the life of the people of those islands under Spanish rule,
+and the clearest exposition of the governmental problems which Spain
+failed to solve, and with which our own people must deal. It occurred
+to me that an English translation of Rizal's work would be of great
+value at the present time. My first intention was to reproduce the
+entire novel as it was written, but, after careful consideration,
+I thought best to abridge the story by the omission of some parts
+which did not seem essential to the main purpose of the work. The
+present volume is the result.
+
+Readers should not understand any of Rizal's references to priests
+and friars as reflections upon the Roman Catholic Church. He was
+throughout his life an ardent Catholic, and died a firm adherent
+of the Church. But he objected to the religious orders in the
+Philippine Islands, because he knew well that they were more zealous
+in furthering their own selfish ends than in seeking the advancement
+of Christianity. From experience, Dr. Rizal knew that the friars,
+under cloak of the gospel ministry, oppressed his fellow countrymen,
+and took advantage of their superstition and ignorance. These wrongs
+he was brave enough to expose in his writings. In the friars he saw an
+obstacle to the education and enlightenment of the Filipino people,
+and, using moderate means, he did his utmost to secure reform. His
+writings will explain to us the cause of the hatred shown by the
+Filipinos toward the religious corporations, and will make clearer
+the nature of one of the present problems in the Philippines.
+
+There are in the Philippines five religious orders: the Dominicans,
+Franciscans, Recoletos, Augustines and Jesuits. According to John
+Foreman, an eminent authority, the members of all of these, except
+the last named, come from the lower classes in Spain, and are on
+the whole comparatively ignorant and uncultured. Under the Spanish
+system of government certain provinces were assigned to each of the
+orders--except the Jesuits--and the friars were distributed among
+the different parishes. In the town assigned to him the friar had
+much authority. He was chief adviser in all civil affairs, and, by
+his influence over the superstitious natives, maintained absolute
+control in all matters pertaining to the local government as well
+as to the local church. So firm was his hold that he led the Spanish
+government to believe that the islands could not be ruled without his
+aid. Knowing that his power rested on the ignorance of the people he
+discouraged education among them. When native Filipinos advanced so
+far as to prove an obstacle to the religious orders, as did Rizal and
+many others, the friars sought to destroy them. Forgetting their holy
+mission, the religious orders became commercial corporations, amassed
+enormous wealth, and gained possession of the most valuable parts of
+the islands, though to much of this property the titles are not clear.
+
+From my own observation, and from information derived from the
+Spaniards themselves, I am convinced that the author has not
+overdrawn his pictures. In fact I have learned of instances where
+the oppression and practices of the friars were even worse than those
+described. Dr. Rizal has given us a portrayal of the Filipino character
+from the viewpoint of the most advanced Filipino. He brings out many
+facts that are pertinent to present-day questions, showing especially
+the Malayan ideas of vengeance, which will put great difficulties
+in the way of the pacifying of the islands by our forces. The reader
+will not fail to notice the striking similarity between the life of
+Ibarra, the hero, and that of Rizal, the author, a short sketch of
+whose career has been given in the following pages.
+
+For assistance in preparing this volume for publication I offer
+sincere thanks to William H. Glasson, Ph.D., Instructor in History
+in the George School, Newtown, Pa. Dr. Glasson has read the entire
+manuscript and proofs, and I have been glad to avail myself of his
+advice on many doubtful points. I desire also to acknowledge my
+indebtedness for favors received to Horatio Green, Interpreter to
+the Supreme Court of the Philippine Islands, to W. G. Richardson,
+of New York, and to the publishers.
+
+
+    F. E. G.
+
+    Ithaca, N. Y., Dec. 1, 1900.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+        Chapter I.                        Page
+        Don Santiago's Dinner                1
+
+        Chapter II.
+        At the Dinner Table                 11
+
+        Chapter III.
+        Heretic and Revolutionist           16
+
+        Chapter IV.
+        Captain Tiago                       23
+
+        Chapter V.
+        An Idyl on the Azotea               29
+
+        Chapter VI.
+        Things Philippine                   35
+
+        Chapter VII.
+        San Diego and Its People            40
+
+        Chapter VIII.
+        Ibarra and the Grave-Digger         47
+
+        Chapter IX.
+        Adventures of a School Teacher      51
+
+        Chapter X.
+        Lights and Shadows                  57
+
+        Chapter XI.
+        The Fishing Party                   59
+
+        Chapter XII.
+        In the Woods                        68
+
+        Chapter XIII.
+        In the House of Tasio               77
+
+        Chapter XIV.
+        The Eve of the Fiesta               83
+
+        Chapter XV.
+        As Night Comes On                   87
+
+        Chapter XVI.
+        The Hoisting Crane                  92
+
+        Chapter XVII.
+        The Banquet                        104
+
+        Chapter XVIII.
+        The First Cloud                    112
+
+        Chapter XIX.
+        His Excellency                     116
+
+        Chapter XX.
+        The Procession                     125
+
+        Chapter XXI.
+        Doña Consolacion                   129
+
+        Chapter XXII.
+        Might and Right                    137
+
+        Chapter XXIII.
+        Two Visitors                       145
+
+        Chapter XXIV.
+        Episode in Espadaña's Life         148
+
+        Chapter XXV.
+        Schemes                            161
+
+        Chapter XXVI.
+        The Persecuted                     165
+
+        Chapter XXVII.
+        The Cock Fight                     172
+
+        Chapter XXVIII.
+        The Two Señoras                    181
+
+        Chapter XXIX.
+        The Enigma                         188
+
+        Chapter XXX.
+        The Voice of the Persecuted        191
+
+        Chapter XXXI.
+        Elias's Family                     200
+
+        Chapter XXXII.
+        Changes                            207
+
+        Chapter XXXIII.
+        Playing Cards with the Shades      211
+
+        Chapter XXXIV.
+        The Discovery                      217
+
+        Chapter XXXV.
+        The Catastrophe                    223
+
+        Chapter XXXVI.
+        What People Say and Think          229
+
+        Chapter XXXVII.
+        Vae Victis!                        235
+
+        Chapter XXXVIII.
+        The Accursed                       244
+
+        Chapter XXXIX.
+        Maria Clara is Married             248
+
+        Chapter XL.
+        The Pursuit on the Lake            259
+
+        Chapter XLI.
+        Father Dámaso Explains             267
+
+        Epilogue                           271
+
+
+
+
+
+
+JOSÉ RIZAL.
+
+
+Dr. José Rizal, of whose "Noli Me Tangere," the following story, is
+an abridgement, is the most striking character to be found in the
+history of the Philippine Islands. He was not only a great martyr
+to the cause of liberty, and to the advancement of his fellow men,
+but he was without doubt the greatest Filipino ever born, and his
+memory is cherished to-day by his people as we ourselves cherish the
+memory of Washington.
+
+Rizal was born on June 19th, 1861, in the pueblo of Calamba, in the
+province of Laguna, on the Island of Luzon. He came of a Tagalog
+family, which, it is said, acknowledged a slight mixture of Chinese
+blood, and possessed considerable property. As a child he gave evidence
+of extraordinary precocity. He is said to have written poetry in his
+native tongue at eight years of age, produced a successful melodrama
+at fourteen, and later to have won prizes in literary contests with
+writers of recognized ability.
+
+After passing through the University of Manila, and receiving much
+instruction at the hands of the Jesuit fathers, he was sent to Europe
+to complete his education. He pursued courses of study in Spanish
+and German universities, and won the degrees of Doctor of Medicine
+and Doctor of Philosophy. Besides acquiring a knowledge of seven
+languages he gained a brilliant reputation for proficiency in the
+branch of optical surgery. For a time he was the leading assistant
+in the office of a world-renowned specialist at Vienna.
+
+While in Europe Rizal wrote several books and also gave considerable
+time to sculpture and painting. His artistic ability was great,
+and some of his productions are now treasured by friends into whose
+possession they came. Rizal's best known work is his "Noli Me Tangere,"
+written in Belgium about 1886 or 1887. This novel, with its vivid
+picture of life in the Philippines, and its exposure of Spanish
+misrule and oppression, won for him the bitter hatred of the friars,
+and inspired the relentless persecution which only ended with the
+taking of his life.
+
+In 1889 Dr. Rizal returned to the Philippines, but was soon compelled
+to leave his native land in order to escape forcible banishment. After
+a short residence in Japan, he went to London, where he published
+a work on the History of the Philippine Islands. About the same
+time a sequel to "Noli Me Tangere," entitled "El Filibusterismo,"
+was published. The hatred of the priests against him was further
+inflamed by this production, and the government in Manila was forced
+by the friars to forbid the circulation of any of his writings. Copies
+of his novels were burned in the public squares, and it was worth
+one's life to be found possessing a copy. Until very recently it has
+been almost impossible to obtain a copy of Rizal's works, and it was
+necessary to go to Europe to secure the one from which the following
+abridged translation was made.
+
+In 1892 Dr. Rizal was so overcome with a desire to see again his
+beautiful fatherland that he ventured, in the face of all the dangers
+that threatened him, to return to Manila. He had scarcely set foot
+on shore, however, before he was arrested and thrown in prison. The
+friars demanded his execution on the ground that he carried incendiary
+leaflets for the purpose of stirring up a rebellion, but subsequent
+inquiries showed that such leaflets had been introduced into his
+baggage at the custom house through the intrigues of the Augustine
+friars. Despite his indignant protestations of innocence; Rizal was
+summarily condemned by the Spanish General, Despujols, to banishment
+at Dapitan in the island of Mindanao. Although the trickery of the
+friars became known to him, Despujols lacked courage to revoke his
+order of banishment, for fear that he, too, would incur the hatred
+of the powerful religious corporations.
+
+After four years of exile Rizal saw plainly that the hostility of
+the friars would make it impossible for him to live in his native
+land. In 1896 a plague of yellow fever broke out in the island
+of Cuba and Rizal volunteered to lend his medical services to the
+Spanish government. Ramon Blanco, then general-in-chief of the Spanish
+forces in the Philippines, accepted the generous offer and recalled
+the young man to Manila that he might sail at once for Cuba. Alarmed
+by demonstrations of popular affection for Rizal, who represented the
+aspirations of the Filipino people, the Spanish authorities broke faith
+with him and imprisoned him in the Fuerza de Santiago. He was arraigned
+on false charges, given a military trial, and at the dictation of
+the religious orders was sentenced to be shot as a traitor.
+
+At dawn on December 30th, 1896, he was led to the place of execution
+on the beautiful Luneta, overlooking the tranquil surface of Manila
+Bay. Notices of the event had been published throughout the islands
+and the day on which it was to occur was proclaimed a fiesta. Thousands
+gathered around the place selected, and so evident was the sympathy of
+the helpless Filipinos for the man who was to die for their sake that
+Spain marshalled ten regiments of her soldiers about the spot. The
+populace must be intimidated. A nation's hero was about to become a
+nation's martyr. With face uplifted he glanced at the multitude about
+him and smiled. They tied his arms behind him and made him face the
+waters of the bay. In vain he protested and begged that he might die
+facing his executioners. A squad of his fellow countrymen, who were
+serving in Spain's army, were selected for the bloody work. They drew
+in position to shoot him in the back. The order was given to fire,
+but only one had the courage to obey. The bullet went straight and the
+hero fell, but another shot was necessary to despatch his life. His
+newly wedded wife remained with him to the end. The best hope of the
+Filipino people was crushed; a light in a dark place was snuffed out.
+
+Rizal was no extremist, no believer in harsh and bloody methods, no
+revolutionist. He aimed to secure moderate and reasonable reforms, to
+lessen the oppressive exactions of the friars, to examine into titles
+of their land, and to make possible the education and uplifting of
+his people. He loved Spain as he did his own country, and repeatedly
+used his influence against the rebellious measures proposed by other
+Filipino leaders. His execution was only one of the numerous outrages
+which characterized Spain's reign in the Philippines.
+
+In closing this short sketch of Rizal's life we can do no better
+than to quote the estimate of him made by Dr. Ferdinand Blumentritt,
+professor in the University of Leitmeritz, Austria, who prepared a
+biographical sketch of Rizal. Dr. Blumentritt said:
+
+"Not only is Rizal the most prominent man of his own people, but the
+greatest man the Malayan race has produced. His memory will never
+perish in his fatherland, and future generations of Spaniards will
+yet learn to utter his name with respect and reverence."
+
+
+
+
+
+
+FRIARS AND FILIPINOS.
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+DON SANTIAGO'S DINNER.
+
+
+In the latter part of October, Don Santiago de los Santos, popularly
+known as Captain Tiago, gave a dinner. Though, contrary to his custom,
+he had not announced it until the afternoon of the day on which it was
+to occur, the dinner became at once the absorbing topic of conversation
+in Binondo, in the other suburbs of Manila, and even in the walled
+city. Captain Tiago was generally considered a most liberal man,
+and his house, like his country, shut its doors to no one, whether
+bent on pleasure or on the development of some new and daring scheme.
+
+The dinner was given in the captain's house in Analoague street. The
+building is of ordinary size, of the style of architecture common
+to the country, and is situated on that arm of the Pasig called by
+some Binondo Creek. This, like all the streams in Manila, satisfies a
+multitude of needs. It serves for bathing, mortar-mixing, laundering,
+fishing, means of transportation and communication, and even for
+drinking water, when the Chinese water-carriers find it convenient
+to use it for that purpose. Although the most important artery of
+the busiest part of the town, where the roar of commerce is loudest
+and traffic most congested, the stream is, for a distance of a mile,
+crossed by only one wooden bridge. During six months of the year, one
+end of this bridge is out of order, and the other end is impassable
+during the remaining time.
+
+The house is low and somewhat out of plumb. No one, however, knows
+whether the faulty lines of the building are due to a defect in the
+sight of the architect who constructed it, or whether they are the
+result of earthquakes and hurricanes.
+
+A wide staircase, with green balustrades and carpeted here and there in
+spots, leads from the zaguan, or tiled entrance hall, to the second
+story of the house. On either side of this staircase is a row of
+flower-pots and vases, placed upon chinaware pedestals, brilliant in
+coloring and fantastic in design. Upstairs, we enter a spacious hall,
+which is, in these islands, called caida. This serves to-night for
+the dining hall. In the middle of the room is a large table, profusely
+and richly ornamented, fairly groaning under the weight of delicacies.
+
+In direct contrast to these worldly preparations are the motley colored
+religious pictures on the walls--such subjects as "Purgatory," "Hell,"
+"The Last Judgment," "The Death of the Just," and "The Death of the
+Sinner." Below these, in a beautiful renaissance frame, is a large,
+curious linen engraving of two old ladies. The picture bears the
+inscription "Our Lady of Peace, Propitious to Travellers, Venerated
+in Antipolo, Visiting in the Guise of a Beggar the Pious Wife of the
+Famous Captain Inés in Her Sickness." In the side of the room toward
+the river, Captain Tiago has arranged fantastic wooden arches, half
+Chinese, half European, through which one can pass to the roof which
+covers part of the first story. This roof serves as a veranda, and
+has been illuminated with Chinese lanterns in many colors and made
+into a pretty little arbor or garden. The sala or principal room of
+the house, where the guests assembled is resplendent with colossal
+mirrors and brilliant chandeliers, and, upon a platform of pine,
+is a costly piano of the finest workmanship.
+
+People almost filled this room, the men keeping on one side and the
+women on the other, as though they were in a Catholic church or a
+synagogue. Among the women were a number of young girls, both native
+and Spanish. Occasionally one of them forgot herself and yawned,
+but immediately sought to conceal it by covering her mouth with her
+fan. Conversation was carried on in a low voice and died away in
+vague mono-syllables, like the indistinct noises heard by night in
+a large mansion.
+
+An elderly woman with a kindly face, a cousin of Captain Tiago,
+received the ladies. She spoke Spanish regardless of all the
+grammatical rules, and her courtesies consisted in offering to the
+Spanish ladies cigarettes and betel nut (neither of which they use)
+and in kissing the hands of the native women after the manner of
+the friars. Finally the poor old lady was completely exhausted,
+and, taking advantage of a distant crash occasioned by the breaking
+of a plate, hurried off precipitately to investigate, murmuring:
+"Jesús! Just wait, you good-for-nothings!"
+
+Among the men there was somewhat more animation. In one corner of
+the room were some cadets, who chatted with some show of interest,
+but in a low voice. From time to time they surveyed the crowd and
+indicated to each other different persons, meanwhile laughing more
+or less affectedly.
+
+The only people who appeared to be really enjoying themselves were
+two friars, two citizens and an officer of the army who formed a
+group around a small table, on which were bottles of wine and English
+biscuits. The officer was old, tall and sunburnt, and looked as the
+Duke of Alva might have looked, had he been reduced to a command in
+the civil guard. He said little, but what he did say was short and
+to the point. One of the friars was a young Dominican, handsome and
+dressed with extreme nicety. He wore gold mounted spectacles and
+preserved the extreme gravity of youth. The other friar, however,
+who was a Franciscan, talked a great deal and gesticulated even
+more. Although his hair was getting gray, he seemed to be well
+preserved and in robust health. His splendid figure, keen glance,
+square jaw and herculean form gave him the appearance of a Roman
+patrician in disguise. He was gay and talked briskly, like one who
+is not afraid to speak out. Brusque though his words might be, his
+merry laugh removed any disagreeable impression.
+
+As to the citizens, one of them was small in stature and wore a black
+beard, his most noticeable feature being his large nose--so large
+that you could scarcely believe that it was all his own. The other
+was a young blonde, apparently a recent arrival in the country. The
+latter was carrying on a lively discussion with the Franciscan.
+
+"You will see," said the friar, "when you have been in the country
+a few months, and will be convinced that what I say is right. It is
+one thing to govern in Madrid and another to rule in the Philippines."
+
+"But----"
+
+"I, for example," continued Father Dámaso, raising his voice to prevent
+the other from speaking, "I, who can point to my twenty-three years
+of existence on bananas and rice, can speak with some authority on
+this subject. Do not come to me with theories or arguments, for I
+know the native. Remember, that when I came to this country, I was
+sent to a parish, small and largely devoted to agriculture. I did not
+understand Tagalog very well, but I received the confessions of the
+women and we managed to understand each other. In fact, they came
+to think so much of me that three years afterward, when I was sent
+to another and larger town, where a vacancy had been created by the
+death of the native parish priest, all the women were in tears. They
+overwhelmed me with presents, they saw me off with bands of music----"
+
+"But this only shows----"
+
+"Wait, wait! Do not be in a hurry! My successor remained there a still
+shorter time, but when he left there were more people to see him off,
+more tears shed, and more music played, although he had treated the
+people worse than I, and had raised the parish dues to a sum almost
+double the amount I had exacted."
+
+"But allow me----"
+
+"Furthermore, I was twenty years in the town of San Diego and it was
+only a few months ago--that--that I left. Twenty years! Surely any
+one will admit that twenty years is time enough to get acquainted
+with a town. There were six thousand people in San Diego, and I knew
+every one of them as if he were my own child. I knew even the private
+affairs of them all; I knew in what way this man was 'crooked,'
+where the shoe pinched that one, what slips every girl had made and
+with whom, and who was the true father of each child, for I received
+all of their confessions and they always confessed scrupulously. I
+can prove what I say by Santiago, our host, for he has considerable
+property in that town, and it was there that we became friends. Well,
+then! This will show you what sort of people the natives are: when I
+went away, only a few old women and some lay brothers saw me off. And
+that, after I had been there twenty years! Don't you see that this
+proves beyond a doubt that all the reforms attempted by the Ministers
+of the Government in Madrid are perfectly absurd?"
+
+It was now the young man's turn to be perplexed. The lieutenant, who
+had been listening to the argument, knit his brows. The little man
+with the black beard made ready to combat or support Father Dámaso's
+arguments, while the Dominican was content to remain entirely neutral.
+
+"But do you believe----," the young man finally asked in a curious
+mood, and looking straight at the friar.
+
+"Do I believe it? As I do the Gospel! The native is so indolent!"
+
+"Ah! Pardon me for interrupting you," said the young blonde, lowering
+his voice and drawing his chair closer, "but you have spoken a word
+that arouses my interest. Is this indolence an inherent characteristic
+of the native, or is it true, as a foreign traveller has said in
+speaking of a country whose inhabitants are of the same race as these,
+that this indolence is only a fabrication to excuse our own laziness,
+our backwardness and the faults of our celestial system?"
+
+"Bah! That is nothing but envy! Ask Señor Laruja, who knows this
+country very well, whether the native has his equal in the world for
+indolence and ignorance."
+
+"It is a fact," replied the little man referred to, "that
+nowhere in the world can any one be found more indolent than the
+native. Positively nowhere!"
+
+"Nor more vicious and ungrateful!"
+
+"Nor with less education!"
+
+Somewhat uneasy, the blonde man began to glance about the
+room. "Gentlemen," he said in a low voice, "I believe that we are in
+the house of a native, and these young ladies may----"
+
+"Bah! Don't be so sensitive. How long have you been in the country?"
+
+"Four days," answered the young man somewhat ruffled.
+
+"Did you come here as an employee?"
+
+"No, sir. I came on my own account in order to become acquainted with
+the country."
+
+"Man, what a rare bird you are!" exclaimed Father Dámaso, looking
+at him with curiosity. "To come here on your own account for such
+foolish ends! What a phenomenon! And when so many books have been
+written about this country----"
+
+Then, striking the arm of his chair with sudden violence, he exclaimed:
+"The country is being lost; it is lost already. The governing power
+supports heretics against the ministers of God."
+
+"What do you mean?" again asked the lieutenant, half rising from
+his chair.
+
+"What do I mean?" repeated Father Dámaso, again raising his voice,
+and facing the lieutenant. "I mean what I say. I mean that, when a
+priest turns away the corpse of a heretic from his cemetery, no one,
+not even the King himself, has the right to interfere, and still less
+to punish. And yet a general, a miserable little general----"
+
+"Father! His Excellency is the vice-regal representative of His
+Majesty the King!" exclaimed the officer, rising to his feet.
+
+"What do I care for His Excellency, or for any of your vice-regal
+representatives!" answered the Franciscan, rising in his turn. "In
+any other time than the present, he would have been thrown down
+stairs in the same way as the religious corporations treated the
+sacrilegious governor Bustamente in his time. Those were the days
+when there was faith!"
+
+"I'll tell you right here that I don't allow any--His Excellency
+represents His Majesty the King!"
+
+"I don't care whether he is king or rogue. For us there is no king
+other than the true----"
+
+"Stop this immediately!" shouted the lieutenant in a threatening
+manner, and as though he were commanding his own soldiers. "Take back
+what you have said, or to-morrow I shall inform His Excellency."
+
+"Go and tell him at once! Go tell him!" answered Father Dámaso,
+sarcastically, at the same time approaching the lieutenant with his
+fists doubled. "Don't you think for a moment that, because I wear
+the dress of a monk, I'm not a man. Hurry! Go tell him! I'll lend
+you my carriage."
+
+The discussion began to grow ridiculous as the speakers became more
+heated, but, at this point, fortunately, the Dominican interfered.
+
+"Gentlemen!" he said in a tone of authority, and with that nasal
+twang which is so characteristic of the friars, "there is no reason
+why you should thus confuse matters or take offense where it is not
+intended. We should distinguish between what Father Dámaso says as
+a man, and what he says as a priest. Whatever he may say as a priest
+cannot be offensive, for the words of a priest are understood to be
+absolutely true."
+
+"But I understand what his motives are, Father Sibyla!" interrupted
+the lieutenant, who saw that he would be drawn into a net of such
+fine distinction that, if he allowed it to go on, Father Dámaso
+would get off scot free. "I know very well what his motives are,
+and Your Reverence will also perceive them. During the absence of
+Father Dámaso from San Diego, his assistant buried the body of a very
+worthy person. Yes, sir, an extremely worthy person! I had known
+the man from time to time and had often been his guest. What if he
+never had been to confession? I do not confess, either. To say that
+he committed suicide is a lie, a slander. A man such as he, with
+a son whose success and love were more than all the world to him;
+a man who believed in God, who fulfilled his duty to society, who
+was honorable and just--such a man does not commit suicide. That is
+what I say! I am not telling you all that I think about this matter,
+and Your Reverence should be very thankful that I restrain myself."
+
+Turning his back on the Franciscan, he continued: "As I was saying,
+this priest, when he returned to the town, after maltreating his
+coadjutor, ordered that the man's body be taken up and thrown out of
+the cemetery, to be buried I know not where. The town of San Diego
+was too cowardly to protest, though, in fact, very few people knew
+much about the matter. The dead man had no relatives in the town and
+his only son was in Europe. His Excellency, however, learned about
+the affair, and being at heart upright and just, he ordered that the
+priest be punished. As a result, Father Dámaso was transferred to
+another but better town. That is all there was to it. Now you can
+make all the distinctions you like."
+
+So saying, he left the group.
+
+"I am very sorry to have touched upon so delicate a subject," said
+Father Sibyla, "but, after all, if the change from one town to another
+was to your advantage----"
+
+"How could it be to my advantage? How about all the things that I
+lost?" interrupted Father Dámaso, fairly boiling over with rage.
+
+"Good evening, gentlemen! Good evening, Father!" said Captain Santiago,
+who at that instant entered the room, leading a youth by the hand. On
+saluting his guests in this manner, he kissed the hands of the priests,
+who, by the way, forgot to give him their blessing. The Dominican took
+off his gold-rimmed spectacles in order to examine the new arrival
+at better advantage, while Father Dámaso, turning pale at the sight,
+stared at the youth with eyes wide open.
+
+"I have the honor of presenting to you Don Crisostomo Ibarra, the
+son of my deceased friend," said Captain Tiago. "The young man has
+just arrived from Europe, and I have been to meet him." At the mere
+mention of the name, exclamations were heard in all parts of the
+room. The lieutenant, forgetting himself entirely, did not stop to
+salute his host, but at once approached the young man and surveyed
+him from head to foot. The youth exchanged the usual greetings with
+those who had gathered around him. He showed no striking peculiarity,
+except in his sombre dress, which was in deep contrast with that of
+the other persons present. His athletic build, his appearance, and
+every movement he made showed, however, that a fine mind and a healthy
+body had both been highly developed. You could see from his frank and
+vivacious face that he had Spanish blood in his veins. Although his
+hair, eyes and complexion were dark, his cheeks had a slight color,
+due, no doubt, to residence in cold countries.
+
+"What!" he exclaimed with glad surprise, "the parish priest of my
+own town! Father Dámaso, my father's intimate friend!" Every one in
+the room looked at the Franciscan, but the latter made no motion.
+
+"You must excuse me, if I have made a mistake," added Ibarra, somewhat
+in doubt because of the apathy of the friar.
+
+"You have made no mistake," the priest finally answered in a strained
+voice, "but your father was never an intimate friend of mine."
+
+Ibarra slowly withdrew the hand which he had offered, looking at the
+friar with great surprise. As he turned about, he came face to face
+with the lieutenant just approaching.
+
+"My boy, are you the son of Don Rafael Ibarra?"
+
+The young man bowed in acquiescence. Father Dámaso settled back into
+his arm-chair and fixed his eyes upon the lieutenant.
+
+"Welcome to your country! May you be more happy in it than was your
+father!" exclaimed the officer in a trembling voice. "I had many
+dealings with your father and I knew him well, and I can say that he
+was one of the most worthy and honorable men in the Philippines."
+
+"Sir," replied Ibarra with emotion, "your praise of my father puts
+me in doubt as to his fate. Even now I, his own son, am ignorant of
+it all."
+
+The eyes of the old man filled with tears. He turned and hurriedly
+withdrew. Ibarra found himself standing alone in the middle of the
+room. His host had disappeared, and he turned to a group of gentlemen,
+who, as soon as they saw him coming, formed a semicircle to receive
+him.
+
+"Gentlemen," he said, "in Germany, when a stranger attends any
+social function and there is no one present to introduce him, it is
+allowable for him to introduce himself. Permit me to avail myself
+of this practice. Gentlemen, my name is Juan Crisostomo Ibarra y
+Magsalin." The others gave their names in turn, of which the most
+were comparatively unknown.
+
+"My name is A----a," said one of the young men, bowing stiffly.
+
+"Then, perhaps, I have the honor of addressing the poet whose works
+have kept up my enthusiasm for my country? I have been told that you
+have stopped writing, but no one has told me why."
+
+"Why? Because there is no use in invoking the muses for false and
+foolish ends. A case has been made out against one man for having put
+into verse a true story of Pero Grullo. I am not going to get myself
+into a similar scrape. They may call me a poet, but they shall not
+call me a fool."
+
+"And can you not tell us what that true story was?"
+
+"Yes. The poet said that the son of a lion is also a lion, and for
+saying this he narrowly escaped being banished."
+
+"Dinner is ready," announced a waiter who had been borrowed from the
+Cáfé Campaña. The guests began to file into the dining room, not,
+however, without many sighs, and even some prayers among the women,
+especially the natives, that the dreaded affair would soon be over.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+AT THE DINNER TABLE.
+
+
+Father Sibyla wore a satisfied air. He moved along tranquilly, and
+his closed, thin lips showed no signs of disdain. On the other hand,
+the Franciscan was in a very bad humor. As he walked toward the table,
+he kicked over the chairs which happened to be in his way and boxed the
+ears of one of the cadets. The lieutenant was very solemn and grave.
+
+The two friars instinctively started for the head of the table,
+perhaps by force of habit, and, as might have been expected, they met
+on opposite sides of the same chair. Then, with ponderous courtesy,
+each entreated the other to sit down, giving in turn his reasons why
+the other should take precedence. Every one at the table understood
+how both really felt in the matter, and all knew well that the one
+who did not take the coveted seat would grumble discontentedly for
+the remainder of the evening. The farce proceeded something like this:
+
+"You take it, Brother Dámaso! It is for you!"
+
+"No, you take it, Brother Sibyla!"
+
+"You are an old friend of the family, the confessor of its deepest
+mysteries; your age, your dignity, your----"
+
+"No, that is all right as far as age goes, but, on the other hand
+you are the priest of this suburb," answered Father Dámaso in an
+insincere tone, without, however, leaving the chair.
+
+"As you order it, I obey," concluded Father Sibyla, making ready to
+sit down.
+
+"But I do not order it," protested the Franciscan, "I do not order it."
+
+Father Sibyla was about to take the seat without any further regard to
+the protests of his brother, when his eyes chanced to meet those of the
+lieutenant. According to the religious customs in the Philippines, the
+highest military officer is inferior to even a convent cook. "Cedent
+arma togæ," said Cicero in the Senate. "Cedent arma cottæ," say the
+friars in the Philippines. Father Sibyla, however, was a person of
+some culture and refinement, and, as soon as he noticed the expression
+on the lieutenant's face, said: "Here! We are now out in the world,
+and not in the Church. This seat belongs to you, lieutenant!" But,
+to judge from the tone of his voice, he thought that, although he
+was out in the world and not in the Church, the seat nevertheless
+belonged to him. The lieutenant, either to save himself trouble or
+in order to avoid sitting between two friars, declined the honor in
+a very few words.
+
+Neither of the disputants had thought of the owner of the house. Ibarra
+saw him looking upon the scene and smiling with satisfaction.
+
+"How is this, Don Santiago! Aren't you going to sit down with us?"
+
+But all of the seats were already occupied, and Lucullus did not dine
+in the house of Lucullus.
+
+"Sit still! Don't get up!" said Captain Tiago, laying his hand on
+the young man's shoulder. "The fact is that this feast is given in
+honor of the Virgin on account of your safe arrival. Here! Bring on
+the tinola! I ordered some tinola made expressly for you, for I feel
+quite certain that you have not had any since you left the Philippines
+a long while ago."
+
+A large dish was brought in, still steaming and filled to the brim
+with tinola. The Dominican, after murmuring the Benedicite (to which
+only a few of those present could give the response), began to serve
+the contents of the dish. Either from carelessness or for some other
+reason, he passed to Father Dámaso a plate filled with the soup and
+stew, but containing only two small pieces of chicken, a bony neck and
+a tough wing. Meanwhile the others, especially Ibarra, were eating all
+sorts of choice bits. The Franciscan, of course, noticed this, mussed
+over the stew, took a mouthful of the soup, dropped his spoon with a
+clatter into his plate, and pushed the dish to one side. While this was
+going on, the Dominican appeared to be absorbed in conversation with
+the young blonde. Señor Laruja had also begun to converse with Ibarra.
+
+"How long has it been since you were last in this country?" said he.
+
+"About seven years," responded Ibarra.
+
+"You must have forgotten all about it."
+
+"On the contrary, although my country seems to have forgotten me,
+I have always kept her in mind."
+
+"What do you mean?" interposed the blonde.
+
+"I mean that for over a year I have not received any news from here,
+so that now I feel like a total stranger. I do not yet know how or
+when my father died."
+
+"Ah!" exclaimed the lieutenant.
+
+"Where have you been that you did not telegraph?" asked one of the
+ladies. "When I was married, we telegraphed to the Peninsula."
+
+"Señora, for the last two years I have been in northern Europe,
+in Germany and in Poland."
+
+"And what country of Europe do you like best?" asked the young blonde,
+who had been listening interestedly.
+
+"After Spain, which is my second fatherland, oh--any free country
+in Europe."
+
+"You seem to have travelled a great deal--what is the most remarkable
+thing that you have observed?" asked Laruja.
+
+Ibarra appeared to be reflecting on the question. "Remarkable? In
+what way?"
+
+"For instance, in the life of the different peoples,--their social,
+political and religious life----"
+
+Ibarra meditated for some little time. "I always made it a point to
+study the history of a country before visiting it, and I find that
+national development invariably follows perfectly natural rules. I have
+always noticed that the prosperity or poverty of different peoples
+is in direct proportion to their liberties or their lack of liberty,
+or, in other words, in proportion to the sacrifices or selfishness
+of their forefathers."
+
+"And is that all you have observed?" asked the Franciscan, with a
+loud laugh. Up to this time, he had not uttered a single word, but
+had given his attention to the dinner. "It was not worth while to
+squander your fortune for the purpose of learning such a trifle--a
+thing that every school boy knows."
+
+Ibarra looked at him intently, doubtful what to say. The guests
+glanced at each other, fearing that a quarrel would break out. "The
+dinner has been too long, and Your Reverence is affected by too much
+wine," Ibarra was about to reply, but he checked himself in time and
+only said: "Gentlemen, do not wonder at the familiarity with which
+our old parish priest treats me. He treated me this way when I was
+a child, and the years that have passed since then have not changed
+His Reverence. I derive a certain amount of pleasure from it, for I
+am reminded of those days when His Reverence was a frequent visitor
+at our house and honored my father's table."
+
+The Dominican glanced furtively at the Franciscan, who was
+trembling. Ibarra continued, rising from his chair: "You will allow
+me to withdraw, for I have only just arrived, and I must leave
+town to-morrow. Besides, I have a great many things to do before I
+leave. The dinner is practically finished, and I drink very little
+wine and scarcely touch spirits. Gentlemen, here's to Spain and the
+Philippines."
+
+Saying this, he emptied the glass, which, until then, he had not
+touched. The old lieutenant followed his example, but said nothing.
+
+"Do not go!" said Captain Tiago to him in a low voice. "Maria Clara
+is coming immediately. Isabel has just gone to get her. The new parish
+priest of your town is also coming, and he is a saint."
+
+"I shall come to-morrow before I leave. I have to make a most
+important visit yet to-night, and really must go!" With this he took
+his departure. In the meantime, the Franciscan had recovered himself.
+
+"You see how it is," said he to the young blonde, gesticulating with
+his dessert knife. "It is nothing but pride. He could not bear to have
+a priest reprove him. Can decent people believe it? This is the evil
+consequence of sending young men to Europe. The Government ought to
+prohibit it."
+
+That night, the young blonde wrote, among other things, in the
+first chapter of his "Colonial Studies": "How the neck and wing
+of a chicken in a friar's plate of tinola can disturb the gayety
+of a feast!" And among his other observations were the following:
+"In the Philippines the most insignificant person at a dinner or a
+feast is the host. The owner of the house has only to remain out in
+the street, and everything will go along beautifully. In the present
+state of affairs, it would be well to forbid the Filipinos to leave
+their country, and not to teach them how to read."
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+HERETIC AND REVOLUTIONIST.
+
+
+Ibarra was still confused, but the evening breeze, which, in Manila,
+is at this time of the year always cool and refreshing, seemed gently
+to lift the hazy mist which hung over his eyes. He removed his hat
+and drew a deep, long breath.
+
+Men of all nationalities passed by in swift carriages or in slow-going,
+rented calesas. He was walking at that slow pace characteristic
+alike of deep thought and laziness, and was making his way toward the
+Plaza of Binondo. He looked about in search of any old and familiar
+objects. Yes, there were the same old streets, the same old houses with
+white and blue fronts, the same old walls covered with whitewash or
+repainted in poor imitation of granite; there was the same old church
+tower, its clock with transparent face still marking the hours; there,
+too, were the old Chinese shops, with their dirty curtains and iron
+rods, one of which remained unrepaired as he himself had bent it when
+a boy.
+
+"Things go slowly here!" he muttered and continued up the street past
+the vestry.
+
+As they dished up flavored ices, the street vendors were still crying
+"sorbettes." The same little cocoanut oil lamps furnished light for
+the stands where native women and Chinese disposed of their sweetmeats
+and fruit.
+
+"It is marvellous," he exclaimed. "There is the same Chinaman who was
+at that stand seven years ago. There is that same old woman whom I
+remember so well. Why, one might think my seven years in Europe but
+a night's sleep. And, by heavens, they have not yet repaired this
+broken place in the pavement!"
+
+Indeed, the stone which had been torn out of the pavement before
+he left Manila had not yet been replaced. While he was meditating
+upon the wonderful stability of things in so unstable a country,
+some one placed a hand upon his shoulder. With a start he looked up,
+and his eyes met those of the old lieutenant, who also had left the
+Captain's house. A smile had displaced the officer's usual harsh
+expression and characteristic frown.
+
+"Be careful, young man!" said he. "Remember what happened to your
+father!"
+
+"I beg your pardon. You seem to have esteemed my father very
+highly. Can you tell me what has been his fate?" asked Ibarra, gazing
+intently into the lieutenant's eyes.
+
+"Do you not know?" said the officer.
+
+"I asked Don Santiago, but he said that he would tell me nothing
+until to-morrow. Have you no information regarding him?"
+
+"Why, yes; everybody knows about him. He died in prison."
+
+The young man stepped back and stared wildly at the officer. "In
+prison! Who died in prison?" he asked in astonishment.
+
+"Why, your father, who had been arrested," answered the officer
+somewhat surprised.
+
+"What! My father in prison! Arrested and imprisoned! Man, what are
+you talking about? Do you know who my father was? Are you----?" asked
+the young man, nervously grasping the officer's arm.
+
+"I don't think that I am mistaken: Don Rafael Ibarra."
+
+"Yes. Don Rafael Ibarra," repeated the young man, scarcely able to
+utter the words.
+
+"I thought that you knew it," said the officer, in a sympathetic
+voice, as he saw the emotion his words had caused. "I thought that
+you knew it; but be brave. Here, you know, no man can be honorable
+without being imprisoned."
+
+"I cannot believe that you are not jesting," replied Ibarra, after
+a few minutes of deep silence. "Can you tell me for what offense he
+was imprisoned?"
+
+The old man paused as if to meditate. "It seems strange to me that
+you have not been kept informed as to the affairs of your family."
+
+"My father's last letter, which I received a year ago, told me not
+to be uneasy if he failed to write to me, for he was very busy. He
+advised me to continue my studies, he sent me his blessing----"
+
+"In that case, he must have written the letter to you shortly before
+his death. It is almost a year since we buried him in his own town."
+
+"Why was my father arrested?" asked Ibarra in a voice full of emotion.
+
+"The cause of his arrest was an honorable one. I must go to my
+quarters now; walk along with me and then I can tell you on the
+way. Take my arm."
+
+They walked for some time in melancholy silence. Deep in thought and
+nervously stroking his goatee, the officer sought inspiration before
+he could begin the pitiful tale.
+
+"As you very well know," he at last began, "your father was the richest
+man in the province, and, although he was loved and highly respected by
+many, there were some envious persons who hated him. Your father had
+a great many enemies among the priests and the Spaniards. Some months
+after your departure, trouble arose between Don Rafael and Father
+Dámaso, but I do not know what it was all about. Father Dámaso accused
+your father of not attending confession. In former times, however,
+he had never attended confession. Nothing was said about it, and he
+and the priest were good friends, as you will remember. Furthermore,
+Don Rafael was a very honorable man and much more upright and just
+than many who go to confession regularly. He was very conscientious,
+and, in speaking to me in regard to his troubles with Father Dámaso,
+used to say:
+
+"'Señor Guevara, do you believe that God will forgive a crime, a
+murder for instance, simply because that crime has been confessed
+to a priest--confessed to a man who is in duty bound to keep it
+secret? Will God pardon a man whose repentance is brought about by
+his cowardly fear of hell? I have a very different opinion of God. I
+cannot see how one evil can be corrected by another, nor how pardon
+can be procured by mere idle tears and donations to the Church.' Your
+father always followed the strictest rules of morality. I may safely
+say that he never harmed any one, but, on the contrary, always
+sought by doing good to offset certain unjust deeds committed by your
+grandfathers. However, his troubles with the priests continued and took
+on a dangerous aspect. Father Dámaso alluded to him from the pulpit,
+and, if he did not do so directly by name, it was an oversight on his
+part, for anything might be expected from a man of his character. I
+foresaw that sooner or later the affair would have a bad ending."
+
+The old lieutenant paused for a few minutes and then continued:
+"About this time there came to the province a man who had been in
+the artillery, but had been thrown out of the ranks on account of
+his brutality and ignorance. This man had to make a livelihood. He
+was not allowed to engage in the work of an ordinary laborer, since
+that might damage Spain's prestige, but somehow obtained the position
+of collector of taxes on vehicles. He had no education whatever, and
+the natives soon found it out. A Spaniard who cannot read and write
+is a wonder to them, and hence he became the subject of all sorts of
+ridicule. Knowing that he was being laughed at, he became ashamed to
+collect his taxes. This had a bad effect on his character, which was
+already bad enough. People used to give him documents upside down to
+see him pretend to read them. He would make a show of doing so, and
+then, on the first blank space he found, would fill in some sprawling
+characters which, I may say, represented him very accurately. The
+natives continued to pay their taxes, but kept on ridiculing him. He
+fairly raved with anger and worked himself up to such a frame of
+mind that he respected none. Finally, he had some words with your
+father. It happened that one day, while the collector was studying
+a document which had been given to him in a store, some school boys
+came along. One of them called the attention of his companions to the
+collector, and they all began to laugh and point their fingers at the
+unhappy man. The collector finally lost his patience, turned quickly
+and chased his tormentors. The boys, of course, ran in all directions,
+at the same time mimicking a child learning the alphabet. Blind with
+rage because he could not reach them, he threw his cane, struck one
+of the boys on the head and knocked him down. Not content with this,
+he went up and kicked the boy several times. Unfortunately, your father
+happened to be passing just at the moment. Indignant at what he saw,
+he seized the tax collector by the arm and severely reproached him for
+his actions. The tax collector in anger raised his cane to strike,
+but your father was too quick for him. With that strength which he
+inherited from his forefathers, he, as some say, struck the collector,
+or, as others claim, only gave him a push. The fact is that the man
+staggered and fell to the ground, and, in falling, struck his head
+against a stone. Don Rafael quietly lifted up the wounded boy and
+carried him to the court house near by, leaving the collector where
+he had fallen. The ex-artilleryman began to bleed at the mouth and
+died without regaining consciousness.
+
+"Naturally the law stepped in. They showered calumnies of all
+kinds upon your father and accused him of being a heretic and a
+revolutionist. To be a heretic is a great misfortune anywhere or
+at any time, but it was especially so at this particular time,
+for the chief magistrate of the province was the loudest prayer
+maker in the Church. To be a revolutionist is still worse. One might
+better have killed three highly educated tax collectors than be thus
+accused. Everybody deserted your father, and his books and papers
+were seized. He was accused of being a subscriber to 'El Correo del
+Ultramar' and to Madrid newspapers, of having sent you to Germany,
+of having in his possession incriminating papers and pictures,
+and--well, I don't know what not. He was even attacked because,
+although he was the descendant of Spaniards, he wore the dress of
+the natives. If your father had been anybody else, he would have been
+acquitted, for the doctors pronounced the death of the collector due
+to natural causes. His fortune, however, his confidence in the law,
+and his hatred for everything which seemed unlawful and unjust, cost
+him his life. I myself, much as I dislike begging for mercy, called
+upon the Governor General, the predecessor of the present Governor. I
+brought out the fact that a man who aided every poor Spaniard, who
+gave food and shelter to all, and whose veins were filled with the
+generous blood of Spain--such a man could not be a revolutionist. In
+vain I argued for him, pledged my own life for him, and swore by
+my military honor. What did it all amount to? I was badly received,
+curtly and summarily dismissed, and called a fool."
+
+The old man paused to take breath. His young companion neither looked
+up nor made a sound. The narrator proceeded: "I took charge of the
+case for your father. I called upon the celebrated Filipino lawyer,
+young A----a, but he refused to undertake the defense. 'I would lose
+the case,' he said, 'my defense would cause new accusations against
+him, and perhaps bring them upon me. Go and see Señor M----, who is an
+eloquent orator, a Spaniard and a man of great reputation.' I did so,
+and the celebrated lawyer took charge of the case, which he conducted
+in a masterful and brilliant manner. But your father had many enemies,
+some of whom did their work secretly. There were many false witnesses
+in the case, and their calumnies, which anywhere else would have been
+overthrown by a single sarcastic phrase from the defending attorney,
+were here given a great deal of weight. As fast as the attorney
+proved the falsity of their accusations, new charges were brought
+forward. They accused him of having wrongfully taken possession of
+a large tract of land. They sued him for damages and for injuries
+caused. They said that he had dealings with the organized bandits
+or tulisanes, and that thus he had been able to keep his property
+unmolested. In fact, the case became so complicated that within a year
+no one understood it. The chief magistrate was called away from his
+post and replaced by another of good reputation, but unfortunately
+this magistrate, too, was displaced in a few months.
+
+"The sufferings, disappointments and discomforts of prison life,
+and his great grief at seeing the ingratitude of so many supposed
+friends, finally broke down your father's iron constitution and he
+became fatally ill. When it was all over; when he had proved himself
+not guilty of being an enemy to his country, and innocent of the
+death of the tax collector, he died in prison, with no one to care
+for him in his last hours. I arrived just as he was expiring."
+
+The old man had finished all he had to say. Ibarra, overcome with
+grief at the pathetic story he had heard, could not utter a word. The
+two had arrived at the gate of the barracks. Stopping and shaking
+hands with the young man, the officer said: "My boy, Captain Tiago
+can give you the details. I must say good night, for my duty calls
+me." With deep emotion, Ibarra grasped the lean hand of the lieutenant,
+and then looked after him in silence until he disappeared in the
+building. Turning slowly about, he saw a carriage passing and made
+a sign to the cabman.
+
+"Lala's Hotel," he said in a low voice.
+
+"This fellow is just out of jail," said the cabman to himself as he
+whipped up his horses.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+CAPTAIN TIAGO.
+
+
+Captain Tiago was short in stature, but both his body and his
+face were well filled out. His complexion was clear and he did not
+appear to be more than thirty or thirty-five years old, although
+he was really more than that. In these times his face always wore a
+pleasant expression. His head was small, round and covered with hair
+as black as ebony, long in front and very short behind. This head,
+according to reports, contained a great many things. His eyes were
+small but not terrifying, and always without expression. In short,
+the Captain might have passed for a good-looking little man, if his
+mouth had not been disfigured by the use of tobacco and the betel
+nut, the juices of which trickled out of the corners of his lips and
+destroyed the symmetry of his features. However, despite these habits,
+both his own teeth and the two that the dentist had made for him,
+at twelve pesos each, were well preserved.
+
+Tiago was considered one of the richest property owners in Binondo,
+and he also owned large plantations in the provinces of Pampanga and
+Laguna de Bay, especially in the town of San Diego. The rent of all
+these lands increased every year. San Diego was his favorite town
+on account of its excellent bathing place, its famous cockpit and
+the pleasant memories associated with the neighborhood. He spent at
+least two months in this town every year. Captain Tiago also had
+a great deal of property in Santo Cristo, in Analoague Street and
+in Rosario Street. In partnership with a Chinaman he carried on a
+profitable business in opium. It is understood that he had contracts
+with the Government for feeding the prisoners in Bilibid and that
+he supplied fodder to many of the principal houses in Manila. He was
+in good standing with the authorities, able, clever, and even daring
+in his speculations in the necessities of others. Hence it was that
+at this time the Captain was as happy as a narrow-minded man could
+be in such a country. He was rich, and was at peace with God, the
+Government and man.
+
+That Tiago was at peace with God was indisputable. In fact, there was
+no reason whatever for his not being so, since he was well situated as
+far as worldly matters go and had never loaned God any money. He never
+addressed God in his prayers, not even when he was in dire straits. He
+was rich, and his money, he thought, could pray for him. For masses
+and prayers, God had created powerful and lofty priests; for special
+religious functions and rosaries, God, in His infinite goodness, for
+the benefit of the rich, had created poor people--poor people who for
+a peso would make half a dozen prayers, and would read all the Holy
+Books, even to the Hebrew Bible, if the pay were large enough. If
+at any time he found himself in hard straits and needed heavenly
+aid and was out of red Chinese candles, he applied to the saints,
+making them great promises in order to win their favor and convince
+them of his good intentions.
+
+Captain Tiago was therefore beloved by the priests, respected by the
+sacristans, fondled by the Chinese candle-makers and fire-cracker
+merchants, and thoroughly happy in the religion of the world. Some
+even attributed to him great influence in the ecclesiastical court.
+
+That the Captain was at peace with the Government must not be doubted
+simply because such a thing seems impossible. Incapable of conceiving a
+new idea and content with the modus vivendi, he was always willing to
+obey the latest official recruit in any of the Government offices and
+even ready to give him at all times of the year such presents as hams,
+capons, turkeys, and Chinese fruit. He was the first to applaud any
+tax imposed by the Government, especially when he scented behind it
+a chance of securing the contract for its collection. He always kept
+orchestras on hand to serenade Government officials of all grades
+from governor to the lowest Government agent, on their birthdays,
+saint's days, or when any occasion, such as the death of any of
+their relatives, or a birth in the family connection should afford
+a pretext. He even went so far as to dedicate laudatory verses to
+his royal patrons on these occasions, thus honoring the "suave and
+loving governor" or the "valiant and mighty alcalde."
+
+The Captain was a petty governor or gobernadorcillo of a rich colony
+of mestizos, in spite of the protests of many who considered him
+unfit for the position. He held the office for two years, but during
+this time he wore out ten frock coats, about the same number of high
+hats, and lost more than a half dozen of gobernadorcillo canes. His
+high hat and frock coat were always in evidence in the city hall, at
+the Government palace in Melacañan [1] and at the army headquarters,
+and they always appeared, too, in the cock-pit, in the market, in all
+processions, and in the Chinese shops. Dressed in this official costume
+with the tasseled cane, Captain Tiago was to be found everywhere,
+arranging, ordering, and putting in disorder, everything with which
+he had anything to do--and all with wonderful activity and with still
+more wonderful gravity.
+
+Sacrilegious people called him a fool; poor people called him a
+hypocrite, a cruel man who gained a livelihood by making others
+miserable; while his inferiors looked upon him as a despot and a
+tyrant. And the women? Ah, the women! Slanderous rumors circulated in
+the wretched nipa houses, and it was claimed that often lamentations
+and sobs, mingled with the cries of a child, could be heard. More
+than one young girl was pointed out by the malicious finger of the
+neighbors, with the remark: "See what a different expression she wears,
+and how plainly she shows evidences of her shame." But such things as
+these never robbed the Captain of any sleep; no young girl disturbed
+his rest.
+
+Such was the Captain at that time. His past history was as follows: He
+was the only son of a very wealthy but avaricious sugar manufacturer
+of Malabon, who was unwilling to spend a cent in his education. For
+this reason young Santiago became the servant of a good Dominican, a
+very virtuous man, who tried to teach him all the valuable knowledge
+which he possessed. About the time when he was to have the happiness
+of studying logic, the death of his protector, followed by that of his
+father, put an end to his studies and from that time on he devoted
+himself to business. He married a beautiful girl from Santa Cruz,
+who increased his fortune and gave him a social position.
+
+Doña Pia Alba was not content with buying sugar, coffee and indigo;
+she wished to sow and reap, so the young husband bought lands in
+San Diego. It was in this town that he made the acquaintance and
+friendship of Father Dámaso and of Don Rafael Ibarra, the richest
+capitalist of the town.
+
+The lack of an heir for the first six years of his married life gave
+him a great opportunity to accumulate wealth, which perhaps was a
+censurable ambition. Although Doña Pia was handsome, robust and well
+formed, she made her pilgrimages in vain. By advice of the devotees of
+San Diego, she visited the Virgin of Cayasay in Taal; she gave alms,
+and she danced in the procession before the Virgin of Turumba in Pakil
+under the May sun, but it was all in vain. Finally, on the advice
+of Father Dámaso, she went to Obando, and there danced at the fiesta
+of San Pascual Bailon and asked for a son. It is well known that in
+Obando there is a trinity--Our Lady of Salambau, Santa Clara and San
+Pascual--which grants sons or daughters as required. Thanks to this
+wise triumvirate, Doña Pia became a mother, but like the fisherman
+in Macbeth, who ceased to sing after he found a rich treasure,
+Doña Pia lost her gayety, became very sad and was never seen to
+smile again. Every one, even to Captain Tiago, declared that it was
+a pure caprice. A puerperal fever put an end to her grief, leaving
+a beautiful daughter motherless. Father Dámaso baptized the child,
+and, as San Pascual had not given the son which had been asked for,
+the name of Maria Clara was given to it in honor of the Virgin of
+Salambau and of Santa Clara. The little girl grew up under the care
+of her aunt Isabel,--that good old lady with the manners of a friar
+whom we met before. The little girl lived the greater part of the
+time in San Diego on account of the healthful climate, and while
+there Father Dámaso paid her much attention.
+
+Maria Clara did not have the small eyes of her father. Like her mother,
+her eyes were large, black and shaded by long lashes, brilliant and
+smiling when she was playing, but sad, deep and pensive at other
+times. When a child her wavy hair was almost blond. Her nose was
+well formed, neither too large nor too flat. Her mouth was small and
+beautifully shaped like that of her mother, and her cheeks were set
+with dimples. Her skin was like silk and as white as snow, but her
+fond parent found traces of the paternity of Captain Tiago in her
+small and well shaped ears.
+
+Aunt Isabel attributed the child's semi-European features to
+impressions made upon Doña Pia. She remembered having seen the mother a
+short time before the child was born, weeping before the image of San
+Antonio. Then, too, a cousin of Captain Tiago had the same features,
+the only difference being in the choice of the saints, by which the
+phenomenon was explained. With her it was either the Virgin or San
+Miguel. A cousin of Captain Tiago, a famous philosopher, who knew
+Amat [2] by heart, explained it all by attributing it to the effect
+of the planets.
+
+Maria Clara, the idol of all, grew up surrounded by love and
+smiles. She won the favor of even the friars when she was dressed in
+white for some religious procession, her long, wavy hair interwoven
+with flowers, two silver or golden wings attached to the shoulders
+of her dress, and holding two white doves, tied with blue ribbons,
+in her hand. When she grew up, she was so full of childish mischief
+that Captain Tiago did nothing but bless the saints of Obando and
+advise everybody to buy handsome statues of that trinity.
+
+In tropical countries a girl becomes a woman at the age of thirteen
+or fourteen years, like the plant which buds at night and blooms
+the following morning. During this period of transition, so full of
+mystery and romance, on the advice of the parish priest, Maria Clara
+entered the religious retreat of Santa Catalina in order to receive
+from the nuns a strictly religious education. She left Father Dámaso
+in tears, and likewise the only friend of her childhood, Crisostomo
+Ibarra. Shortly after the entrance to the convent, Ibarra went to
+Europe. For seven long years, the girl lived under the vigilance of
+the Mother Superior in the iron-grated building, shut off from any
+communication with the outer world.
+
+Don Rafael and Captain Tiago, in the meantime, while Ibarra was
+in Europe and Maria Clara in the convent, noticing the trend of
+affairs, and at the same time having in mind their own interests,
+decided that the children should be married. It is needless to say
+that this agreement, which was arrived at some years after Ibarra
+had left for Europe, was celebrated with equal joy by two hearts,
+on opposite sides of the world and amid very different surroundings.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+AN IDYL ON THE AZOTEA. [3]
+
+
+On the morning after the dinner party, Aunt Isabel and Maria Clara
+went to mass early: the former carefully carrying her glasses, so that
+she might be able to read "The Anchor of Salvation" during communion;
+the latter beautifully dressed, carrying her rosary of blue beads
+as a bracelet. The priest had scarcely left the altar when, to the
+disgust and surprise of her good aunt, who thought that her niece was
+as pious and as fond of prayer as a nun, the young girl desired to go
+home. After a great deal of grumbling, the old lady crossed herself
+several times, and the two arose to leave. "Never mind," said Maria,
+to cut off the scolding, "the good God will pardon me. He ought to
+understand the heart of a girl better than you, Aunt Isabel."
+
+After breakfast, Maria Clara occupied herself with some embroidery
+while her aunt bustled about with a duster removing the traces of
+the social event of the preceding evening. Captain Tiago was busy
+examining some papers.
+
+Every noise in the street and every passing carriage made the girl
+tremble with anxiety and wish that she were again back in the convent
+among her friends. There, she thought, she could see him without
+trembling and with perfect equanimity.
+
+"I believe, Maria, that the doctor is right," said Captain Tiago. "You
+ought to go to the provinces. You are looking very pale and need a
+change of air. How does Malabon strike you, or San Diego?"
+
+At the mere mention of the latter name, Maria Clara blushed and was
+unable to speak.
+
+"Now, you and Isabel go to the convent to get your things and say
+good bye to your friends," continued the Captain, without raising
+his head. "You will not return there. And in four or five days, when
+your clothes are ready we shall go to Malabon. --Your godfather,
+by the way, is not in San Diego at present. The priest whom you saw
+here last night, that young fellow, is now the priest in the town. He
+is a saint."
+
+"I think you will find San Diego better, cousin," said Aunt
+Isabel. "Our house there is better than the one in Malabon, and
+besides, it is nearly time for the fiesta to take place."
+
+Maria Clara was about to embrace her aunt for these welcome words,
+but just then a carriage stopped in front of the house and the young
+girl suddenly turned pale.
+
+"That's so," said the Captain, and then, in a changed tone, exclaimed,
+"Don Crisostomo!"
+
+Maria Clara let fall the work which she was holding in her hands. A
+nervous trembling passed over her. Then steps were heard on the stairs
+and presently a young, manly voice. And, as if this voice had some
+magic power, the girl shook off her emotion, started to run, and hid
+herself in the oratory. Both father and aunt had to laugh at this,
+and even Ibarra heard the closing of the door behind her.
+
+Pale and panting, the girl finally subdued her emotion and began to
+listen. She could hear his voice, that voice which for so long a time
+she had heard only in her dreams. Beside herself with joy, she kissed
+the nearest saint, which, by the way, happened to be San Antonio,
+the abbot. Happy saint! Whether alive or carved in wood, always
+tempted in the most charming manner! Becoming quite herself again,
+she looked about for some crack through which she might get a peep
+at the young man. Finally, when he came in range of the key-hole and
+she again saw his fine features, her face beamed with smiles. In fact,
+the sight filled her with such joy that when her aunt came to call her,
+Maria Clara fell on the old lady's neck and kissed her repeatedly.
+
+"You goose! What is the matter with you?" the old lady was finally
+able to ask, after wiping away her tears.
+
+Maria Clara, in her modesty, covered her face with her round arm.
+
+"Come! Hurry up and get yourself ready!" said the old lady in an
+affectionate tone. "While he is talking with your father about you----
+Come, do not waste time!"
+
+The girl did not respond, but allowed herself to be picked up like
+a child and carried to her room.
+
+Captain Tiago and Ibarra were talking earnestly when at last Aunt
+Isabel appeared, half dragging her niece by the hand. At first the
+girl looked in every direction but at the persons present. At last,
+however, her eyes met Ibarra's.
+
+The conversation of the young lovers was at first confined to the
+usual trifling remarks, those pleasant little things which, like the
+boasts of European nations, are enjoyable and interesting to those
+who are concerned and understand them, but ridiculous to outsiders.
+
+Finally, she, like all sisters of Cain, was moved by jealously and
+asked: "Have you always thought of me? Have you never forgotten
+me in your many travels among so many great cities and among such
+beautiful women?"
+
+And he, a true brother of Cain, dodged the issue, and, being something
+of a diplomat, answered: "Could I forget you?" And then, gazing into
+her deep, dark eyes, "Could I break a sacred vow? Do you remember that
+stormy night when you, seeing me in tears beside my dead mother, came
+to me and placed your hand--that hand which I have not touched for
+so long--upon my shoulder, and said: 'You have lost your mother,--I
+never had one.' And then you wept with me. You loved my mother, and
+she loved you as only a mother can love a daughter. It was raining
+then, you will remember, and the lightning flashed, but I seemed
+to hear music and to see a smile on the face of my dead mother.--O,
+if my parents were only living and could see you now!--That night I
+took your hand and, joining it with my mother's, I swore always to
+love you and make you happy, no matter what fate Heaven might have
+in store for me. I have never regretted that vow, and now renew it."
+
+"Since the day that I bade you good-bye and entered the convent,"
+she answered, smiling, "I have always remembered you, and have never
+forgotten you in spite of the commands of my confessor, who imposed
+severe penances on me. I remembered the little games we used to play
+together and our little quarrels. When we were children you used to
+find in the river the most beautiful shells for our games of siklot
+and the finest and most beautifully colored stones for our game of
+sinkat. You were always very slow and stupid and lost, but you always
+paid the forfeit, which I gave you with the palm of my hand. But I
+always tried to strike lightly, for I was sorry for you. You always
+cheated, even more than I, in the game of chouka and we generally
+quarrelled over it. Do you remember that time when you really became
+angry? Then you made me suffer, but when I found that I had no one to
+quarrel with, we made peace immediately. We were still children when
+we went with your mother one day to bathe in the stream under the
+shade of the reeds. Many flowers and plants grew on the bank of the
+river, and you used to tell me their strange Latin and Spanish names,
+for you were then studying at the Athenæum. I paid little attention,
+but amused myself by chasing butterflies and in trying to catch the
+little fish which slipped away from me so easily among the rocks and
+weeds of the shore. You suddenly disappeared from sight, but when
+you returned you brought a wreath of orange flowers and placed it on
+my head. On our way home, as the sun was hot, I collected some sage
+leaves from the side of the road for you to put into your hat and
+thus prevent headache. Then you laughed, we made up, and came the
+remainder of the way home hand in hand."
+
+Ibarra smiled as he listened attentively to every detail of the
+story. Opening his pocket book, he took out a paper in which he had
+wrapped some withered but fragrant sage leaves. "Your sage leaves,"
+said he in answer to her questioning glance. "The only thing you have
+ever given me."
+
+She, in turn, drew a little, white satin bag from the bosom of her
+dress. "Stop!" she said, tapping his hand with her own. "You must
+not touch it; it is a letter of farewell."
+
+"The one that I wrote you before leaving?"
+
+"My dear sir, have you ever written any other?"
+
+"And what did I say then?"
+
+"Many falsehoods; excuses of a bad debtor," replied she, smiling
+and showing how agreeable these falsehoods had been to her. "But be
+quiet! I will read it to you, but I will omit your polite speeches
+out of consideration for your feelings."
+
+Raising the paper to the height of her eyes, in order to conceal her
+face, she began. "'My----,' I shall not read you what follows that,
+for it is not true." She ran her eyes over some lines and began to read
+again: "'My father wishes me to go away, in spite of my entreaties. He
+says that I am a man and must think of my future and my duty; that I
+must learn how to live, which I cannot do in my own country, so that in
+the future I may be of some use. He says that if I remain at his side,
+in his shadow, in this atmosphere of business, I will never learn how
+to look ahead, and that when he is gone, I shall be like the plant
+of which our poet Baltazar speaks--as it always lives in the water,
+it never learns how to endure a moment's heat.--He reproached me
+because I wept, and his reproach hurt me so that I confessed that I
+loved you. My father stopped, thought a moment and, placing his hand
+on my shoulder, said in a trembling voice: "Do you think that you
+alone know how to love, that your father does not love you, and that
+his heart is not pained at being separated from you? It is a short
+time since your mother died, and I am already reaching that age when
+the help and counsel of youth are needed. And yet I consent to your
+going, not even knowing that I shall ever see you again. The future is
+opening to you, but closing to me. Your loves are being born; mine are
+dying. Fire blazes in your blood, but cold is gradually finding its
+way into mine. And yet you weep, and are not willing to sacrifice the
+present for a future useful to yourself and your country." The eyes of
+my father filled with tears and I fell upon my knees at his feet and
+embraced him. I asked his pardon and said that I was willing to go.'"
+
+The emotion which Ibarra manifested put an end to the reading. As
+pale as death, he arose and began to walk nervously from one side to
+the other.
+
+"What is the matter?" she asked.
+
+"You have made me forget that I have duties to perform, and that I
+ought to leave immediately for my town. To-morrow is the fiesta in
+memory of the dead."
+
+Maria Clara stopped and silently fixed her large and dreamy eyes upon
+him for some minutes. Then taking some flowers from a vase near by,
+she said with emotion: "Go! I do not wish to detain you. We shall see
+each other again in a few days. Place these flowers on the graves of
+your father and mother."
+
+A few moments later, Ibarra descended the stairs, accompanied by
+Captain Tiago and Doña Isabel, while Maria Clara locked herself up
+in the oratory.
+
+"Do me the favor to tell Andeng to get the house ready, and that
+Maria and Isabel are coming. A pleasant journey!" While the Captain
+was saying this, Ibarra got into the carriage and drove off in the
+direction of the Plaza of San Gabriel.
+
+A few minutes later the Captain shouted to Maria Clara, who was weeping
+by the side of the image of the Virgin: "Hurry up and light two peseta
+candles in honor of San Roque and another in honor of San Rafael, the
+patron saint of travellers. And light the lamp of Our Lady of Peace
+and Protector of Travellers, for there are many bandits about. It is
+better to spend four reales for wax and six cuartos for oil than to
+have to pay a big ransom later on."
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+THINGS PHILIPPINE.
+
+
+Father Dámaso drove up in front of Captain Tiago's house and the
+Franciscan stepped to the ground just as Aunt Isabel and Maria Clara
+were getting into their silver-trimmed carriage. They saluted Father
+Dámaso, and he, in his preoccupation, gently patted Maria Clara on
+the cheek.
+
+"Where are you going?" the friar asked.
+
+"To the convent to get my things," replied the younger.
+
+"Ah, ha! Ah, ha! We'll see who is the stronger. We'll see!" he muttered
+and turned away, leaving the two women in wonder as to what it all
+meant. The friar stepped along lightly, and reaching the stairs,
+went up.
+
+"He must be studying his sermon," said Isabel. "Get in, Maria; we
+shall be late."
+
+Whether Father Dámaso was studying his sermon or not we cannot say. At
+any rate, he was absorbed in some important matter, for he even forgot
+to extend his hand to Captain Tiago upon entering, greatly to the
+embarrassment of the Captain, who had to feign kissing it.
+
+"Santiago, we have some very important matters to talk over; let us
+go to your office."
+
+The Captain, somewhat disturbed, was unable to reply, but he obeyed
+and followed the big priest into his office. Father Dámaso shut the
+door behind them.
+
+While they are conferring in secret, let us find out what has
+become of Brother Sibyla. The wise Dominican was not to be found at
+his parochial residence, for early, immediately after mass, he had
+gone to the Dominican convent, situated near the gate called Isabel
+the Second or Magallanes, according to which family is in power in
+Madrid. Paying no attention to the delicious odor of chocolate or
+to the rattling of money boxes and coins in the treasurer's office,
+and scarcely answering the deferential salute of the treasurer, Father
+Sibyla went upstairs, crossed several corridors and rapped on a door.
+
+"Come in!" answered a voice.
+
+"May God give back health to Your Reverence!" was the greeting of
+the young Dominican as he entered.
+
+A very feeble old priest was seated in a large arm-chair. His
+complexion was as yellow as the saints which Revera paints; his eyes
+were sunk deep in their orbits, and his heavy eyebrows, which were
+nearly always knit in a frown, added to the brilliant glare of his
+death-foreboding eyes.
+
+"I have come to talk to you about the charge with which you have
+entrusted me," said Father Sibyla.
+
+"Ah, yes. And what about it?"
+
+"Pshaw!" answered the young man with disgust, seating himself and
+turning his face away with disdain. "They have been telling us a
+lot of lies. Young Ibarra is a prudent boy. He does not seem to be
+a fool. I think he is a pretty good sort of a chap."
+
+"Do you think so?"
+
+"Hostilities began last night."
+
+"So soon? And how did it come about?"
+
+Father Sibyla related briefly what had taken place between Father
+Dámaso and Crisostomo Ibarra.
+
+"Furthermore," he added, in conclusion, "the young man is going to
+marry that daughter of Captain Tiago, who was educated in the college
+of our sisters. He is rich and would not want to make any enemies
+who might cause the loss of his happiness and his fortune."
+
+The sick man bowed his head as a sign of assent. "Yes, that is my
+opinion. With such a wife and such a father-in-law we can hold him
+body and soul. And if not, it will be all the better for us if he
+declares himself our enemy."
+
+Father Sibyla looked at the old man with surprise.
+
+"That is to say, for the good of our whole corporation," he added,
+breathing with difficulty. "I prefer open attacks to the foolish
+praise and adulations of friends, for, the truth is, flattery is
+always paid for."
+
+"Does Your Reverence think so?"
+
+The old man looked at him sadly. "Always bear this in mind," he
+answered, panting with fatigue, "that our power will endure as long
+as it is believed in. If they attack us, the Government says, 'They
+attack them, because they see in them an obstacle to their liberty,
+therefore let us preserve them.'"
+
+"And if the Government gives them a hearing? Sometimes the
+Government----"
+
+"The Government will do no such thing."
+
+"Nevertheless, if some bold and reckless man, impelled by covetousness,
+should dare to think that he wanted our possessions----"
+
+"Then, woe to him!"
+
+For a moment both remained silent.
+
+"Furthermore," continued the sick man, "it will do us good to have
+them attack us and wake us up. It would show us our weaknesses and
+strengthen us. The exaggerated praises which we get deceive us,
+and put us asleep. We are becoming ridiculous and on the day that we
+become ridiculous we shall fall as we fell in Europe. Money will no
+longer flow into our churches, no one will longer buy our scapularies
+or girdles, and when we cease to be rich we shall no longer possess
+the great influence which we wield at present."
+
+"Pshaw! We shall always have our property, our plantations----"
+
+"We shall lose them all as we lost them in Europe. And the worst
+of it is that we are working for our own ruin. For instance, this
+immeasurable ambition to raise the incomes from our lands each year,
+this eagerness to increase the rents, which I have always opposed
+in vain, this eagerness will be our ruin. The natives already find
+themselves forced to buy land in other localities if they want lands
+as good as ours. I fear that we are degenerating. 'Whom the gods would
+destroy they first make mad.' For this reason we should not be too hard
+on the people, for they are already grumbling under our exactions. You
+have considered well. Let us leave this thing to others, and keep up
+the prestige which we have and let us endeavor to appear before God
+with clean hands. May the God of pity have mercy on our weaknesses!"
+
+"So you believe that the tax or tribute----"
+
+"Let us talk no more of money!" interrupted the sick man with
+disgust. "You were saying that the lieutenant and Father Dámaso
+last night----"
+
+"Yes, Father," answered the young priest smiling. "But this morning I
+saw the lieutenant again and he told me that he was sorry for what had
+occurred at the dinner. He said he thought that he had been affected by
+too much wine and that the same was true of Father Dámaso. 'And your
+boast to tell the Governor?' I asked jokingly. 'Father,' he answered,
+'I know when to make my word good so long as it does not stain my
+honor. That is just the reason why I wear only two stars.'"
+
+After talking over several minor matters, Father Sibyla took his leave.
+
+As a matter of fact the lieutenant had not gone to the Governor
+General's palace in Melacañan with any report in regard to the
+occurrence of the preceding evening. However, the Governor General
+had learned of it through another source, and discussing the matter
+with one of his aides, he said:
+
+"A woman and a priest can give no offense. I intend to live peaceably
+while I remain in this country and I do not wish to have any trouble
+with men who wear skirts. And, furthermore, I have found out that
+the Father Provincial has evaded my orders in this matter. I asked
+for the removal of that friar as a punishment. What was done? They
+removed him, but they gave him another and much better town. 'Tricks
+of the friars,' as they say in Spain."
+
+But when His Excellency found himself alone he ceased to
+smile. "Ah!" he sighed, "if the people were not so stupid they would
+put a limit to their reverences. But every people deserves its fate,
+and we are no different in this respect from the rest of the world."
+
+Meanwhile Captain Tiago had concluded his conference with Father
+Dámaso, or rather Father Dámaso had concluded it.
+
+"I have already warned you!" said the Franciscan on taking his
+leave. "You could have avoided all of this had you consulted with
+me before, and, if you had not lied to me, when I asked you about
+it. See to it that you do not do any more such foolish things, and
+have faith in your godfather."
+
+Captain Tiago took two or three steps towards the sala, meditating
+and sighing. All at once, as if some good idea had struck him, he
+ran to the oratory and put out the candles and the lamps which had
+been lighted for Ibarra's protection.
+
+"There is still time enough," he murmured, "for he has a long road
+to travel."
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+SAN DIEGO AND ITS PEOPLE.
+
+
+Not far from the shores of the Laguna de Bay lies the town of San
+Diego, surrounded by fertile fields and rice plantations. It exports
+sugar, rice, coffee, and fruits, or sells them at ridiculously low
+prices to the Chinese, who make large profits out of the credulity
+and vices of the laborers.
+
+When the sky was serene and the atmosphere clear, the boys used
+to climb to the very peak of the old moss and vine covered church
+tower. And what exclamations they would utter when, from that high
+pinnacle, they looked out at the beautiful panorama that surrounded
+them. There before them lay a great mass of roofs, some nipa, some
+thatch, some zinc and some made out of the native grasses. And out of
+that mass, which here and there gave way to an orchard or a garden,
+every one of those boys could find his own little home, his own
+little nest. To them everything was a landmark; every tamarind tree
+with its light foliage, every cocoanut tree with its load of nuts,
+every bending cane, every bonga tree, every cross. Beyond the town is
+the crystal river, like a serpent asleep on a carpet of green. Here
+and there, its tranquil surface is broken by rocks projecting from
+its sandy bottom. In places, it is hemmed in between two high banks,
+and there the rapidly rushing waters turn and twist the half-bared
+roots of the overhanging shade trees. But further on it spreads itself
+out again and becomes calm and peaceful.
+
+But what always attracts attention is a peninsula of forest projecting
+into this sea of cultivated land. There can be found hollow-trunked
+trees, a century old, trees which die only when struck by lightning
+and set on fire. They say, also, that even in that case the fire never
+spreads to any other tree. This old grove is held in a certain degree
+of awe, for around it have been woven many strange legends. Of these
+the most probable, and consequently the least known and believed is
+the following:
+
+When the town was still a miserable group of huts, when weeds grew
+in abundance in the so-called streets, and deer and wild boar roamed
+about at night, there arrived one day an old Spaniard. His eyes were
+deep and thoughtful and he spoke Tagalog fluently. After visiting
+the different estates and peddling out some goods he inquired for
+the owners of this grove, which by the way, also contained several
+hot water springs. A number of persons claiming to be the owners
+presented themselves, and the old man purchased from them the grove,
+paying in exchange some money, jewelry and clothing. A short time
+afterward he disappeared, no one knew where.
+
+His sudden disappearance made the people think for a time that he
+had been spirited away, but later on a fetid odor was noticeable
+near the grove, and some shepherds, upon investigation, found the
+body of the old man in a badly decomposed condition hanging from the
+limb of a balitî tree. When alive the old man had terrorized many by
+his deep and resonant voice, his sunken eyes and his silent laugh,
+but now that he was dead, and a suicide at that, the mere mention
+of his name gave the town women nightmare. Some of them threw the
+jewelry that they had bought from him into the river and burned all
+the clothing, and, for a long time after the body had been buried
+at the foot of the balitî tree, no one cared to venture near it. All
+sort of stories became current about the haunted place.
+
+A shepherd, looking for his flock, said that he had seen lights in the
+grove. A party of young men, passing near the place, heard groans and
+lamentations. An unfortunate lover, in order to make an impression on
+the disdainful object of his affections, promised to spend a night
+under the tree and to bring her a branch from its trunk, but on the
+next day he was taken ill with a quick fever and died.
+
+Before many months had passed, a youth came to the town one day. He
+was apparently a Spanish mestizo, declared himself the son of the
+dead stranger, and established himself in that far-off corner of the
+world. He began to farm the land and devoted himself especially to
+the cultivation of indigo. Don Saturnino was a taciturn young man,
+violent and sometimes cruel, but very active and industrious. He
+built a wall around his father's grave and, from time to time, went
+all alone to visit it. A few years later he married a young girl from
+Manila who bore him a son, Rafael, the father of Crisostomo.
+
+Don Rafael, from his earliest youth, was fond of farming. Under his
+care, the agriculture which had been started and fostered by his father
+was rapidly developed. New inhabitants flocked to the vicinity, and
+among them were a great many Chinese. The village grew very fast and
+was soon supporting a native priest. After it had become a pueblo,
+the native priest died and Father Dámaso took his place.
+
+Still the grave and the adjoining lands were respected. At times,
+children, armed with sticks and stones, ventured to wander about,
+exploring the surrounding country and gathering guayabas, papays,
+lomboy and other native fruits. Then, all of a sudden, while they were
+busily engaged collecting the fruits, some one would catch a glimpse of
+the old rope hanging from the balitî tree, and stones would be heard to
+fall. Then some one would cry, "The old man!" "The old man!" Dropping
+fruit, sticks and stones, and leaping from the trees, the boys would
+flee in all directions through the thickets and between the rocks,
+not stopping until they emerged from the grove, pale and panting,
+some laughing, some crying.
+
+You could not say that Don Rafael, while alive, was the most
+influential man in San Diego, although it is true that he was the
+richest, owned the most land, and had put almost everybody else
+under obligations to him. He was modest and always belittled his
+own deeds. He never tried to form a party of his own, and, as we
+have already seen, no one came to his aid when his fortune seemed to
+fail him.
+
+Whenever Captain Tiago arrived in town, his debtors received him with
+an orchestra, gave him a banquet, and loaded him down with gifts. If
+a deer or a wild boar was caught he always had a quarter of it for
+his own table; if any of his debtors found a beautiful horse, within
+a half hour it would be in the Captain's stable. All of this is true,
+but still when the Captain had his back turned they made fun of him
+and referred to him as Sacristan Tiago.
+
+The gobernadorcillo [4] was an unhappy fellow who never commanded but
+always obeyed; he never attacked any one, but was always attacked;
+he never ordered anybody, but everybody ordered him; and besides, he
+had to take the responsibility for everything that they had commanded,
+ordered or disposed. The position had cost him five thousand pesos
+and many humiliations, but, considering the profits he made, the
+price was very cheap.
+
+San Diego was like Rome; not the Rome of the time of Romulus, when
+he marked out the walls with a plough, nor when, later, he bathed
+in his own blood and that of others and dictated laws to the world:
+no, San Diego was like the Rome of contemporaneous history, with this
+difference--instead of being a city of marble, monuments and coliseums,
+it was a city of saualî [5] and cock-pits. The parochial priest of
+San Diego corresponded to the Pope in the Vatican; the alferez [6]
+of the Civil Guard to the King of Italy in the Quirinal, but both
+in the same proportion as the sauali or native wood and the nipa
+cock-pits corresponded to the monuments of marble and coliseums. And
+in San Diego, as in Rome, there was continual trouble. Everybody
+wanted to be the leading señor, and there was always some one else
+in the way. Let us describe two of these ambitious citizens.
+
+Friar Bernando Salvi was the young and silent Franciscan whom we
+mentioned in a preceding chapter. He had even more of the customs
+and manners of his brotherhood than had his predecessor, the violent
+Father Dámaso. He was slender, sickly, almost always pensive, and very
+strict in the fulfillment of his religious duties as well as very
+careful of his good name. A month after his arrival in the parish
+almost all the inhabitants became brothers of the "Venerable Third
+Order," to the great grief of its rival, "The Brotherhood of the Most
+Sacred Rosary." His heart leaped with joy at seeing on every neck in
+the town from four to five scapularies, a knotted cord around every
+waist, and every funeral procession dressed in habits of guingon. The
+sacristan mayor or head warden of the order made quite a little capital
+by selling and giving away all those things considered necessary to
+save the soul and overcome the devil.
+
+The only enemy of this powerful soul saver, with tendencies in accord
+with the times, was, as we have already stated, the alferez. The women
+relate a story of how the devil tried one day to tempt Father Salvi
+and how the latter caught him, tied him to the bed post, whipped
+him with a lash and kept him tied fast for nine days. Thus he had
+been able to conquer the devil entirely. As a result, any one who
+persisted in being an enemy of the priest was generally considered a
+worse man than the devil himself--an honor which the alferez alone
+enjoyed. But he merited this reputation. He had a wife, an old,
+powdered and painted Filipino by the name of Doña Consolación. The
+husband and several other people called her by a different name,
+but that does not matter. Anyway, the alferez was accustomed to drown
+the sorrows of unhappy wedlock by getting as drunk as a toper. Then,
+when he was thoroughly intoxicated he would order his men to drill
+in the sun, he himself remaining in the shade, or, perhaps, he would
+occupy himself in beating his wife.
+
+When her husband was dead drunk, or was snoring away in a siesta,
+and Doña Consolación could not fight with him, then, wearing a blue
+flannel shirt, she would seat herself in the window, with a cigar
+in her mouth. She had a dislike of children and so from her window
+she would scowl and make faces at every girl that passed. The girls,
+on the other hand, were afraid of her, and would hurry by at a quick
+pace, never daring to raise their eyes or draw a breath. But say what
+you may, Doña Consolación had one great virtue; she was never known
+to look into a mirror.
+
+These were the leading people of San Diego.
+
+Toward the west of San Diego, surrounded by rice fields, lies a village
+of the dead. A single, narrow path, dusty on dry days, and navigable
+by boats when it rains, leads thither from the town. A wooden gate,
+and a fence, half stone and half bamboo, seem to separate the cemetery
+from the people in the town, but not from the goats and sheep of the
+parochial priest of the immediate vicinity. These animals go in and
+out to rummage among the tombs or to make that solitary place glad
+with their presence.
+
+One day a little old man entered the cemetery, his eyes sparkling and
+his head uncovered. Upon seeing him, many laughed, while a number of
+the women knit their eyebrows in scorn. The old man seemed to take
+no notice of these manifestations, but went directly toward a pile
+of skulls, knelt down and began to search among the bones. After he
+had sorted over with considerable care the skulls one by one, he drew
+his eyebrows together, as though he did not find what he was looking
+for, moved his head from side to side, looked in all directions,
+and finally got up and went over toward a grave-digger.
+
+"Eh, there!" he shouted to him.
+
+The grave-digger raised his head.
+
+"Do you know where that beautiful skull is, the one white as the meat
+of a cocoanut, with a complete set of teeth, which I had over there
+at the foot of the cross under those leaves?"
+
+The grave-digger shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"Look you!" added the little old man, bringing out of his pocket a
+handful of silver. "I have more than that, but I will give it to you
+if you find the skull for me."
+
+The glitter of the coin made the grave-digger reflect. He looked
+over in the direction of the bone pile and said: "Isn't it over
+there? No? Then I don't know where it is."
+
+"Don't you know? When my debtors pay me, I will give you more,"
+continued the old man. "It was my wife's skull, and if you find it
+for me----"
+
+"Isn't it there. Then I don't know where it is," repeated the
+grave-digger with emphasis. "But I will give you another."
+
+"You are like the grave that you are digging," cried the old man
+irritably. "You don't know the value of what you lose. For whom is
+this grave?"
+
+"For a dead person, of course," replied the bad-humored man.
+
+"Like a tomb! Like a tomb!" repeated the old man dryly. "You don't
+know what you throw out nor what you swallow. Dig! dig!"
+
+At this the old man, who was Tasio, the village philosopher, turned
+and started toward the gate.
+
+In the meantime, the grave-digger had finished his job, and two
+little mounds of fresh, red clay were piled on either side of the
+grave. He took some betel nut out of his broad-brimmed hat, and began
+to chew away, looking with an air of stupidity at everything within
+his horizon.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+IBARRA AND THE GRAVE-DIGGER.
+
+
+Just as the old man was leaving the cemetery, a carriage stopped at the
+entrance. It looked as though it had made a long journey; the horses
+were sweating and the vehicle was covered with dust. Ibarra stepped out
+and was followed by an old servant. He made a gesture to the driver and
+then turned down the path into the cemetery. He was silent and grave.
+
+"My sickness and my work have not permitted me to return, since the
+day of the funeral," said the old servant timidly. "Captain Tiago said
+that he would see to it that a niche was arranged for, but I planted
+some flowers on the grave and erected a cross made by my own hands."
+
+Ibarra did not reply.
+
+"Right there behind that large cross, señor," continued the servant,
+making a gesture toward one of the corners just as they passed through
+the gate.
+
+Ibarra was so preoccupied with sad thoughts that he did not notice the
+astonishment which some of the people in the cemetery manifested when
+they saw him enter. Those who were kneeling broke off their prayers
+and followed the young man, their eyes full of curiosity.
+
+Ibarra walked along very carefully, and avoided stepping on the graves,
+which could be easily distinguished by the sunken ground. In other
+times he had walked over them; but to-day he respected them. His father
+lay in one of them. On coming to the other side of the large cross,
+he stopped and looked in all directions. His companion was confused
+and out of countenance. He searched for marks on the ground but could
+not find the cross anywhere.
+
+"Is it here?" he murmured between his teeth. "No, it is over there,
+but the earth has been removed."
+
+Ibarra looked at him with an expression of anguish.
+
+"Yes," he continued. "I remember that there was a stone by the side of
+the grave. The grave was a little short, a farm hand had to dig it,
+as the grave-digger was sick at the time, but we will ask him what
+he has done with the cross."
+
+They turned toward the grave-digger, who looked at them with
+curiosity. He saluted them, taking off his hat.
+
+"Can you tell us which of the graves over there is the one which had
+a cross?" asked the servant.
+
+The grave-digger looked toward the place and seemed to reflect. "A
+large cross?"
+
+"Yes, a large cross," answered the old man with joy, looking
+significantly at Ibarra, whose face was somewhat animated.
+
+"An ornamented cross, and fastened with reeds?" repeated the
+grave-digger, questioning the servant.
+
+"That's it, that's it, yes, yes! Like this, like this," and the
+servant traced an outline of a Byzantine cross.
+
+"And were there some flowers sown on the grave?"
+
+"Adelphas, sampagas and pansies! That's it," added the servant,
+delighted, and offering the grave-digger a cigar. "Tell us where the
+grave is and where the cross."
+
+The grave-digger scratched his ear and replied, yawning: "Well,
+the cross--I have already burned it up."
+
+"Burned it? and why have you burned it?"
+
+"Because the head priest so ordered."
+
+"Who is the head priest?" asked Ibarra.
+
+"Who? The one who does the whipping."
+
+Ibarra put his hand to his head.
+
+"But you can at least tell us where the grave is? You ought to
+remember."
+
+The grave-digger smiled. "The body is no longer there," he replied
+tranquilly.
+
+"What do you say?"
+
+"Yes, no longer," the man added in a joking tone. "Only a week ago
+I buried a woman in its place."
+
+"Are you crazy?" the servant asked. "Why, it is not yet a year since
+we buried him."
+
+"Then that is the one, for it was many months ago that I took up the
+body. The head priest of the parish ordered me to do it, in order
+to bury it in the Chinese cemetery. But as it was heavy and it was
+raining that night----"
+
+The man could not finish. He stepped back, half frightened at the
+expression on Crisostomo's face. Ibarra made a rush at him, and,
+grabbing him by the arm, shook him.
+
+"And what did you do?" the young man asked, in an indescribable tone.
+
+"Honored sir, do not get angry," he replied, pale and trembling. "I
+did not bury the body among the Chinese. In my opinion a person might
+better be a suicide than be buried among the Chinese. I threw the
+body into the lake."
+
+Ibarra laid both his hands on the man's shoulders and looked at him
+for a long time in a terrifying manner. "You are only an unfortunate
+fellow," he said, at last, and left the place on a run across bones,
+graves, and crosses, like a madman.
+
+The grave-digger felt of his arm and murmured: "What would they do
+with the dead! The head priest whips me with his cane for having left
+the body in the cemetery when I was sick. Now this fellow comes along
+and nearly breaks my arm for having taken it up. That is just like
+the Spaniards! I'll lose my place yet."
+
+Ibarra went on in great haste, keeping his eyes fixed in the
+distance. The old servant followed him, crying. Already the sun was
+hidden; a large, dark cloud hung over the western horizon; and a dry
+wind bent the tops of the trees and made the fields of sugar cane
+groan. With hat in hand, he went on. Not one tear dropped from his
+eye, not one sigh came from his breast. He hurried on as if he were
+fleeing from somebody, or something--perhaps the shade of his father,
+perhaps the tempest which was approaching. He hurried through the town
+and headed toward the outlying country, toward that old house which
+he had not entered for so many years. The house was surrounded by a
+wall, near which many cacti grew, and as he approached they seemed to
+signal to him. The windows seemed to open, the ilang-ilang joyfully
+waved its branches, and the doves fluttered about the little tower
+on the peak of their garden house.
+
+But the young man did not notice these signs of welcome on his return
+to his old home. His eyes were riveted on the form of a priest who
+was advancing from the opposite direction. It was the priest of San
+Diego, that meditative Franciscan, the enemy of the alferez whom we
+have mentioned. The wind was playing with the wide wings of his hat,
+and the robe of guingon was flattened out, moulded by the wind to
+the outline of his form, marking his slender thighs and bow-legs. In
+his right hand he carried a cane. It was the first time that he and
+Ibarra had met.
+
+As they approached each other, the young man stopped and looked
+at him fixedly. Father Salvi avoided the look and was somewhat
+distracted. This vacillation lasted only a moment. Ibarra made a rush
+toward him, and stopped the priest from falling only by grasping his
+shoulder. Then, in a voice scarcely intelligible, he exclaimed:
+
+"What have you done with my father?"
+
+Friar Salvi, pale and trembling, as he read the unmistakable sentiments
+which were depicted on the young man's face, could not reply.
+
+"What have you done with my father?" he asked again, his voice almost
+choking him.
+
+The priest, shrinking from the tight grasp of Ibarra's hand, at last
+made a great effort and said: "You are mistaken. I have done nothing
+with your father."
+
+"What? No?" continued the young man, the weight of his hand on the
+priest's shoulder almost making him kneel.
+
+"No, I assure you. It was my predecessor. It was Father Dámaso----"
+
+"Ah!" exclaimed the young man, throwing the priest down and giving
+him a slap in the face. And leaving Father Salvi, he turned quickly
+and went toward the house.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+ADVENTURES OF A SCHOOL TEACHER.
+
+
+Laguna de Bay, surrounded by mountains, sleeps tranquilly in the
+stillness of the elements, as if it had not joined the chorus of
+the tempest on the night before. As first rays of dawn appear in the
+eastern sky and awaken the phosphorescent myriads in the water, long,
+grey shadows appear in the dim distance, almost on the border of the
+horizon. They are shadows of fishermen's boats at work drawing in
+the nets.
+
+Two men, dressed in deep mourning, from a lofty height contemplate
+the scene in silence. One is Ibarra, and the other is a young,
+meek-looking man with a melancholy countenance.
+
+"Here is the place!" said the latter. "Here is where your father's
+body was thrown into the water! The grave-digger brought Lieutenant
+Guevara and me here and pointed out the spot."
+
+Ibarra, with emotion, warmly grasped the young man's hand.
+
+"You need not thank me!" replied the latter. "I owed your father for
+many favors he did me. The only thing I could ever do for him was
+to accompany his body to the grave. I had come to the town without
+knowing anybody, without any recommendations, without a reputation,
+without money, just as I am now. Your father protected me, procured a
+house for me, helped secure whatever was needed to advance education;
+he used to come to the school and distribute pennies among the poor
+and diligent pupils; he provided them with books and papers. But that,
+like all good things, did not last long."
+
+Ibarra took off his hat and seemed to pray for a short time. Then
+he turned to his companion and said: "Did you tell me that my father
+used to help the poor children? How is it now?"
+
+"Oh, now they do the best they can."
+
+"And don't they come to school regularly?"
+
+"No, for their shirts are ragged and they are ashamed."
+
+Ibarra kept silent for a few moments.
+
+"How many pupils have you now?" he asked, with a certain interest.
+
+"There are more than two hundred on the register, but only twenty-five
+in the class."
+
+"How does that happen?"
+
+The school teacher sadly smiled.
+
+"It is a long and tedious story," said he.
+
+"Don't think that I am asking out of vain curiosity," replied Ibarra,
+looking seriously at the distant horizon. "I have been meditating a
+great deal on the matter, and I believe that it is far better to try to
+carry out the ideas of my father than to try to avenge him. His tomb
+is sacred Nature; and his enemies were the people and the priest. I
+can forgive the people for their ignorance, and as to the priest,
+I will pardon his character because I wish to respect the religion
+which he represents. I wish to be inspired with the spirit of the
+one who gave me life, and, that I may lend my help, I wish to know
+what are the obstacles here in the way of education."
+
+"The country will bless your memory, Señor, if you can carry out
+the beautiful and noble ideas of your dead father," said the school
+teacher. "You wish to know what the obstacles are? Very well. We are
+now in such circumstances that unless something powerful intervenes,
+there will never be any education here. First, because there is no
+incentive or stimulus to the children, and, secondly, even when there
+is an incentive, lack of means and many prejudices kill it. They say
+that the son of a German peasant studies eight years in the town
+school. Who would want to spend half of that time in our schools,
+when the benefits to be derived are so small? Here the children read,
+and commit to memory verses and at times entire books in Spanish,
+but all without understanding a single word. What good can the sons
+of our farmers get out of the school so long as this is the case?"
+
+"And you see the evil; have you not thought out a remedy?"
+
+"Ah, poor me!" replied the teacher, shaking his head, "a poor
+teacher cannot alone fight against prejudices, against existing
+influences. Above all, I would need to have a school house, so that
+I would not, as I do now, have to teach from the priest's carriage,
+under the convent. There, when the children want to read aloud, they
+naturally disturb the Father, who at times comes down and very nervous,
+especially when he has his attacks, finds fault with the children and
+insults me. You know very well that under such conditions no one can do
+any teaching. The child does not respect the teacher from that moment
+when he sees him mistreated by some one else without maintaining his
+rights. The teacher, if he is to be listened to, or if his authority
+is not to be doubted, needs prestige, a good name, moral strength, and
+a certain amount of freedom. If you will allow me, I will give you an
+illustration. I wished to introduce some reforms and they laughed at
+me. In order to remedy the evil that I spoke of a moment ago, I tried
+to teach the children Spanish, because, not only does the Government
+order it, but because it will be a great advantage for them to know
+the language. I employed the simplest method, used simple phrases
+and nouns without making use of hard rules, with the expectation of
+teaching them the grammar as soon as they had learned the language. At
+the end of several weeks, almost all the smarter ones in the school
+understood me and were able to compose phrases in Castellano."
+
+The teacher stopped and seemed to be in doubt. Then, as if he had
+made up his mind, he began again.
+
+"I ought not to be ashamed of the history of my grievances. If any one
+had been in my place, he would have had the same story to tell. As I
+was saying, I began well. Several days later the priest, who was then
+Father Dámaso, sent the sacristan mayor to tell me that he wanted to
+see me. As I knew his character and was afraid to make him wait for
+me, I went up immediately, saluted him and said good morning to him in
+Spanish. As was customary, when I saluted him, I advanced to kiss the
+hand which he held out, but just at that moment he withdrew it and,
+without replying to me, began to chuckle scoffingly. I was naturally
+disconcerted, and it was all done in the presence of the sacristan
+mayor. At the moment, I did not know what to say. I stood and looked
+at him while he went on laughing. I had already become impatient
+and saw that I was on the point of committing an indiscretion. All
+of a sudden, he stopped laughing and added insult to injury. With a
+cunning air, he said to me: 'So it is buenos dias, eh? buenos dias,
+ha, ha! How funny! Why, you know how to speak Spanish, do you?' And
+then he continued his laugh."
+
+Ibarra could not keep back his smile.
+
+"You laugh," replied the teacher, also smiling. "I confess that I did
+not feel like smiling at that time. I felt the blood rush to my head,
+and a thunderbolt seemed to dazzle my brain. I saw the priest far off,
+very far from me. I started toward him to reply. The sacristan mayor
+interposed and said very seriously, in Tagalog: 'You want to stop
+wearing borrowed clothes. Be content to speak in your own language and
+do not spoil Spanish, which is not meant for you. You have heard about
+Ciruela? Well, Ciruela was a teacher who did not know how to read,
+but he taught school.' I wanted to detain him for a moment, but he
+went quickly into his room and closed the door violently. What was I
+to do? In order to collect my salary I have to have the approval of
+the priest on my bill, and have to make a journey to the capital of
+the province. What could I do to him--the moral, political and civil
+authority of the town, sustained by his corporation, feared by the
+Government, rich, powerful, always consulting, advising, listening,
+believing and attending to everything--what could I do to him? If
+he insulted me, I had to keep my mouth closed. If I talked back,
+he would throw me out of work, spoiling my career. And what good
+would it do--education? On the contrary, everybody would take up the
+priest's side of the matter; they would criticise me, they would call
+me vain, proud, arrogant, a poor Christian, poorly educated, and when
+not this, they would call me an anti-Spaniard and an agitator. The
+school teacher should have no authority. He should only be lazy,
+humble, and resigned to his low position. May God pardon me if I do not
+speak conscientiously and truthfully, but I was born in this country,
+I have to live, I have a mother to support and I have to be resigned
+to my lot."
+
+"And have you continued to be discouraged on account of this
+trouble? Have you attempted nothing since?"
+
+"Would to God that it had ended there!" he replied. "Would to God that
+that had been the end of my misfortunes. The truth is that from that
+day I began to take a dislike to my profession. Every day the school
+brought to my mind my disgrace and made every hour a bitter one for
+me. But what could I do? I could not disappoint my mother. I had to
+tell her that the three years of sacrifices which she had made for me
+in order that I might learn the profession now made me happy. I had
+to make her believe that the profession was a most honorable one, that
+the work was most pleasant, that the road was strewn with flowers and
+that the fulfillment of my duty produced nothing but friendships. If
+I had told her the contrary, I myself would still be as unhappy and
+would only make another unhappy, which was not only useless but a
+sin. So, I kept at my work and tried not to be discouraged. I tried
+to fight it down."
+
+The school teacher made a short pause and then began again.
+
+"You know that the books in most of the schools are in Spanish,
+excepting the Tagalog catechism, which varies according to the
+corporation which appoints the priest of the parish. The books
+generally used in the school are novenaries, the 'Doxology' and
+Father Astete's catechism, which are no more edifying than the
+books of heretics. On account of the fact that it was impossible to
+teach the children Spanish, as I wanted to do, and owing to the fact
+that I could not translate so many books into the native language,
+I decided to try to substitute for them gradually, short verses,
+extracts from the best Tagalog books, such as the 'Treatise on
+Urbanity' by Hortensio y Feliza, and some of the little pamphlets on
+agriculture. Sometimes I myself translated small works, such as the
+'History of the Philippines,' by Father Barranera, and afterward
+dictated to the pupils for their note books, adding at times some
+of my own observations. As I had no maps to teach them geography,
+I copied one of those of the province which I saw in the capital,
+and with this reproduction and, by the aid of the tiles on the floor,
+I was able to give them some ideas about the country. The new priest
+sent for me. Although he did not reprimand me severely, he told me,
+however, that my first duty was to teach religion, and that before I
+began to teach any such things I must prove by an examination that all
+the children knew by heart the 'Mysteries,' the 'Doxology,' and the
+'Catechism of the Christian Doctrine.'
+
+"So, in the meantime, I am endeavoring to convert the children into
+parrots so that they will know by heart all of these things of which
+they do not understand a single word. Many of the pupils already
+know the 'Mysteries' and the 'Doxology,' but I fear that I am making
+Father Astete's efforts useless, inasmuch as my pupils do not even
+distinguish between the questions and the answers, or what either
+of them signifies. Thus we shall die and thus shall do those who are
+yet to be born; yet in Europe they talk about Progress!"
+
+"Let us not be so pessimistic," replied Ibarra, rising to his
+feet. "The teniente mayor has invited me to attend a town meeting to
+be held in the tribunal. Who knows but that some plan for improvement
+may there be adopted!"
+
+The school teacher arose to go, shaking his head in token of doubt.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+LIGHTS AND SHADOWS.
+
+
+The people of the town have made their preparation for the festival in
+honor of the patron saint, San Diego, and are gossiping about it, and
+about the arrival of Maria Clara, accompanied by her aunt Isabel. They
+rejoiced over it, because they liked her, and admired her beauty very
+much. They also rejoiced in the change it had made in the priest,
+Father Salvi. "He is often absent-minded during the holy services,"
+they said. "He scarcely speaks with us, and he plainly grows more
+thin and taciturn." His cook saw this constantly and complained of the
+little honor that he did his dishes. But what most excited the wonder
+of the people were the two lights which one could see shining in the
+convent during the night, while Father Salvi was visiting at the house
+of Maria Clara! The old dames crossed themselves and kept on gossiping.
+
+Juan Crisostomo Ibarra had telegraphed from the capital of the province
+his compliments to Aunt Isabel and her niece, but he had not explained
+his absence. Many thought that he had been arrested for assaulting
+Father Salvi on the afternoon of "All Saint's Day." But the comments
+increased still more when, on the afternoon of the third day, they
+saw Ibarra get out of a carriage in front of the little house of his
+betrothed, and courteously salute the priest, who was also making
+his way thither.
+
+If we go to Maria Clara's house, we will find it like a little nest
+among orange and ilang-ilang trees, surrounded by flowers and vines
+which creep up on bamboo sticks and wires, diffusing their delicious
+perfume. The rich fragrance of the ilang-ilang reaches even to
+the window which looks out on the lake. Here sit the two young
+lovers. Ibarra was saying to Maria Clara:
+
+"To-morrow, before the first ray of morning, your desire shall be
+fulfilled. To-night, I shall arrange all so that nothing will be
+lacking."
+
+"Then I will write to my friends, so that they may come along. Arrange
+it so that the priest cannot come."
+
+"And why?"
+
+"Because he seems to be watching me. His deep and sombre eyes pain
+me. When he fixes them upon me, they frighten me. He speaks to me of
+extraordinary things, so incomprehensible, so strange. He asked me
+once if I had not dreamed about my mother's letters. I believe he
+is half crazy. My friend Sinang, and Andeng, my foster sister, say
+that he is a little out of his head, for he neither eats nor bathes,
+and he lives entirely in the darkness. Don't have him come!"
+
+"We cannot but invite him," replied Ibarra. "The customs of the
+country require it. He is the priest of your house and, besides, he has
+conducted himself nobly toward me. When the Alcalde consulted him on
+the business of which I have spoken to you, he had nothing but praises
+for me and did not pretend to offer the slightest obstacle. But I see
+that you are serious. I shall take care that he does not accompany
+us in the boat."
+
+Light steps were heard. They were those of the priest, who was
+approaching with a forced smile on his lips. They began to talk of
+different subjects, about the weather, the town and the festival. Maria
+Clara devised an excuse and went out.
+
+"And while we are speaking about festivals," said Ibarra, "allow me to
+invite you to the one which we are going to celebrate to-morrow. It is
+going to be a country picnic, which we and our friends are planning."
+
+"And where will it be held?"
+
+"The girls want to hold it near the brook in the woods, near the balitî
+tree. So we will have to get up early to reach the place before the
+sun gets hot."
+
+The priest reflected, and a moment later replied: "The invitation
+is very tempting, and I accept it in order to prove that I hold no
+grudge against you for what has happened in the past. But I will have
+to be a little late, as I must fulfill my religious duties first. How
+happy to be like you, entirely free and independent!"
+
+A few minutes later, Ibarra took his leave in order to arrange for
+the picnic on the following day. It was already quite dark when he
+left the house.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+THE FISHING PARTY.
+
+
+The stars were still shining in the sapphire heavens, and the birds
+were sleeping on the branches of the trees, when a jolly little party,
+by the light from the pitch torches, wandered through the streets of
+the town toward the lake.
+
+Five young maidens, clinging to each other's hands or belts, tripped
+along briskly. Behind them came several elderly women and a number
+of servants gracefully carrying on their heads baskets filled with
+provisions and various dishes for the picnic. On seeing their joyful
+faces, with their youthful smiles, their beautiful black hair as it
+floated in the breeze, and the wide folds of their pretty dresses,
+you would have taken them for goddesses of the night and would have
+thought that they were fleeing from day--if perchance you had not
+already known that it was Maria Clara and her four friends: jolly
+Sinang; her cousin, the serious Victoria; beautiful Iday; and the
+pensive Neneng, pretty, modest and timid.
+
+They were talking with animation; they laughed; pinched each other;
+whispered in each other's ears and then burst out in shouts of
+merriment.
+
+"You girls will wake up everybody in town. Don't you know that people
+are still asleep?" said Aunt Isabel, reprimanding them. "When we were
+young, we didn't make such a noise."
+
+"But you didn't get up as early as we do, nor were the old men such
+great sleepers in your day," replied little Sinang.
+
+They were quiet for a moment and were trying to talk in a low voice,
+but they quickly forgot themselves and were again filling the streets
+with their youthful laughter and melodious voices.
+
+Several young fellows were coming down the street, lighting their way
+with large bamboo torches. They were marching along almost noiselessly
+to the tune of a guitar.
+
+"That guitar sounds as though some beggar were playing it," said
+Sinang, laughing. But when the young fellows caught up with the rest of
+the party, the girls suddenly became as quiet and as serious as though
+they never had learned how to laugh. The young men, however, chatted
+away, saluted the ladies, laughed and smiled and asked half a dozen
+questions without giving the girls time to answer any one of them.
+
+The two large bancas, [7] which had been secured to transport the
+picnic party to the fishing grounds, were fastened together and
+picturesquely adorned with wreaths and garlands of flowers and a
+large number of vari-colored candles. Paper lanterns hung from the
+improvised covering of the bancas. Alternately with these were roses,
+pinks and baskets of fruits such as pineapples, kasuys, bananas,
+guayabas and lanzones. Ibarra had brought his carpets, blankets and
+rugs and arranged comfortable seats for the ladies. The poles and
+paddles used to propel the bancas had also been ornamented. In the
+better banca were a harp, guitars, accordeons, and a buffalo horn;
+while, in the other boat, a little fire had been lighted in an
+improvised stove in order that tea, coffee and salabat [8] might be
+prepared for the light breakfast.
+
+"The women sit here; the men, there," said the mothers on stepping
+into the banca. "Sit still and don't move, or we will be capsized."
+
+"Cross yourselves before we start," said Aunt Isabel, as she traced
+the form of a cross on her breast.
+
+"And are we to be here all by ourselves," asked Sinang, on seeing how
+the girls had been separated from the young men, by the assignment
+of the seats. Then making a grimace she asked again, "Are we going
+to be all alone? Aray!"
+
+This aray was caused by a little pinch which her mother had given
+her on the arm in the way of a reprimand for her complaint.
+
+The bancas were now putting off slowly from the shore. The light
+from the torches and Japanese lanterns was reflected in the water,
+for the lake was as smooth as a mirror. In the far eastern horizon
+could be seen the first rosy tints of the approaching dawn.
+
+Everything was very quiet. The young women, in consequence of the
+separation from the young men, seemed to be absorbed in meditation.
+
+As the water was smooth as glass and the bamboo weirs where the fish
+were to be found were not far off, and, it was still early, it was
+decided that all should stop paddling and take breakfast. The lights
+were put out, for the day had dawned and preparations were made for
+desayuno. [9]
+
+The entire party became jolly as they breathed in the light breeze
+that had come up. Even the women, so full of presentiments a few
+moments ago, were now laughing and joking among themselves.
+
+One young man alone of all the party remained silent. He was the pilot,
+an athletic-looking fellow, and interesting on account of his large,
+sad eyes and the severe lines of his lips. His long, black hair fell
+gracefully over his powerful neck. He wore a shirt of coarse dark
+cloth, through which his powerful muscles could be plainly seen as he
+manipulated with his strong arms the wide, heavy paddle as if it were
+only a pen. This paddle served both to propel and to steer the bancas.
+
+More than once he was embarrassed when he caught Maria Clara looking at
+him. Then he would turn his eyes quickly to some other direction and
+look far off toward the mountain, or the shore of the lake. The young
+maiden pitied him in his solitude and offered him some biscuits. The
+pilot looked at her with surprise, but only for a moment. He took
+the biscuits, thanked her very briefly and in a voice scarcely audible.
+
+No one else took any notice of him. The happy laughter and jolly
+conversation of the young men did not cause him to relax a single
+muscle of his face. Not even Sinang, with all her jollity, had any
+effect on him.
+
+"Wait a minute!" said Aunt Isabel to the boatman's son, who had made
+ready his net and was just about to go up on the baklad to take out
+the fish from the little enclosure at the end of the weir. "We must
+have everything ready, so that the fish may pass directly from the
+water to the pot."
+
+Andeng, the pretty foster sister of Maria Clara, despite her clear
+complexion and laughing face, had the reputation of being a good
+cook. She prepared the rice, tomatoes, and camias, [10] while some
+of the young men tried to aid or bother her, perhaps in order to win
+her good will. The other girls were busy cleaning and making ready
+the lettuce, cabbage and peas, and cutting up paayap in pieces about
+the size of a cigarette.
+
+Finally Andeng announced that the kettle was ready to receive its
+guests--the fish.
+
+The fisherman's son went up on top of the rack at the end of the
+weir. He took a position at the narrow entrance, over which might have
+been written: "All who enter here leave hope behind," if indeed the
+unfortunate fish would know how to read and understand it, for a fish
+who enters never gets out except to die. The rack is almost circular in
+form and about a meter in diameter, and is so arranged that a man can
+stand on top of one end of it and thus take out the fish with his net.
+
+"There, it wouldn't tire me a bit to fish that way," said Sinang,
+quite joyful.
+
+All were watching attentively. Already some of them in their vivid
+imaginations thought they could see the fish wiggling their tails
+and trying to get out of the little net, their scales shining in the
+bright sun. However, the young man failed to catch a single fish in
+his first attempt.
+
+"It ought to be full of fish," said Albino, in a low voice. "It is
+more than five days since we visited the place last."
+
+The fisherman drew out his net a second time, but not a fish was there
+in it. The water, as it trickled through the meshes of the net in
+countless drops which reflected the rays of the sun, seemed to laugh
+in silvery tones. An "Ah" of surprise, disgust, and disappointment
+escaped from the lips of all.
+
+The young fellow repeated the same operation, but with a similar
+result.
+
+"You don't understand your business!" said Albino to him as he stepped
+up on the rack and took the net from the hands of the youngster. "Now
+you will see! Andeng, open up the kettle!"
+
+But Albino did not understand his business, either. The net came up
+empty as before. All began to laugh.
+
+"Don't make any noise," he said, "or the fish will hear it and will
+keep from being caught. This net must have a hole in it somewhere."
+
+But every mesh in the net was perfect.
+
+"Let me take it!" said Leon, Iday's lover, to Albino.
+
+Leon first made sure that the enclosure was in good condition and
+then examined the net carefully and satisfied himself that there was
+nothing wrong with it. He then asked: "Are you sure that no one has
+been out here for five days?"
+
+"We are sure! The last time any one was out here was on All Saints'
+Day."
+
+"Well, then, I am going to bring out something this time, unless the
+lake is bewitched."
+
+Leon lowered the net by its bamboo handle into the water, but a look
+of surprise was painted on his face. In silence he looked toward the
+neighboring mountain and continued moving the handle of the net from
+one side to the other. Finally, without taking the net out of the
+water, he murmured in a low voice: "An alligator."
+
+"An alligator!" exclaimed half a dozen voices, and the word was
+repeated again while all stood frightened and stupefied.
+
+"What did you say?" they asked.
+
+"I say that there is an alligator caught in the rack," said Leon,
+and sticking the handle of the net into the water again he continued:
+"Do you hear that sound? That is not sand, it is hard skin, the back
+of the alligator. Do you see how he wiggles the bamboo pickets in
+the rack? He is struggling hard but he cannot do anything. Wait. He
+is a large fellow; his body measures a palm or more in width."
+
+"What shall be done?" was the question.
+
+"Catch him," said one.
+
+"Jesús! And who will catch him?"
+
+Nobody offered to dive down to the bottom of the rack. The water was
+very deep.
+
+"We ought to tie him to our banca and drag him along in triumph,"
+said Sinang. "The idea of his eating the fish which we ought to have!"
+
+"I have never seen to this day a live alligator," said Maria Clara.
+
+The pilot rose to his feet, took a long rope and went up cautiously to
+the platform on the top of the rack. Leon gave up his position to him.
+
+With the exception of Maria Clara, none up till now had paid any
+attention to him. Now every one was admiring his fine stature.
+
+To the great surprise of all and in spite of all their cries, the
+pilot leaped into the enclosure.
+
+"Take this knife!" shouted Crisostomo, drawing out a wide-bladed
+Toledo knife.
+
+But already a thousand little bubbles were rising to the surface of
+the water, and all that was going on in the depths below was wrapped
+in mystery.
+
+"Jesús, Maria y José!" exclaimed the women. "We are going to have a
+misfortune. Jesús, Maria y José!"
+
+"Don't be alarmed, señoras," said the old boatman. "If there is any
+one in this province who can do it, it is that fellow who has just
+gone down."
+
+"What is his name?" they asked.
+
+"We call him 'The Pilot'; he is the best I have ever seen, only he
+does not like his profession."
+
+The water was being stirred violently, and it seemed that a fierce
+fight was being waged in the depths of the lake. The sides of the
+enclosure swayed to and fro, while the water seemed to be swirled by
+a dozen currents. All held their breath. Ibarra grasped tightly the
+handle of his sharp knife.
+
+The fight seemed to be at an end. The head of the young man rose to
+the surface of the water, and the sight was greeted by joyful shouts
+from all. The eyes of the women were full of tears.
+
+The pilot crawled up on the platform carrying in his hand the end of
+the rope, and as soon as he was able pulled on it.
+
+The monster appeared on top of the water. He had the rope tied twice
+around his neck, and once behind his forelegs. He was a large fellow,
+as Leon had already announced. He was beautifully colored and green
+moss was growing on his back. He bellowed like an ox, struck his tail
+against the sides of the enclosure, snapped at them, and opened his
+black, frightful-looking mouth, showing his long teeth.
+
+The pilot, unassisted, raised him up out of the water. No one offered
+to help him. Just as soon as the animal was out of the water and
+placed on the platform, the pilot put his foot on his back. Then,
+closing the animal's massive jaws, he tried to tie his big snout tight
+with the rope. The reptile made a last effort, doubled up his body,
+struck the floor of the platform with his powerful tail and, breaking
+loose, made a leap into the water of the lake, on the other side of
+the weir, at the same time dragging with him his captor. It seemed
+that the pilot would be a dead man. A cry of horror went up from all.
+
+Like a flash of lightning, another body leaped into the water. So
+quickly was it done that they had scarcely time to see that it was
+Ibarra. Maria Clara did not faint, simply because the Filipinos do
+not know how to faint.
+
+They all saw the water become colored, and tinged with blood. The
+young fisherman leaped to the bottom with his bolo in his hand; his
+father followed him. But, scarcely had they disappeared, when they
+saw Crisostomo and the pilot reappear, clinging to the body of the
+reptile. The monster's white belly was slashed, while in his throat
+the knife still stuck like a nail.
+
+It is impossible to describe the joy that came over the party at
+the sight; all arms were extended to help them out of the water. The
+old women were half crazed with joy, and laughed and prayed. Andeng
+forgot that her kettle had been boiling three different times; now
+it was leaking and had put out the fire. The only one who could not
+speak was Maria Clara.
+
+Ibarra was unhurt. The pilot had a slight scratch on his arm.
+
+"I owe you my life!" said he to Ibarra as the latter wrapped himself
+up in the shawls and blankets. The voice of the pilot had a ring
+of sincerity.
+
+"You are too bold," replied Ibarra. "Another time you must not
+tempt God."
+
+"If you had never come back!" exclaimed Maria, pale and trembling.
+
+"If I had never come back and you had followed after me," replied
+the young man, "I would have been with all my family in the bottom of
+the lake." Ibarra was thinking that in those depths lay the remains
+of his father.
+
+The mothers of the girls did not want to go to the other baklad
+or weir. They preferred to go back home happy, for the day had
+commenced with a bad omen and they feared that they would suffer
+many misfortunes.
+
+"It is all because we have not heard mass," sighed one of them.
+
+"But what misfortune have we had, señoras?" asked Ibarra. "The
+alligator was the unfortunate one."
+
+"That goes to show," concluded Albino, "that, in all his fishing life,
+this reptile has never heard mass. I never saw him, I am sure, among
+the other reptiles who frequent the church."
+
+The bancas were turned toward the other fish rack, and it was necessary
+for Andeng to get the water boiling again.
+
+The day was advancing; a breeze was blowing; little waves were stirred
+up on the water, and rippled around the alligator. The music began
+again. Iday was playing the harp, while the young men were playing
+the accordeons and guitars with more or less skill. But the one who
+played best was Albino.
+
+The other weir was visited with an entire lack of confidence. Many
+of the party expected to find there the mate to the alligator, but
+Nature fooled them and every time that the net was lowered it was
+brought up full of fish.
+
+They then headed for the shore of the lake, where is situated the
+forest of trees centuries old, owned by Ibarra. There in the shade
+and near the crystal brook the party were to take their breakfast
+among the flowers or under improvised tents.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+IN THE WOODS.
+
+
+Very early that morning Father Salví had said mass, cleaning, according
+to his custom, a dozen dirty souls in a few minutes. The reading of a
+few letters, which had arrived well sealed with wax, seemed to cause
+the worthy curate to lose his appetite, for he allowed his chocolate
+to get cold.
+
+"The Father is ill," said the cook as he prepared another cup. "It
+is several days since he has eaten anything; of six dishes which I
+put on the table for him, he has not touched two."
+
+"It must be that he does not sleep well," replied the servant. "He
+has nightmare since he changed his bedroom. Every day his eyes are
+sinking deeper, he grows gradually thinner, and is very yellow."
+
+As a matter of fact, it was a pitiful sight to behold Father Salví. He
+did not care to touch his second cup of chocolate, nor to taste the
+Cebu cakes. He walked pensively to and fro in the spacious sala,
+crumpling between his bony fingers some letters which he would read
+from time to time. Finally, he called for his carriage, got ready
+and ordered the coachman to take him to the woods where the picnic
+was to be held. Arriving at the place, Father Salví dismissed the
+carriage and all alone, entered the forest.
+
+A shady but difficult path runs through the thicket and leads to the
+brook which is formed by the hot springs so plentiful at the base of
+Mount Makiling.
+
+For some time, Father Salví was wandering among the thick underbrush,
+here trying to evade the thorns which entangled his habit of guingon
+as if to detain him; there trying to step over the roots of the trees
+which stuck up through the ground and made the inexperienced traveler
+stumble again and again. Suddenly he stopped. Mirthful laughter and the
+sound of young voices reached his ears. The voices and the laughter
+seemed to come from the direction of the brook and each time seemed
+to be coming nearer.
+
+"I am going to see if I can find a heron's nest," said a voice,
+beautiful and sweet, and at once recognized by the curate. "You know
+they say that if a person possesses one of those nests he can make
+himself invisible to everybody. How I would like to see him and not
+have him see me! I could follow him everywhere."
+
+Father Salví hid behind the thick trunk of an old tree and listened.
+
+"That is to say, you want to do with him what the curate does with
+you: watch him everywhere?" replied the merry voice. "Be careful,
+for jealousy makes one grow thin and the eyes sink in."
+
+"No, no. It is not jealousy, it is pure curiosity," replied the silvery
+voice, while the other repeated, "yes, yes, jealousy; that's what it
+is." And then she broke out in a merry chuckle.
+
+"If I were jealous of him I would not use the heron's nest to make
+myself invisible to him, but would make him invisible to everybody
+else."
+
+"But then you yourself would not be able to see him and you would
+not want that to happen. The best thing to do, if we find a heron's
+nest is to give it to the priest. Then he could watch us as much as
+he pleased, and we would not be troubled with the sight of him. What
+do you think of the idea?"
+
+"But I don't believe in the story about the heron's nests, anyway,"
+replied one. "But if I were really jealous I would know how to keep
+watch of a person and make myself invisible...."
+
+"And how? How would you do it? Perhaps you would do as Sister Listener
+does in the convent?"
+
+This reference to days passed in the convent provoked a jolly laugh
+all around.
+
+Father Salví saw from his hiding-place Maria Clara, Victoria, and
+Sinang, wading in the stream. All three were looking into the water,
+which was like a mirror, in search of the heron's nest. They were
+getting wet up to their knees, the wide folds of their bathing skirts
+allowing one to guess how graceful were the curves of their limbs. They
+were wearing their hair loose and their arms were bare. Striped,
+bright-colored bodices covered their breasts. The three lasses, at
+the same time that they were hunting for that which did not exist,
+collected flowers and plants which were growing on the banks of
+the stream.
+
+The religious Acteon, pale and immovable, stood gazing upon Maria
+Clara, that chaste Diana. The eyes which shone in those dark orbits
+never tired of admiring those white and beautiful arms, that pretty,
+round neck, those tiny and rosy feet as they played in the water. As
+he contemplated all this, strange feelings were awakened in his breast,
+new dreams took possession of his burning mind.
+
+The three pretty forms disappeared in a thick growth of bamboo behind
+a bend in the stream, but their cruel allusions could still be heard by
+the curate. Intoxicated with the strange ideas in his head, staggering,
+and covered with perspiration, Father Salví left his hiding-place
+and looked about him in all directions with staring eyes. He stood
+immovable, in doubt. He took a few steps as if to follow the young
+women, but he turned about, and walked along the bank of the stream
+in order to find the rest of the picnic party.
+
+Some distance ahead, in the middle of the stream, he could see a
+bathing place well enclosed by bamboo. He could hear, merry laughter
+and feminine accents coming from that direction. Still further down the
+stream he could see a bamboo bridge and some men in bathing. In the
+meantime, a multitude of servants were bustling about the improvised
+fireplaces, some engaged in plucking chickens, others in washing
+rice and roasting pig. And there on the opposite bank, in a clearing
+which had been made, were a number of men and women under a tent. The
+tent had been made by hanging canvas from the limbs of some of the
+old trees and by erecting a few poles. There in the group was the
+alferez, the teniente mayor, the coadjutor, the gobernadorcillo,
+the school teacher, a number, of past captains and lieutenants,
+including even Captain Basilio, who was Sinang's father, and the
+former rival of the deceased Don Rafael. Ibarra had said to him:
+"The mere fact that we are parties to a law-suit does not mean that
+we have to be enemies." So it was that the celebrated orator of the
+conservative party had accepted the invitation to the picnic with
+enthusiasm, and had even brought along three turkeys and put his
+servants at the disposition of the young man.
+
+The parish priest was received with respect and deference by all,
+even by the alferez.
+
+"But where did Your Reverence come from?" some one asked on seeing
+his face full of scratches, and his habit covered with leaves and
+pieces of dried branches. "Has Your Reverence fallen down?"
+
+"No, I lost my way," replied Father Salví, looking down and examining
+his clothes.
+
+Bottles of lemonade were opened, green cocoanuts were cut in two so
+that those who were coming out of the bath might have the refreshing
+milk to drink and the delicate meat to eat. The young women in addition
+received rosaries of sampagas interwoven with roses and ilang-ilang,
+which gave a beautiful fragrance to their loose hair. Some were
+sitting or lying in hammocks which had been hung from the branches
+of the trees; others were entertaining themselves in a game that
+was going on around a large, flat stone. Playing cards, checkers,
+dice and many other games were in progress.
+
+They showed the alligator to the curate, but he seemed absorbed and
+paid no attention until they mentioned the fact that the wide wound
+in the animal's neck had been made by Ibarra. Then, too, the pilot,
+the principal figure in the incident, had disappeared and could not
+be found anywhere.
+
+Finally Maria Clara came out of the bath, accompanied by her friends,
+fresh as a rose when first it blooms, and when the dew on its divine
+petals glistens like diamonds. Her first smile was for Ibarra; and
+her first frown for Father Salví. The latter noticed this, but he
+did not even sigh.
+
+It was now time to eat. The curate, the coadjutor, the alferez, the
+gobernadorcillo, and some of the captains, together with the tenente
+mayor sat down at the table over which Ibarra presided. The mothers of
+the girls did not allow any one to eat at the table with their charges.
+
+"Do you know anything yet, Señor Alferez, about the criminal who
+assaulted Father Dámaso?" asked Father Salví.
+
+"About what criminal, Father?" asked the alferez, looking at the
+parish priest through his empty wine glass.
+
+"About whom could it be? About the one who, day before yesterday,
+struck Father Dámaso, of course."
+
+"Struck Father Dámaso?" asked a number of voices.
+
+The coadjutor was seen to smile.
+
+"Yes; and Father Dámaso is now in bed. It is believed that the culprit
+was that same Elias who once threw you into a mud-hole, Señor Alferez."
+
+The alferez colored up a little, either from shame or too much wine.
+
+"I thought that you were interested in the affair," continued Father
+Salví, with a little jeering in his manner.
+
+The alferez bit his lips and mumbled out a silly excuse.
+
+The meal ended and, while tea and coffee were being served, the young
+and old distributed themselves about in various groups. Some picked
+up playing cards and others dice, but the young women, anxious to
+know the future, preferred to try their luck with the wheel of fortune.
+
+"Come, Señor Ibarra," shouted Captain Basilio, who was a little bit
+jolly. "We have a law-suit that has been pending for fifteen years,
+and there isn't a judge in the Supreme Court in Manila who can
+decide it. Let us see if we can settle it on the chess board. What
+do you say?"
+
+The game of chess began with much solemnity.
+
+"If the game is a draw," said Ibarra, "it is understood that the suit
+is off."
+
+About the middle of the game, Ibarra received a telegram which made
+his eyes glisten and his face grow pale. He put it in his pocket-book,
+not, however, without directing a glance at the group of young women
+who continued with much laughter to play the wheel of fortune.
+
+"Check to the king!" said the young man.
+
+Captain Basilio had no other resort than to hide him behind the queen.
+
+"Check to the queen!" said Ibarra, threatening it with his rook,
+which was defended by a pawn.
+
+Not being able to cover the queen, nor to retire it on account of the
+fact that the king was behind it, Captain Basilio asked permission
+to study the situation a little.
+
+"Certainly, with much pleasure," replied Ibarra. "I will take advantage
+of the opportunity, for I have something to say to some of the members
+of that group over there."
+
+And rising to his feet, he gave his opponent half an hour to study
+it out.
+
+Iday held in her hands the strip of cardboard on which was written
+forty-eight questions, while Albino held the book which contained
+the answers.
+
+"That's a lie! It's not so! It lies!" cried Sinang, half in tears.
+
+"What is the matter with you?" asked Maria Clara.
+
+"Just imagine it: I asked the question 'When will I have some
+sense?' I threw the dice and he, this all-night-watching priest
+(Albino, the ex-seminary student) reads from the book: 'When the
+frogs grow hairs.' What do you think of that?"
+
+And Sinang made a face at the former religious student, who was still
+laughing heartily.
+
+"Who told you to ask such a question?" said her cousin Victoria. "Any
+one who asks such a question deserves just such an answer."
+
+"You ask a question!" said they all to Ibarra. "We have agreed that
+the one who receives the best answer shall receive a gift from the
+others. We have all asked our questions already."
+
+"And who has received the best answer?"
+
+"Maria Clara, Maria Clara!" replied Sinang. "We made her ask the
+question whether you loved her or not: 'Is your lover faithful and
+constant,' and the book replied----"
+
+But Maria Clara colored up, and, putting her hands over Sinang's mouth,
+did not allow her to finish what she had to say.
+
+"Then, let me try it," said Crisostomo, smiling.
+
+He asked the question: "Will I succeed in my present undertaking?"
+
+"You are going to get a bad answer," exclaimed Sinang.
+
+Ibarra threw the dice, and noting the number, they looked for the
+page in the little book with the corresponding answer.
+
+"Dreams are only dreams," read Albino.
+
+Ibarra took out his pocket-book and opened it trembling.
+
+"This time your book has lied," he said, full of joy. "Read this!"
+
+
+
+"Plan for school house approved; other matter decided in your favor."
+
+
+
+"What does that mean?" they all asked.
+
+"Did you not tell me that the one who received the best answer was to
+get a present?" the young man asked, his voice trembling with emotion
+while he carefully divided the paper into two parts.
+
+"Yes, yes!"
+
+"Well, then! This is my gift," he said handing half of the telegram
+to Maria Clara. "I am going to have a school house for boys and girls
+erected in the town. This school house will be my gift."
+
+"And this other piece: what does that mean?"
+
+"I will give that to the one who has obtained the worst answer."
+
+"Then that is for me!" exclaimed Sinang.
+
+Ibarra gave her the piece of paper and quickly went off.
+
+"And what does this mean?"
+
+But the happy young man was already far away from the little group
+and he did not reply. He had gone to finish the game of chess.
+
+After making the present to his betrothed, Ibarra was so happy that he
+began to play without stopping to think or even examining carefully
+the position of the chess. As a result, although Captain Basilio had
+defended himself only by the greatest effort, the young man made so
+many mistakes that the game resulted in a draw.
+
+"We end the suit, we end the suit!" said Captain Basilio, happy over
+his success.
+
+"Yes, we declare it off," repeated the young man, "whatever decision
+the judges may have been able to reach."
+
+Each grasped the hand of the other and shook it with effusion.
+
+In the meantime, while those present were celebrating the ending of
+the law-suit, of which both had long been tired, four Civil Guards
+and a sergeant suddenly arrived on the scene. They were all armed
+and had their bayonets fixed, a fact which naturally disturbed the
+merriment and brought fright into the circle of women.
+
+"Let everybody be quiet!" cried the sergeant. "Whoever moves will
+be shot!"
+
+In spite of this gruff boast, Ibarra rose to his feet and approached
+the sergeant.
+
+"What do you wish?" he asked.
+
+"That you give up at once the criminal named Elias who acted as pilot
+for your party this morning," he replied, in a threatening tone.
+
+"A criminal? The pilot? You must be mistaken!" replied Ibarra.
+
+"No, sir; that Elias is now accused of another crime, of having laid
+his hands on a priest----"
+
+"Ah! And is the pilot the one?"
+
+"He is the same one, so we are told. You are allowing people of bad
+reputation to attend your festivals, Señor Ibarra."
+
+Ibarra looked at him from head to foot and replied with supreme
+contempt: "I don't have to account to you for my actions. At our
+festivals everybody is well received, and you yourself, if you had
+come, would have been given a seat at the table, the same as the
+alferez who was here among us two hours ago."
+
+Saying this, Ibarra turned his back to him. The sergeant bit his
+mustache and ordered his men to search everywhere among the trees
+for the pilot, whose description he had on a piece of paper.
+
+Don Filipo said to him: "Take note that this description corresponds
+to that of nine-tenths of the natives. Take care that you do not make
+a mistake!"
+
+At last the soldiers returned, saying that they had not been able to
+discover either a banca, or a man that aroused their suspicion. The
+sergeant murmured a few indistinct words and then marched off.
+
+Soon the people became jolly again, but questions, wonder and comments
+were without end.
+
+So the afternoon passed and the hour for departure arrived. Just as
+the sun was dropping below the horizon they left the woods. The trees
+seemed sad and all the surroundings seemed to bid them farewell and
+say: "Good-bye, happy youth; good-bye, dream of a day."
+
+And a little later, by the light of glowing torches of bamboo and
+with the music of guitars, we leave them on the road toward the town.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+IN THE HOUSE OF TASIO.
+
+
+On the morning of the following day, Juan Crisostomo Ibarra, after
+visiting his estates, went to the house of Tasio, the philosopher,
+his father's friend.
+
+Quiet reigned in the old man's garden. The swallows were flying about
+the gables of the house, but they were making scarcely a sound. The
+windows were covered with vines which clung to the old, moss-covered
+wall and made the house appear all the more solitary and quiet. Ibarra
+tied his horse to a post and, walking almost on tip-toes, crossed the
+clean and well-cultivated garden. He went up the stairs and, as the
+door was open, walked in. An old man leaned over a book in which he
+seemed to be writing. On the walls of the room were collections of
+insects and leaves, maps, and some shelves of books and manuscripts.
+
+Tasio was so absorbed in his work that he did not notice the arrival
+of the youth. The latter, not wishing to disturb the philosopher,
+tried to retire from the place, but the old man, looking up, said:
+"What? Are you here?" and showed no little surprise in his look.
+
+"Excuse me," replied Ibarra, "I see that you are very busy."
+
+"As a matter of fact I was writing a little, but it is not urgent,
+and I want to rest myself. Can I be useful to you in any way?"
+
+Ibarra drew some papers from his pocket-book and replied: "My
+father was wont to consult you in many things, and I remember that
+he never had to do other than congratulate himself when he followed
+your advice. I have on my hands a small undertaking and I want to be
+assured of success."
+
+Ibarra then related to him briefly his plan for the erection of
+a school house in honor of his betrothed. He showed the stupefied
+philosopher the plans which had been returned from Manila.
+
+"I wish that you would advise me as to what persons I ought first to
+have on my side in order to make the undertaking most successful. You
+are well acquainted with the inhabitants of the town. I have just
+arrived here and am almost a stranger in my country."
+
+The old man examined the plans which were laid out before him. His
+eyes were full of tears.
+
+"That which you are going to carry out was a dream of mine, the dream
+of a poor fool," he exclaimed, greatly moved. "And now, my first advice
+to you is that you never come to consult me in regard to the matter."
+
+The young man looked at him in surprise.
+
+"Because sensible people," he continued, in an ironical tone, "will
+take you for a fool, like myself. People always consider every one
+a fool who does not think just as they do and, for this reason,
+they call me crazy. But I am obliged to them for that, for woe be
+to me when the time arrives that they say I have sense! That day,
+should it ever come, would deprive me of the little liberty which I
+have purchased by sacrificing my reputation for being sane."
+
+And the old man shook his head, as if to drive away a thought and
+continued: "My second advice to you is that you consult the curate,
+the gobernadorcillo, and all the people of good standing. They will all
+give you bad, foolish and useless advice, but to consult does not mean
+to obey. Try to appear to be following their advice as far as possible
+and make them think you are working according to their wishes."
+
+Ibarra sat thinking for a moment and then replied: "The advice is good
+but difficult to follow. Could I not carry out my work without a shadow
+reflecting upon it? Could I not carry out the good work in spite of
+all? Does truth need to be clothed in the garments of falsehood?"
+
+"That's it. Nobody likes the bare truth."
+
+"I hope to be able to realize all my hopes without encountering great
+resistance," said Ibarra.
+
+"Yes, if the priests lend you their hand; no, if they draw it away. All
+your efforts will be battered to pieces against the walls of the
+curate's house. The alcalde will deny to you to-morrow what he has
+granted you to-day. Not a mother will let her son attend the school,
+and then all your efforts will have just an opposite effect to that
+intended. You will discourage all others who might wish to attempt
+beneficent undertakings."
+
+"Nevertheless," replied Ibarra, "I cannot believe in this power of
+which you speak. And even supposing it to be true, admitting that it
+is as you say, would I not still have on my side the sensible people
+and the Government?"
+
+"The Government! The Government!" exclaimed the philosopher, raising
+his eyes and looking at the ceiling. "However much the Government
+may desire to uplift the country for its own benefit and that of
+the mother country; however generous may be the Catholic Kings in
+spirit, I must remind you in confidence that there is another power
+which does not allow the Government to see, hear, or judge except
+what the curates or provincial priests wish. The Government is
+afraid of the advancement of the people, and the people are afraid
+of the forces of the Government. So long as the Government does
+not understand the people of the country, the country will never
+get out from this guardianship. The people will live like weak,
+young children who tremble at the sound of the voice of their tutor,
+whose mercy they beg. The Government has no dreams of a great future,
+a healthy development of the country. The people do not complain,
+because they have no voice. They do not move, because they are too
+carefully watched. You say that they do not suffer, because you have
+not seen what would make your heart bleed. But some day you will see
+it! alas! some day you will hear it. When the light of day is thrown on
+their monstrous forms, you will see a frightful reaction. That great
+force, held back for centuries, that poison, distilled drop by drop,
+those sighs, so long repressed--all will come to light and will some
+day burst forth.... Who will then pay the accounts which the people
+will present and which History preserves for us on its bloody pages?"
+
+"God, the Government, and the Church will never allow that day to
+come!" replied Crisostomo, impressed in spite of himself. "The
+Filipinos are religious and they love Spain. The Filipinos will
+always know how much this nation has done for them. There are abuses;
+yes! There are defects; I do not deny it. But Spain is working to
+introduce reforms which will correct them; she is devising plans;
+she is not selfish. Can it be that my love for my native land is
+incompatible with love for Spain? Is it necessary to lower one's self
+to be a good Christian, to prostitute one's own conscience to bring
+about good? I love my fatherland, the Philippines, because I owe
+to her my life and my happiness--because every man should love his
+native land. I love Spain, the fatherland of my ancestors, because,
+in spite of all that may be said, the Philippines owe to Spain,
+and always will owe to her, their happiness and their future. I am a
+Catholic. I hold dear the belief of my fathers, and I do not see why
+I have to bow my head when I am able to raise it; nor why I have to
+entrust it to my enemies, when I can trample on them."
+
+"Because the field in which you are sowing your seed is in the hands
+of your enemies, and you are weak in comparison to them.... It is
+necessary that you first kiss the hand----"
+
+But the young man did not allow him to go farther and exclaimed
+violently: "To kiss their hands! You forget that, between them, they
+killed my father; they threw his body out of its sepulchre: but I,
+I who am his son, I do not forget it, and, if I do not avenge myself,
+it is because I consider the prestige of the Church."
+
+The old philosopher bowed his head. "Señor Ibarra," he replied slowly,
+"if you keep those memories--memories which I cannot advise you to
+forget--if you keep those memories, give up your plans and your
+undertaking and try to work good for your countrymen in another
+way. The undertaking needs another man than you for its execution,
+because to carry it out will not only require money and care, but,
+in our country, self-denial, tenacity and faith are also needed. The
+land is not ready for it; it has been sown only with darnel."
+
+Ibarra understood the weight of these words, but he was not going
+to be discouraged. Thoughts of Maria Clara filled his mind; he must
+fulfill his promise to her.
+
+"Does not your experience suggest something other than this hard
+method?" he asked in a low voice.
+
+The old man took him by the arm and led him to the window. A cool
+breeze was blowing from the north. Before his eyes lay the garden,
+stretching out to the large forest which served as a park.
+
+"Why do we not have to do the same as that weak young bush loaded
+with roses and buds?" said the philosopher pointing to a beautiful
+rose bush. "The wind blows, shakes it and it bends itself down as if
+trying to hide its precious load. If the bush kept itself erect, it
+would be broken off, the wind would scatter its flowers and the buds
+would be blighted. The wind passes over, and the bush straightens
+itself up again, proud of its treasure. Thus it would be with you,
+a plant transplanted from Europe to this stony ground, if you did not
+look about for some support and belittle yourself. Alone and lofty,
+you are in bad condition."
+
+"And would this sacrifice bring the fruits that I hope for?" asked
+Ibarra. "Would the priest have faith in me and would he forget the
+offense? Would his kind not be able to feign friendship, to make a
+false show of protecting me, and then, from behind in the darkness,
+fight me, harass me and wound my heels, thus making me waver more
+quickly than they could by attacking me face to face? Given these
+premises, what do you think could be expected?"
+
+The old man remained silent for some time, not being able to reply. At
+last he said: "If such a thing took place, if the undertaking failed,
+I would console you with the thought that you had done all that was
+in your power. And even so, something would be gained. Lay the first
+stone, sow the first seed and after the tempest has passed over,
+some little grain perhaps would germinate."
+
+"I believe you," exclaimed Ibarra, stretching out his hand. "Not in
+vain did I look for good advice. This very day I shall go and make
+friends with the curate."
+
+Taking leave of the old man, he mounted on his horse and rode away.
+
+"Attention!" murmured the pessimistic philosopher to himself, as he
+followed the young man with his eyes. "Let us observe carefully how
+Destiny will unfold the tragedy which began in the cemetery."
+
+But this time the philosopher was truly mistaken. The tragedy had
+begun long before.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+THE EVE OF THE FIESTA.
+
+
+It is the tenth of November, the eve of the fiesta to be celebrated
+in the town of San Diego. Departing from its habitual monotony,
+the town is displaying extraordinary activity in the church, houses,
+streets, cock-pit, and the fields. Windows are draped with flags and
+many-colored decorations. Music and the sound of exploding fireworks
+fill the air. Everywhere there is rejoicing.
+
+In the streets at fixed intervals, beautiful arches of bamboo are
+raised, the wood carved and worked in a thousand different ways. The
+arches are surrounded with ornaments, the very sight of which brings
+joy to the heart of the small boy. In the church yard, a large and
+costly awning has been erected. It is propped up by bamboo poles and
+so arranged that the procession may pass under it. Under its shade the
+children play, run, jump, fall and otherwise manage to tear and soil
+their new shirts, which have been intended for the day of the festival.
+
+In the public square a platform has been built of bamboo, nipa and
+boards, to serve as the stage. It is here that the comedy company from
+Tondo will tell wonderful tales, and will compete with the gods in the
+performance of miracles. Here Marianito, Chananay, Balbino, Ratia,
+Carvajal, Yeyeng, Liceria and the others will sing and dance. The
+Filipino loves the theatre, and always attends dramatic productions
+with a great deal of pleasure. The gobernadorcillo was very fond of
+the theatre, and, with the advice of the curate, he had selected for
+the fiesta the fantastic comedy: "Prince Villardo, or the Nails Pulled
+Out of the Infamous Cave," a play full of magic and fireworks.
+
+From time to time the bells ring out their merry sounds. Firecrackers
+and the booming of little cannon rend the air. The Filipino
+pyrotechnist, who has learned his art without a teacher of any renown,
+displays his skill, setting up pieces representing towers, castles,
+and the like. Already the small boys are running at break-neck speed
+toward the outskirts of the town to meet the bands of music. Five
+organizations have been hired, besides three orchestras.
+
+A band enters the town playing lively marches, and is followed by
+a lot of ragged and half naked pickaninnies: this one, perhaps, has
+on his brother's shirt; that one, his father's trousers. As soon as
+the music stops, these little tots know by memory the piece that has
+been played; they whistle and hum it with great delight, showing at
+this early age their musical talent.
+
+In the meantime wagons and carriages arrive, bringing relatives,
+friends, and strangers. Gamblers are also on hand with their best
+fighting cocks and bags of money, ready to risk their fortunes on
+the green cloth or in the cock-pit.
+
+"The alferez gets fifty dollars a night," murmured a little, chubby
+man when he heard of the recent arrivals, for there were already
+many rumors that these people bribed the officer so that they might
+not be interfered with by the law. "Captain Tiago," he added,
+"is going to come and will be banker in the monte game. Captain
+Joaquin brings eighteen thousand. There is going to be a liam-po,
+[11] and the Chino Carlos is going to back it with ten thousand pesos
+capital. Big bettors will come from Tanauan, Lipa, and Batangas,
+as well as from Santa Cruz. It's going to be great! It's going to be
+great! This year Captain Tiago will not skin us as he has in the past,
+for he has not paid for more than three masses this year, and besides,
+I have a mutya [12] of cacao. And how are all the family?"
+
+"Very well, very well, thank you!" replied the visitors from the
+country.
+
+But the place where the greatest animation reigns, where there is
+almost a tumult, is over there on the level piece of ground, a short
+distance from Ibarra's house. Pulleys creak, and the place resounds
+with the sound of the hammer, the chiseling of stones, hewing of beams
+and the shouting of voices. A gang of workmen is making an excavation
+which will be wide and deep; others are busy piling up quarry stone,
+unloading carts, sifting sand, putting a capstan in place and so on.
+
+"Put that here! That, there! Come, be lively about it!" shouts a
+little, old man with an animated and intelligent physiognomy as he
+goes about, a yard stick and plumb line in hand. He is the director
+of the work, Ñor Juan, architect, mason, carpenter, whitewasher,
+locksmith, painter, stone cutter, and, on occasion, sculptor.
+
+"We must finish it immediately! To-morrow nothing can be done, and
+day after to-morrow the ceremony of laying the corner stone is to
+take place! Come, be lively!"
+
+"Make the hole just large enough for this cylinder!" said he to
+one of the stone cutters who was chiseling off a large quadrangular
+stone. "Inside of this our names will be kept."
+
+Then he would repeat to every countryman who came along what he had
+already said a thousand times: "Do you know what we are going to
+build? Well, it is a school house, a model of its kind, something
+like those in Germany, but still better. The architect, Señor R.,
+draughted the plans and I, I am in charge of the work. Yes, sir,
+you see this is going to be a regular palace with two wings, one for
+the boys and one for the girls. Here in the middle is to be a large
+garden with three fountains. There, on the sides, groves, where the
+children can sow and cultivate plants during the hours of recreation,
+thus improving the time. Just see how deep the foundations are to be:
+three meters and seventy-five centimeters. The building is going to
+have a cellar where the indolent pupils will be confined. This will be
+very close to the playing ground and the gymnasium, so that those who
+are punished may hear the diligent pupils enjoying themselves. Do you
+see this large space? Well, this will be a place for them to run and
+jump. The girls will have a separate garden with benches, swings,
+a special place for jumping the rope and rolling hoops, fountains
+and a bird-house. This is going to be magnificent!"
+
+He kept going from one end to the other, inspecting everything and
+passing his opinion on all.
+
+"I find that you have got too much lumber here for a crane," said he to
+a yellowish-looking fellow, who was directing some other laborers. "I
+would have enough, with three large beams, to form the tripod and
+with three others to serve as supporters."
+
+"O, pshaw!" replied the other, smiling in a peculiar way. "The more
+apparatus we give ourselves, the greater effect we will produce. The
+massiveness of it will make a bigger show and give it more
+importance. They will say: 'What a lot of work has been done!' You
+look at that crane that I am constructing. In a little while, I am
+going to ornament it with banderolas, garlands of flowers and leaves,
+and ... you will say afterward that you were right in hiring me,
+and Señor Ibarra cannot wish for more than that!"
+
+The man laughed. Ñor Juan also smiled and shook his head.
+
+As a matter of fact, the plan for the school had been approved by
+everybody and all were talking about it. The curate had asked to be
+allowed to be one of the patrons of the enterprise and he himself was
+to bless the laying of the corner stone, a ceremony which would take
+place on the last day of the San Diego festival, as it was considered
+one of the great solemnities.
+
+The dismal presentiments of the old Tasio seemed to have been
+dissipated forever. One day Ibarra told the old man so, but the old
+pessimist only replied: "Things may go well at first, but be on your
+guard against masked enemies."
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+AS NIGHT COMES ON.
+
+
+Great preparations had also been made in the house of Captain Tiago. We
+are already acquainted with the man. His love for pomp and his pride in
+being a resident of Manila made it necessary that he should outdo the
+residents of the province in the splendor of his celebration. There
+was another thing, too, which made it necessary that he should try
+to eclipse all others--the fact that his daughter Maria Clara and
+his future son-in-law were also there. His prospective connection
+with Ibarra caused the Captain to be often spoken of among the people.
+
+Yes, as a matter of fact, one of the most serious newspapers in
+Manila had printed an article on its first page, headed "Imitate
+Him!" in which they offered Ibarra much advice and highly eulogized
+him. The article spoke of him as "the illustrious and rich young
+capitalist." Two lines below, he was termed "the distinguished
+philanthropist," and, in the following paragraph, referred to as the
+"disciple of Minerva who went to his Mother Country to salute the
+real birthplace of arts and sciences." Captain Tiago was burning with
+generous emulation and was wondering whether he ought not to erect
+a convent at his own expense.
+
+Days before the week of festivities, numerous boxes of provisions and
+drinks, colossal mirrors, pictures, paintings and his daughter's piano
+had arrived at the house. Maria Clara and Aunt Isabel were already
+living there. Captain Tiago came on the day before the beginning of the
+festival. As he kissed his daughter's hand, he made her a present of
+a beautiful religious relic. It was solid gold, and set with diamonds
+and emeralds, and contained a little sliver from Saint Peter's boat,
+in which Our Saviour sat while fishing.
+
+The Captain's interview with his future son-in-law could not have
+been more cordial. Naturally, the school house was the subject of
+conversation. Captain Tiago wanted him to call the school "The San
+Francisco School."
+
+"Believe me!" he said. "San Francisco is a good patron saint. If
+you call it 'The Primary School,' you gain nothing. Who is Primary,
+anyway?"
+
+Some friends of Maria Clara arrived and invited her to go for a walk.
+
+"But return quickly," said the Captain to his daughter, who asked
+for his permission. "You know that Father Dámaso is going to dine
+with us to-night. He has just arrived."
+
+And turning to Ibarra who was deep in thought, he added: "You will
+dine with us, too? You will be all alone at home."
+
+"With the greatest pleasure, I assure you, if I did not have to be at
+home to-night to receive visitors," replied the young man, mumbling
+his words and evading Maria Clara's glance.
+
+"Bring your friends along with you," replied Captain Tiago
+cheerfully. "In my house there is always enough to eat. And, besides
+I would like to have you and Father Dámaso understand each other."
+
+"There'll be time enough for that," replied Ibarra, putting on a
+forced smile and making ready to accompany the young ladies.
+
+They went downstairs. Maria Clara was walking between Victoria and
+Iday, while Aunt Isabel followed behind.
+
+As they passed down the street, people stood aside respectfully
+and gave them the inside of the way. Maria Clara was surprisingly
+beautiful now. Her paleness had disappeared, and although her eyes
+were thoughtful, her mouth, on the contrary, seemed all smiles. With
+that amiability known only to a happy maiden, she saluted friends she
+had known from childhood who to-day were admirers of her youthful
+beauty. In less than fifteen days she had regained that frank
+confidence, that childish chatter, which seemed for awhile to have been
+left behind in the narrow walls of the convent. It seemed as though
+the butterfly upon leaving its shell knew all the flowers at once. It
+was enough that she be given a moment of flight and an opportunity
+to warm herself in the golden rays of the sun, in order to throw off
+the rigidity of the chrysalis. New life shone out in every part of her
+young being. Everything she met with was good and beautiful. Her love
+was manifested with virginal grace, and innocent in thought, she saw
+nothing to cause her to put on false blushes. However, she was wont
+to cover her face with her fan when they joked with her, but her eyes
+would smile and a gentle tremor would pass over her whole being.
+
+In front of Captain Basilio's house were some young men who saluted
+our acquaintances and invited them into the house. The merry voice
+of Sinang was heard, as she descended the stairs on a run and at once
+put an end to all excuses.
+
+"Come up a moment so that I can go out with you," said she. "It
+bores me to be among so many strangers who talk about nothing but
+fighting-cocks and playing cards."
+
+They went upstairs. The house was full of people. Some advanced to
+greet Ibarra, whose name was known to all. They contemplated with
+ecstacy Maria Clara's beauty, and some of the matrons murmured as
+they chewed their betel-nut: "She looks like the Virgin!"
+
+After they had partaken of chocolate they resumed their walk. In the
+corner of the plaza a beggar was singing the romance of the fishes,
+to the accompaniment of a guitar. He was a common sight, a man
+miserably dressed and wearing a wide-brimmed hat made out of palm
+leaves. His clothing consisted of a frock coat covered with patches,
+and a pair of wide trousers such as the Chinese wear, but torn in many
+places. From beneath the brim of his hat two fiery orbs flashed out a
+ray of light. He was tall and from his manner seemed to be young. He
+put a basket down on the ground and, afterwards walking away from
+it a little distance, he uttered strange, unintelligible sounds. He
+remained standing, completely isolated, as if he and the people in the
+street were trying to avoid each other. Women approached his basket,
+and dropped into it fish, fruit and rice. When there was no one else
+to approach the basket, other sadder but less mournful sounds could
+be heard; perhaps he was thanking them. He picked up his basket and
+walked away to do the same in another place.
+
+Maria Clara felt that this was a pitiful case. Full of interest,
+she asked about the strange being.
+
+"It is a leper," replied Iday. "He contracted the disease some four
+years ago; some say by taking care of his mother, others by having
+been confined in a damp prison. He lives there in the field near the
+Chinese cemetery. He does not communicate with any one: everybody
+flees from him on account of the fear of contagion. You should see his
+fantastic little house! The wind, the rain and the sunshine go in and
+out of it as a needle goes through cloth. They have prohibited him
+from touching anything belonging to anybody. One day a little child
+fell into the canal. The canal was deep, but this man happened to be
+passing near and helped to get the little child out. The child's father
+learned of it, made a complaint to the gobernadorcillo and the latter
+ordered that he be given six stripes in the middle of the street,
+the whip to be afterwards burned. That was atrocious! The leper ran
+away howling; they pursued him and the gobernadorcillo cried out:
+'Catch him! One might better be drowned than have that disease!'"
+
+"That is true," murmured Maria Clara. And then, without noticing what
+she was doing, she went up to the basket of the unfortunate wretch and
+dropped into it the relic which her father had just presented to her.
+
+"What have you done?" her friends asked her.
+
+"I have nothing else to give him," she replied, concealing the tears
+in her eyes by a smile.
+
+"And what is he going to do with the relic?" said Victoria to
+her. "One day they gave him money but he pushed it away from him with
+his cane. Why would he care for it, if no one would accept anything
+coming from him? If he could only eat the relic!"
+
+Maria Clara looked longingly at the women who were selling provisions
+and shrugged her shoulders.
+
+But the leper approached the basket, picked up the piece of jewelry
+which shone in his hands, knelt down, kissed it, and, after taking
+off his hat, buried his face in the dust on which the young girl
+had walked.
+
+Maria Clara hid her face behind her fan and raised her handkerchief
+to her eyes.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+THE HOISTING CRANE.
+
+
+While two of the actors were singing the Incarnatus est in the
+church at the celebration of mass on the last day of the fiesta,
+and all were kneeling and the priests were bowing their heads, a man
+whispered in Ibarra's ear: "During the ceremony of the blessing of
+the corner stone, do not go near the priest, do not go in the ditch,
+do not approach the corner stone. Your life will depend on it."
+
+Ibarra looked and saw that it was Elias, the pilot, but, as soon as
+he had spoken, he lost himself in the crowd.
+
+The yellow-skinned man kept his word. It was not a simple lifting
+crane which he had built over the ditch for the purpose of lowering
+the enormous block of granite. It was not the mere tripod which Ñor
+Juan had wanted for holding a tackle-block. It was something more. It
+was at the same time a machine and an ornament, grand and imposing.
+
+The confusing and complicated scaffolding had been raised to a height
+of more than eight meters. Four heavy timbers buried in the ground
+and supporting each other with colossal, diagonal braces, served
+as the base. The braces were joined to each other by immense nails,
+about half driven into the wood, perhaps because the apparatus was
+only of a provisional nature, and it could then be more easily taken
+down. Enormous cables were hanging from all sides, giving the entire
+apparatus an aspect of solidity and grandeur. The top was gay with
+flags and banners of various colors, floating pennants, and massive
+garlands of flowers and leaves, all artistically interwoven.
+
+On high, in the shade of the projecting timbers, banners and wreaths,
+a large three-wheeled tackle-block was suspended by ropes and iron
+hooks. Over the shining rims of these pulleys great cables passed,
+holding suspended in the air a massive stone. The center of this stone
+had been chiseled out so that when lowered upon the hollowed stone,
+which had already been placed in the ditch, a small enclosure would be
+formed between the two. This space was to contain an account of the
+ceremonies, newspapers, manuscripts and coins, to be transmitted,
+perhaps, to other generations, in the far distant future. From
+this tackle-block at the top of the structure, the cable passed
+down to another smaller pulley which was fastened at the base of the
+apparatus. Through this pulley, the cable passed to the cylinder of a
+windlass which was held to the ground by massive beams. This windlass
+which can be operated by only two hands, multiplies man's strength by
+means of a series of cog-wheels. Although there is a gain in force,
+there is of course a loss in velocity.
+
+"Look!" said the yellow-skinned man, as he gave the crank a
+turn. "Look, Ñor Juan, with my strength alone, I can raise and lower
+that massive block of stone. This is so nicely arranged that I can
+control the ascent or descent of the stone by inches. Thus one man
+below can arrange the two stones in place, while I manipulate the
+apparatus from here."
+
+Ñor Juan could but admire the man as he smiled in such a peculiar
+manner. The curious people standing about made comments and praised
+the yellow-skinned man for his work.
+
+"Who taught you the mechanism?" asked Ñor Juan.
+
+"My father, my father who is now dead," he replied, with that same
+peculiar smile.
+
+"And who taught your father?"
+
+"Don Saturnino, the grandfather of Don Crisostomo."
+
+"I did not know that Don Saturnino----"
+
+"Oh, he knew a good many things. Not only did he know how to whip well
+and how to expose his workmen to the rays of the sun, but he knew also
+how to awaken the sleeping and how to make those awake sleep. In time,
+you will see what my father has taught me, you will see!"
+
+And the yellow fellow smiled in a strange manner.
+
+At two eating stands, there was now being prepared a sumptuous and
+abundant breakfast. However, on the table designated for the little
+ones of the school, there was no wine, but instead a larger amount
+of fruit. In a covered passage which joined the two stands, there
+were seats for the musicians and a table covered with sweetmeats,
+candies and flasks of water, ornamented with leaves and flowers,
+for the thirsty public.
+
+The crowd, resplendent in gay-colored clothes, was already fleeing from
+the hot rays of the sun and gathering under the shade of the trees
+or of the covering. The small boys climbed the trees near the place,
+in order to get a better view of the ceremony, and looked with envy
+upon the school children, who, clean and well dressed, were occupying
+a place designated for them. The fathers of the school children were
+enthusiastic. They, poor countrymen that they were, would have the
+pleasure of seeing their children eat on a white table cloth, just
+like the curate and the Alcalde. Merely to think of it was enough to
+drive away their hunger.
+
+Soon strains of music were heard in the distance. A promiscuous
+crowd of persons of all ages and dress was preceding the band. The
+yellow-looking man was uneasy and was examining the whole apparatus. A
+curious countryman was also following his glances and was observing
+every movement he made. This countryman was Elias, who had also come to
+attend the ceremony. His hat and his style of dress almost concealed
+his identity. He had secured the best possible place for himself,
+right up close to the crane, on the edge of the excavation.
+
+With the band of music came the Alcalde, the officials of the town, the
+friars, with the exception of Father Dámaso, and the Spanish employees
+of the Government. Ibarra was conversing with the Alcalde, for they had
+become quite friendly from the time the young man paid him some high
+compliments on his insignia, decorations and cordon. Pride in belonging
+to an aristocratic family was a weakness of His Excellency. Captain
+Tiago, the alferez and several wealthy persons, with their shining
+silk hats, walked along, surrounded by a group of youngsters. Father
+Salví followed, the same as ever, silent and pensive.
+
+The young man could feel his heart beat as they approached the
+designated place. Instinctively, he glanced at the strange-looking
+scaffolding which had been raised there. He saw, too, the
+yellow-looking man who saluted him with respect, and, for a moment,
+Ibarra fixed his eyes on him. To his surprise, Ibarra also discovered
+Elias on the edge of the excavation. He gave the young pilot a
+significant look, letting him understand that he remembered what he
+had said in the church.
+
+The curate put on his sacerdotal vestments and began the ceremony. The
+one-eyed sacristan mayor held the book and a choir boy was charged
+with the water-sprinkler and the vessel of blessed water. The others
+who stood around about, their heads uncovered, maintained a deep
+silence. In spite of the fact that Father Salví read in a low tone,
+it could be noticed that his voice trembled.
+
+In the meantime the articles, such as manuscripts, newspapers,
+medals and coins, which were to be placed in the corner stone had
+been enclosed in a little glass box, and hermetically sealed in a
+leaden cylinder.
+
+"Señor Ibarra, do you wish to put the box in its place? The curate
+awaits it," said the Alcalde to Ibarra.
+
+"I would do so with much pleasure," replied he, "but I would be
+usurping the honorable duty of the Señor Notary. The Notary ought to
+attest the act."
+
+The Notary took it seriously, descended the carpeted stairs to the
+bottom of the excavation and, with fitting solemnity, deposited the
+box in the hollow which had been made in the stone. The curate then
+took up the sprinkler and sprinkled the stones with holy water.
+
+The time had now come for each one to put his trowelful of mortar on
+the surface of the stone, which lay in the ditch, so that the other
+stone might fit upon it and be made to adhere to it.
+
+Ibarra presented the Alcalde with a trowel, upon whose wide silver
+blade was engraved the date. But His Excellency first delivered an
+address in Spanish.
+
+"Citizens of San Diego," he said in a solemn tone. "I have the honor to
+preside at a ceremony the importance of which you already understand. A
+school is being founded. The school is the base of society. The school
+is the book in which is written the future of the people. Show me
+the schools of a people and I will tell you what those people are.
+
+"Citizens of San Diego! Thank God that he has given you virtuous
+priests; and the Mother Country that she untiringly diffuses her
+civilization over these fertile islands, protected by her glorious
+flag. Thank God that she has had pity for you, bringing you these
+humble priests that they may enlighten you and teach you the divine
+word. Thank the Government for the great sacrifices it has made,
+makes now and will make in the future for you and your sons.
+
+"And now that the first stone of this great edifice has been blessed,
+I, Alcalde Mayor of this province, in the name of His Majesty,
+the King, whom God guard, King of the Spains, in the name of the
+illustrious Spanish Government, and under its spotless and ever
+victorious banner, I consecrate this act and begin the building of
+this school.
+
+"Citizens of San Diego! Long live the King! Long live Spain! Long live
+the Church! Long live the priests! Long live the Catholic religion!"
+
+"Viva! Viva!" replied the others. "Long live the Alcalde!"
+
+The Alcalde majestically descended to the accompaniment of the music
+which had begun to play. He placed some trowels of mortar on the
+stone and with equal majesty ascended the stairs.
+
+The Government employees applauded.
+
+Ibarra offered another silver trowel to the curate, who, after fixing
+his eyes on him for a moment, descended slowly to the bottom of the
+excavation. When about half way down the stairs, he raised his eyes
+to look at the stone which hung suspended in the air by the powerful
+cables, but he only looked at it for a second and then descended. He
+did the same as the Alcalde had done, but this time more applause
+was heard, for the Government employees were assisted by the other
+friars and Captain Tiago.
+
+Father Salví seemed to be searching for some one to whom to hand the
+trowel. He looked with hesitation toward Maria Clara, but, changing
+his mind, he offered it to the Notary. The latter, for the sake of
+gallantry, approached Maria Clara, who declined it with a smile. The
+friars, the Government employees and the alferez, one after another
+went down and repeated the ceremony. Captain Tiago was not forgotten.
+
+Ibarra had been omitted. He was about to order the yellow man to lower
+the other stone, when the curate remembered him. In a pleasant tone
+and, with an affectation of familiarity, he said to him. "Aren't you
+going to put on your trowelful, Señor Ibarra?"
+
+"I would be like the fellow who made the stew and then ate it,"
+replied the young man in the same tone.
+
+"O, go on!" said the Alcalde, giving him a gentle push. "If you don't,
+I will order them not to lower the stone and then we will have to
+wait here till Judgment Day."
+
+So terrible a threat forced Ibarra to obey. He exchanged the small
+silver trowel for a larger iron one, which made some of the people
+smile. He advanced quietly and descended the stairs. Elias looked at
+him with an indescribable expression. If you had seen him, you would
+have thought that all his life was concentrated in his eyes. The
+yellow man looked down into the abyss opening at his feet.
+
+Ibarra, after glancing at the stone which hung over his head, and then
+at Elias and the yellow man, said to Ñor Juan in a trembling voice:
+"Give me the bucket of mortar and find another trowel for me above."
+
+The young man stood alone. Elias was no longer looking at him; his eyes
+instead were riveted on the yellow man's hand, while the latter leaned
+over the ditch and followed with anxiety the movements of Ibarra.
+
+The noise of the trowel removing a mass of sand and lime was heard,
+accompanied by the low murmur of the employees who were congratulating
+the Alcalde on his address.
+
+Suddenly there was a frightful creaking. The pulley which was tied to
+the base of the crane jumped and then the windlass struck the apparatus
+like a battering-ram. The timbers swayed, ropes flew into the air and,
+in a second, all came down with a terrible crash. A cloud of dust was
+raised, and a thousand cries filled the air. Nearly all fled; a few
+hurried to the ditch. Only Maria Clara and Father Salví remained in
+their places without moving, both pale and silent.
+
+When the cloud of dust had partially cleared away, Ibarra could be
+seen standing among a mass of beams, bamboos, and cables, between
+the windlass and the massive stone, which in its descent had shaken
+and crushed everything. The young man was still holding the trowel
+in his hand, his eyes staring with fright at the dead body of a man
+which was lying at his feet, half buried under the timbers.
+
+"Are you hurt?--Are you still alive? For God's sake speak!" said some
+of the employees, full of terror.
+
+"Miracle! a miracle!" cried some.
+
+"Come and remove the body of this unfortunate man," said Ibarra,
+as if awakening from a dream.
+
+On hearing his voice, Maria Clara felt her strength giving way and
+she fell, half fainting, into the arms of her friends.
+
+Great confusion reigned. Everybody was talking, gesticulating,
+and running from one side to the other, up and down the stairs,
+all stupefied and full of consternation.
+
+"Who is the dead man? Is he still alive?" asked the alferez.
+
+The body was identified as the yellow workman who had been standing
+beside the windlass.
+
+"Let proceedings be brought against the superintendent of the work,"
+was the first thing that the Alcalde said.
+
+They examined the body, felt of the heart, but it was no longer
+beating. The blow had fallen on the head and blood was oozing from
+the nose, ears and mouth. Some strange marks were seen on the man's
+neck. There were four deep dents on one side and a single but deeper
+one on the other. It looked as though an iron hand had grasped it
+like a pair of pinchers.
+
+The priests warmly congratulated the young man and shook his hand.
+
+"When I think that only a few moments ago I was standing there,"
+said one of the employees. "Say! If I had been the last! Jesús!"
+
+"It makes my hair stand on end," said another, who was bald.
+
+Ibarra had departed, to ascertain the condition of Maria Clara.
+
+"Let this not prevent the festival from continuing," said the
+Alcalde. "God be praised! The dead man is neither a priest nor a
+Spaniard! Your escape must be celebrated! Just think--if the stone
+had fallen on you!"
+
+"There is such a thing as a presentiment!" said the Notary. "I said
+so. Señor Ibarra was reluctant to descend. I saw it!"
+
+"Let the festival go on! Give us some music! Weeping will not bring
+the dead man to life. Captain, serve warrants right here! Let the
+clerk of the tribunal come. Arrest the superintendent of the work!"
+
+"Put him in the stocks!"
+
+"Put him in the stocks! Eh? Some music, music! Put the maestrillo in
+the stocks."
+
+"Señor Alcalde," replied Ibarra gravely, "if weeping cannot bring
+the dead man back to life, neither can anything be gained by putting
+a man in prison when we do not know that he is culpable. I will give
+bail for him and ask that he be given liberty for some days at least."
+
+"Well, well! But such a misfortune must not be repeated!"
+
+All kinds of comments were circulating among the people. The theory
+that it was a miracle was already accepted. Father Salví, however,
+seemed to rejoice very little over the miracle, which the people
+attributed to a saint of his order and of his parish.
+
+There were some who claimed to have seen, as the crane was falling, a
+figure dressed in black like the Franciscans, go down in the ditch. It
+was without doubt San Diego himself. It was supposed, too, that Ibarra
+had heard mass and that the yellow man had not. It was all as clear
+as the light of the sun.
+
+Ibarra went home to change his clothes.
+
+"Hm! Bad beginning," said Old Tasio as he left the place.
+
+Ibarra had just finished dressing when a servant announced that
+a countryman was asking for him. Supposing that it was one of his
+laborers, the young man ordered that they show him into his study,
+which also served as a library and a chemical laboratory. But, to
+his great surprise, he met the muscular figure of the mysterious Elias.
+
+"You recently saved my life," said he in Tagalog, at once comprehending
+Ibarra's movement. "I have paid you only half of the debt, and you
+are not indebted to me; rather the contrary. I have come to ask a
+favor of you...."
+
+"Speak out!" replied the young man, in the same language and somewhat
+surprised at the gravity of the peasant.
+
+For some seconds, Elias looked fixedly into Ibarra's eyes and then
+replied: "If human justice should ever wish to clear up this mystery,
+I beg of you not to speak to any one about the warning that I gave
+you in the church."
+
+"Don't be troubled about that," replied the young man with a certain
+note of displeasure in his voice. "I know that they are hunting you,
+but I am no informer."
+
+"Oh, it is not for my sake, it is not for me!" exclaimed Elias,
+not without some pride. "It is for your sake. I have nothing to fear
+from men."
+
+Ibarra's surprise increased. The tone in which the countryman was
+speaking was new to him and did not seem to be in accord either with
+his state or his fortune.
+
+"What do you mean?" asked Ibarra, interrogating the mysterious man
+with his look.
+
+"I do not speak in enigmas; I try to express myself clearly. For
+your greater security, it is necessary that your enemies think you
+unsuspecting and off your guard."
+
+Ibarra stepped back.
+
+"My enemies? Have I enemies?"
+
+"All of us have, sir, all from the lowest insect to man, from the
+poorest to the richest and most powerful. Enmity is the law of
+life. You have enemies in the highest and in the lowest ranks. You
+are planning a great undertaking; you have a past; your father, your
+grandfather had enemies because they had passion. In life it is not
+criminals who provoke the most hatred, but rather honorable men."
+
+"Do you know my enemies?"
+
+Elias did not reply at once, but meditated.
+
+"I knew one, the one who has died," he replied. "Last night I
+discovered that something was being plotted against you, through some
+words that were exchanged between him and an unknown man who lost
+himself in the crowd. 'The fish will not eat this one as they did
+his father; you will see to-morrow,' said he. These words attracted
+my attention, not only on account of their meaning but because they
+were spoken by this man, who only a few days ago had presented himself
+to the superintendent of the work with the express desire that he be
+given charge of the work of placing the corner stone. He did not ask
+for a large wage, but made a great show of his knowledge. I had no
+sufficient reasons to attribute evil designs to him, but something
+told me that my suspicions were right. For this reason, in order to
+warn you, I chose a moment and an occasion when you could not ask me
+any questions. You already know the rest."
+
+Elias was then silent for some moments; yet Ibarra did not reply nor
+utter a word. He was meditating.
+
+"I am sorry that the man is dead," he replied at last. "We might have
+been able to learn something more about it from him."
+
+"If he had lived he would have escaped from the trembling hand of
+blind, human justice. God has now judged him! God has killed him! Let
+God be the only judge!"
+
+Crisostomo looked a moment at the man who was speaking to him in this
+manner. He noticed that his muscular arms were covered with bruises
+and black and blue spots.
+
+"Do you also believe in the miracle version of the affair?" he said,
+smiling--"this miracle of which the people speak?"
+
+"If I believed in miracles, I would not believe in God. I would believe
+in a deified man. In fact, I would believe that man had created God
+after his image and likeness," he replied solemnly. "But I believe
+in Him. More than once I have felt His hand. When all was falling
+headlong, threatening destruction for everything which was in the
+place, I Held the criminal. I put myself by his side. He was struck
+and I am safe and sound."
+
+"You? So that you...?"
+
+"Yes! I held him when he wanted to escape, once he had begun his
+fatal work. I saw his crime. I say: 'Let God be the only judge among
+men. Let Him be the only one who has the right to take away life. Let
+man never think of substituting himself for him!'"
+
+"And, still you this time...."
+
+"No!" interrupted Elias, foreseeing the objection that he was going to
+raise. "It is not the same thing. When a man as judge condemns another
+to death or destroys his future forever, he does it with impunity and
+makes use of the force of other men to carry out his sentence. Yet,
+after all, the sentence may be wrong and unjust. But I, in exposing the
+criminal to the same danger which he had prepared for others, ran the
+same risks. I did not kill him. I allowed the hand of God to kill him."
+
+"Do you not believe in chance?"
+
+"To believe in chance is like believing in miracles. Both theories
+suppose that God does not know the future. What is a casualty? A
+happening which absolutely nobody knows beforehand. What is a
+miracle? A contradiction, a contortion of the laws of nature. Lack
+of foresight and contradiction in the All Knowing, who directs the
+machinery of the world, are two great imperfections."
+
+"Who are you?" Ibarra asked again, with a certain dread. "Have you
+studied?"
+
+"I have had to believe in God a great deal because I have lost my
+faith in men," replied the pilot, evading the question.
+
+Ibarra thought that he understood this man; young and proscribed,
+he disregarded human justice; denied the right of man to judge his
+equals, he protested against power and superiority of certain classes
+of men over others.
+
+"But you must admit the necessity of human justice, however imperfect
+it may be," he replied. "God, although he has ministers on the earth,
+cannot, that is to say, cannot clearly give his judgment upon the
+millions of contentions which are stirred up by our passions. It is
+necessary, it is just, that a man should sometimes judge his fellows."
+
+"For good, yes; for bad, no. To correct and improve, yes; but not
+to destroy, for if he fails in his judgment, there is no power that
+can remedy the evil that has been done. But," he added, changing his
+tone, "this discussion is beyond and above me, and I am keeping you
+from those who are now awaiting you. But do not forget what I have
+just said: You have enemies. Take care of yourself for the good of
+your country!"
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+THE BANQUET.
+
+
+There, under the shade of the decorated pavilion, the great men of the
+province were banqueting. The Alcalde occupied one end of the table;
+Ibarra, the other. On the young man's right sat Maria Clara, and on
+his left, the Notary. Captain Tiago, the alferez, the gobernadorcillo,
+the friars, the employees, and the few señoritas who were present
+were seated, not according to rank but according to their own fancy.
+
+The banquet was very animated, but, before it was half over,
+a messenger with a telegram came in search of Captain Tiago. The
+Captain asked permission to read the message, and naturally all begged
+of him to do so.
+
+The worthy Captain at first knit his eyebrows; and then raised
+them. His face became pale, and then brightened up. Doubling up the
+sheet of paper hurriedly, he arose.
+
+"Gentlemen," said he, confused, "His Excellency, the Governor General,
+is coming this afternoon to honor my house."
+
+And then he started on a run, taking with him the telegram and the
+napkin, but not his hat. All sorts of questions and exclamations
+were shouted after him. The announcement of the coming of the
+tulisanes could not have had a greater effect. "But listen! When
+does he come? Tell us about it! His Excellency!" But Captain Tiago
+was already far away.
+
+"His Excellency is coming and will be a guest at Captain Tiago's
+house!" exclaimed some one, without considering that the Captain's
+daughter and future son-in-law were present.
+
+"The choice could not have been a better one," replied another.
+
+The friars looked at each other. Their expressions seemed to say:
+"The Governor General is committing another of his errors, offending
+us in this way. He ought to be the guest of the convent." But despite
+the fact that they thought this, they all kept silent and no one of
+them expressed his opinion.
+
+"Even yesterday he was speaking to me about it," said the Alcalde,
+"but, at that time, His Excellency was not decided."
+
+"Do you know, Your Excellency, Señor Alcalde, how long the Governor
+General intends to remain here?" asked the alferez, a little uneasy.
+
+"No, not positively. His Excellency likes surprises."
+
+"Here come some other telegrams!"
+
+The messages were for the Alcalde, the alferez, and the
+gobernadorcillo, and announced the same thing to each of them. The
+friars noticed that none came addressed to the curate.
+
+"His Excellency will arrive at four o'clock this afternoon, gentlemen,"
+said the Alcalde solemnly. "We can finish at our leisure."
+
+Leonidas, in the pass of Thermopylæ, could not have said with better
+grace "To-night we will dine with Pluto."
+
+"I notice the absence of our great preacher," said one of the
+government employees timidly. The speaker had an inoffensive look
+and before this had not opened his mouth, except to eat, during the
+entire morning.
+
+All who knew the life of Crisostomo's father twitched their eyes
+significantly and seemed to say by their movements: "Go on! It's a bad
+beginning that you have made!" But others, more benevolently disposed,
+replied: "He must be somewhat fatigued."
+
+"What? Somewhat fatigued!" exclaimed the alferez. "Why, he must be
+exhausted. What did you think of the sermon this morning?"
+
+"Superb, gigantic!" said the Notary.
+
+"To be able to speak like Father Dámaso, a man needs lungs," observed
+Father Manuel Martin.
+
+The Augustine did not concede more than lung power.
+
+"And such easiness of expression," added Father Salví.
+
+"Do you know that Señor Ibarra has the best cook in the province,"
+remarked the Alcalde, cutting off the conversation.
+
+"So they say," replied one of the Government employees, "but his fair
+neighbor does not wish to do honor to his table, for she scarcely
+takes a mouthful."
+
+Maria Clara blushed.
+
+"I thank you, Senor.... You occupy yourself too much about me ... but
+..." she said timidly.
+
+"But your presence honors him sufficiently," concluded the gallant
+Alcalde. Then turning to Father Salví: "Father Curate, I notice that
+you have been silent and pensive all day long."
+
+"It is my nature," muttered the Franciscan. "I would rather listen
+than talk."
+
+"Your Reverence seeks always to gain and never to lose," replied the
+alferez, in a joking manner.
+
+But Father Salví did not take it as a joke. His eyes flashed a
+moment and he replied: "You know very well, Señor Alferez, that,
+during these days, I am not the one who gains most!"
+
+The alferez overlooked the fling with a false laugh and pretended
+not to hear it.
+
+"But, gentlemen, I do not understand how you can be talking about
+gains and losses," intervened the Alcalde. "What will these amiable
+and discreet young women, who honor us with their presence, think
+of us? To my mind, the young women are like Æolian harps in the
+night. It is only necessary to lend an attentive ear to hear them,
+for their unspeakable harmonies elevate the soul to the celestial
+spheres of the infinite and of the ideal...."
+
+"Your Excellency is a poet," said the Notary gayly; and both drained
+their wine glasses.
+
+"I cannot help it," said the Alcalde, wiping his lips. "The occasion,
+if it does not always make the thief, makes the poet. In my youth I
+composed verses, and they certainly were not bad ones."
+
+"So Your Excellency has been unfaithful to the Muses, deserting them
+for Themis."
+
+"Psh!" What would you do? It has always been my dream to run
+through the whole social scale. Yesterday I was gathering flowers,
+and singing songs; to-day I hold the wand of Justice and serve
+Humanity. To-morrow...."
+
+"To-morrow Your Excellency will throw the wand into the fire to warm
+yourself with it in the winter of life, and will then take a portfolio
+in the Ministry," added Father Sibyla.
+
+"Psh! Yes ... no.... To be a Minister is not precisely my ideal. The
+unexpected always happens, though. A little villa in the north of
+Spain to pass the summer in, a mansion in Madrid, and some possessions
+in Andalusia for the winter.... We will live remembering our dear
+Philippines.... Of me Voltaire will not say: 'Nous n'avons jamais
+été chez ces peuples que pour nous y enrichir et pour les calomnier.'"
+
+The Government employees thought that His Excellency intended a joke
+and they began to laugh to make a show of appreciating it. The friars
+imitated them since they did not know that Voltaire was the Volta-i-ré
+whom they had so often cursed and condemned to Hades. Father Sibyla,
+however, recognized the name and assumed a serious air, supposing
+that the Alcalde had uttered some heresy.
+
+Father Dámaso was waddling down the road. He was half smiling, but in
+such a malignant manner, that on seeing him, Ibarra, who was in the
+act of speaking, lost the thread of his remarks. All were surprised to
+see Father Dámaso, but, excepting Ibarra, they greeted him with marks
+of pleasure. They had already reached the last course of the dinner,
+and the champagne was foaming in the glasses.
+
+Father Dámaso showed a little nervousness in his smile when he saw
+Maria Clara seated on the right of Crisostomo. But, taking a chair
+by the side of the Alcalde, he asked in the midst of a significant
+silence: "Were you not talking about something, señores? Continue!"
+
+"We were drinking a toast," replied the Alcalde. "Señor Ibarra was
+mentioning those who had aided him in his philanthropic enterprise
+and was speaking of the architect when Your Reverence...."
+
+"Well, I don't understand architecture," interrupted Father Dámaso,
+"but architects and the dunces who go to them make me laugh! You have
+an example right here. I drew the plan for a church and it has been
+constructed perfectly: so an English jeweler who was one day a guest
+at the convent told me. To draught a plan, one need have but a small
+degree of intelligence."
+
+"However," replied the Alcalde, seeing that Ibarra was silent,
+"when we are dealing with certain edifices, for example a school,
+we need a skilled man (perito)."
+
+"He who needs a perito is a perrito (little dog)!" exclaimed Father
+Dámaso, with a scoff. "One would have to be more of a brute than the
+natives, who erect their own houses, if he did not know how to build
+four walls and put a covering over them. That's all that a school
+house is."
+
+All looked toward Ibarra. But the young man, even if he did look pale,
+kept on conversing with Maria Clara.
+
+"But Your Reverence should consider...."
+
+"Just look you," continued the Franciscan without allowing the Alcalde
+to speak. "See how one of our lay brothers, the most stupid one we
+have, has built a good hospital, handsome and cheap. It is well built
+and he did not pay more than eight cuartos a day to those whom he
+employed even those who came from other towns. That fellow knows how
+to treat them. He does not do like many fools and mesticillos [13]
+who spoil them by paying them three or four reales."
+
+"Does Your Reverence say that he only paid eight
+cuartos? Impossible!" said the Alcalde, trying to change the course
+of the conversation.
+
+"Yes, Señor; and those who brag of being good Spaniards ought to
+imitate him. You can see very well now, since the Suez Canal was
+opened, corruption has come here. Before, when we had to double the
+Cape, there were not so many worthless people coming out here, nor
+did Filipinos go abroad to be corrupted and spoiled."
+
+"But, Father Dámaso!"
+
+"You know very well what the native is. As quickly as he learns
+anything, he goes and becomes a doctor. All these ignoramuses who go
+to Europe...."
+
+"But listen, Your Reverence ..." interrupted the Alcalde, becoming
+uneasy at such harsh words.
+
+"They are all going to end as they merit," he continued. "The hand of
+God is upon them and one must be blind not to see it. Even in this
+life, the fathers of such vipers receive their punishment.... They
+die in prison, eh?"
+
+But he did not finish his remarks. Ibarra, his face flushing, had been
+following him with his eyes. On hearing the allusion to his father,
+he rose and, with a single bound, brought down his strong hand on the
+head of the priest. Stunned with the blow, the friar fell on his back.
+
+Full of astonishment and terror, no one dared to intervene.
+
+"Keep back!" cried the young man, with a menacing voice, and
+brandishing a sharp knife in his hand. In the meantime, he held
+the friar down with his foot on his neck. The latter was recovering
+consciousness. "Let no one approach who does not want to die!"
+
+Ibarra was beside himself. His body trembled, and his threatening
+eyes almost burst from their sockets. Friar Dámaso struggled and
+raised himself, but the young man, seizing him by the collar, shook
+him till he fell on his knees and collapsed.
+
+"Señor Ibarra! Señor Ibarra!" cried some.
+
+But nobody, not even the alferez, dared to approach the glistening
+blade, considering the strength of the young man and the state of
+his mind. All were paralyzed.
+
+"All of you people here have said nothing! Now the matter concerns
+me! I have avoided him. God now brings him to me. Let God judge!"
+
+The young man was breathing hard. With iron hand he held the Franciscan
+down, and the latter struggled in vain to break loose.
+
+"My heart beats tranquilly. My hand is sure."
+
+He looked about him and continued: "Is there among you any one who
+does not love his father; any one who hates his memory, any one
+who was born in disgrace and humiliation? See! Do you observe this
+silence? Priest of a peaceful God, with your mouth full of sanctity
+and religion, and a miserable heart, you could not have known what
+a father is. You should have thought of your own! Do you see? Among
+this crowd which you scorn, there is none such as you! You are judged!"
+
+The people around him made a stir, believing that he was going
+to strike.
+
+"Back!" he again cried in a threatening voice. "What? Do you fear
+that I would soil my hand with his impure blood? Have I not told
+you that my heart beats tranquilly? Back from us, all! Listen,
+priests, judges, you who think yourselves different from other men,
+and who claim other rights for yourselves! Listen! My father was an
+honorable man. Ask these people who venerate his memory. My father
+was a good citizen. He sacrificed himself for me and for the good of
+his country! His house was open. His table was ready for the stranger
+or the exile who came to it in his misery. He was a good Christian;
+he always did what was right. He never oppressed the helpless, nor
+brought sorrow to the miserable and wretched. To this man, he opened
+the door of his house. He had him sit at his table and he called
+him his friend. What has he done in return? He has calumniated him,
+persecuted him, has armed ignorance against him, violating the sanctity
+of his office, has thrown him out of his tomb, dishonored his memory,
+and persecuted him even in death's repose. And not content with that,
+he now persecutes his son. I have fled from him, I have avoided his
+presence. You heard him this morning profane the pulpit; you saw
+him point me out to the popular fanaticism; I said nothing. Now he
+comes here in search of a quarrel. To your surprise, I suffered in
+silence; but he again insults the sacred memory of my father, that
+memory which every son holds dear.... You who are here, you priests,
+you judges, have you seen your father watching over you night and day
+and working for you? Have you seen him deprive himself of you for your
+good? Have you seen your father die in prison, heart broken, sighing
+for some one to caress him, searching for some being to console him,
+alone in sickness, while you were in a foreign land? Have you heard
+his name dishonored afterward? Have you found his tomb vacant when
+you wished to pray upon it? No? You are silent. Then by that silence
+you condemn him!"
+
+He raised his arm; but a young maiden, quick as a flash, put herself
+between them and with her delicate hands stopped the arm of the
+avenger. It was Maria Clara.
+
+Ibarra looked at her with an expression that seemed to reflect
+madness. Gradually, he loosened the vise-like fingers of his hand,
+allowed the body of the Franciscan to fall, and dropped his knife
+upon the ground. Covering his face, he fled through the crowd.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+THE FIRST CLOUD.
+
+
+The house of Captain Tiago was no less disturbed than the imagination
+of the people. Maria Clara, refusing to listen to the consolation
+of her aunt and foster sister, did nothing but weep. Her father had
+forbidden her to speak to Ibarra until the priests should absolve
+him from the excommunication which they had pronounced upon him.
+
+Captain Tiago, though very busy preparing his house for the reception
+of the Governor General, had been summoned to the convent.
+
+"Don't cry, my girl," said Aunt Isabel as she dusted off the
+mirrors. "They will certainly annul the excommunication; they will
+write the Pope.... We will make a large donation.... Father Dámaso
+had nothing more than a fainting spell.... He is not dead."
+
+"Don't cry," said Andeng to her, in a low voice. "I will certainly
+arrange it so that you can speak to him. What are the confessionals
+made for, if we are not expected to sin? Everything is pardoned when
+one has told it to the curate."
+
+Finally, Captain Tiago arrived. They scanned his face for an answer
+to their many questions, but his expression announced too plainly
+his dismay. The poor man was sweating, and passing his hand over his
+forehead. He seemed unable to utter a word.
+
+"How is it, Santiago?" asked Aunt Isabel, anxiously.
+
+He answered her with a sigh and dried away a tear.
+
+"For God's sake, speak! What has happened?"
+
+"What I had already feared!" he broke out finally half crying. "All is
+lost! Father Dámaso orders that the engagement be broken. If it is not
+broken off, I am condemned in this life and in the next. They all tell
+me the same thing, even Father Sibyla! I ought to shut the doors of
+my house and ... I owe him more than fifty thousand pesos. I told the
+Fathers so, but they would take no notice of it. 'Which do you prefer
+to lose,' they said to me, 'fifty thousand pesos, or your life and your
+soul?' Alas! Ay! San Antonio! If I had known it, if I had known it!"
+
+Maria Clara was sobbing.
+
+"Do not cry, my daughter," he added, turning to her. "You are not
+like your mother. She never cried ... she never cried except when she
+was whimsical just before your birth.... Father Dámaso tells me that
+a relative of his has just arrived from Spain ... and that he wants
+him to be your fiancé."...
+
+Maria Clara stopped up her ears.
+
+"But, Santiago, are you out of your head?" cried Aunt Isabel. "Speak
+to her now of another fiancé! Do you think that your daughter can
+change lovers as easily as she changes her dress?"
+
+"I was thinking the same thing, Isabel. Don Crisostomo is rich.... The
+Spaniards only marry for love of money.... But what would you have
+me do? They have threatened me with excommunication. They say that
+I am in great peril: not only my soul, but also my body ... my body,
+do you hear? My body!"
+
+"But you only give sorrow to your daughter. Are you not a friend of
+the Archbishop? Why don't you write him?"
+
+"The Archbishop is also a friar. The Archbishop does only what the
+friars say. But, Maria, do not cry. The Governor General will come. He
+will want to see you and your eyes are all inflamed.... Alas! I
+was thinking what a happy afternoon I was going to pass.... Without
+this misfortune, I would be the happiest of men and all would envy
+me.... Calm yourself, my girl. I am more unfortunate than you and I
+do not cry. You can have another and better fiancé, but I lose fifty
+thousand pesos. Ah! Virgin of Antipolo! If I could only have some
+luck to-night!"
+
+Noises, detonations, the rumbling of carriages, the galloping of
+horses, and a band playing the Marcha Real announced the arrival of
+His Excellency, the Governor General of the Philippine Islands. Maria
+Clara ran to hide in her bedroom.... Poor girl! Gross hands were
+playing with her heart, ignorant of the delicacy of its fibers.
+
+In the meantime, the house filled with people. Loud steps, commands,
+and the clanking of sabers and swords resounded on all sides. The
+afflicted maiden was half kneeling before an engraving of the Virgin,
+a picture representing her in that attitude of painful solitude,
+known only to Delaroche, as if she had been surprised on returning
+from the sepulchre of her Son. But Maria Clara was not thinking of
+the grief of that Mother; she was thinking of her own. With her head
+resting on her breast and her hands on the floor, she looked like a
+lily bent by the storm. A future, cherished for years in her dreams;
+a future whose illusions, born in her infancy and nursed through her
+youth, gave form to the cells of her being--that future was now to
+be blotted from the mind and heart by a single word!
+
+Maria Clara was as good and as pious a Christian as her aunt. The
+thought of an excommunication terrified her. The threat to destroy
+the peace of her father demanded that she sacrifice her love. She
+felt the entire strength of that affection which until now she had
+not known. It was like a river which glides along smoothly; its banks
+carpeted with fragrant flowers, its bed formed by fine sand, the wind
+scarcely rippling its surface, so quiet and peaceful that you would
+say that its waters were dead; until suddenly its channel is pent up,
+ragged rocks obstruct its course, and the entangled trunks of trees
+form a dike. Then the river roars; it rises up; its waves boil; it
+is lashed into foam, beats against the rocks and rushes into the abyss.
+
+She wanted to pray, but who can pray without hope? One prays when
+there is hope. When there is none, we surrender ourselves to God
+and wail. "My God!" cried her heart, "why shouldst thou separate me
+thus from him I love? Why deny me the love of others? Thou dost not
+deny me the sun, nor the air, nor dost thou hide the heavens from my
+sight. Why dost thou deny me love, when it is possible to live without
+sun, without air, and without the heavens, but without love, never?"
+
+"Mother, mother," she was moaning.
+
+Aunt Isabel came to take her from her grief. Some of her girl friends
+had arrived and the Governor General also desired to talk with her.
+
+"Aunt, tell them that I am ill!" begged the frightened maiden. "They
+wish to make me play the piano and sing."
+
+"Your father has promised it. You are not going to go back on your
+father?"
+
+Maria Clara arose, looked at her aunt, clasped her beautiful arms
+about her and murmured: "Oh, if I had ..."
+
+But, without finishing the sentence, she dried her tears and began
+to make her toilet.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+HIS EXCELLENCY.
+
+
+"I want to speak with that young man," said His Excellency to an
+adjutant. "He has awakened my interest."
+
+"They have already gone to look for him, General! But there is a young
+man here from Manila who insists on being introduced. We have told
+him that Your Excellency has no time and that you have not come to
+give audiences, but to see the town and the procession. But he has
+replied that Your Excellency always has time to dispense justice."
+
+His Excellency turned to the Alcalde as if in doubt.
+
+"If I am not mistaken," said the latter, making a slight bow, "it
+is a young man who this morning had a difficulty with Father Dámaso
+about the sermon."
+
+"Still another? Has this friar undertaken to disturb the province,
+or does he think that he is in command here? Tell the young man to
+come in!"
+
+His Excellency was walking nervously from one end of the sala to
+the other.
+
+In the lower part of the house, in the ante-room, were several
+Spaniards, mingled with army officers and officials of the town of
+San Diego and some of the neighboring villages. They were grouped in
+little circles and were conversing about one thing and another. All
+of the friars were there except Father Dámaso, and they wanted to go
+in and pay their respects to His Excellency.
+
+"His Excellency, the Governor General, begs Your Reverences to wait
+a moment," said the adjutant. "Walk in, young man!"
+
+The young man from Manila entered the sala, pale and trembling.
+
+Everybody was surprised. His Excellency must be irritated to dare to
+make the friars wait. Father Sibyla said: "I have nothing to say to
+him.... I am losing time here!"
+
+"It's the same with me," said an Augustine. "Shall we go?"
+
+"Would it not be better for us to find out what he thinks?" asked
+Father Salví. "We would avoid a scandal ... and ... we would be able
+to call to his mind his duty to ... the Church."
+
+"Your Reverences can walk in, if you wish," announced the adjutant,
+as he escorted out the young man, whose face was now, however,
+glowing with satisfaction.
+
+Friar Sibyla entered first. Behind him came Father Salví, Father
+Manuel Martin and the other priests. They all humbly saluted the
+Governor General, with the exception of Father Sibyla, who preserved
+even in his bow, an air of superiority. Father Salví, on the contrary,
+almost touched the floor with his head.
+
+"Which of Your Reverences is Father Dámaso?" asked His Excellency
+unexpectedly, without having them sit down, or even asking about
+their health, and without addressing them with any of those courteous
+phrases which are customary with such high personages.
+
+"Father Dámaso is not among us, señor," replied Father Sibyla,
+rather dryly.
+
+"Your Excellency's servant lies ill in bed," added Father Salví
+meekly. "After having the pleasure of saluting you and of inquiring
+about the health of Your Excellency, as befits all the good servants of
+the King and all persons of good education, we also come in the name of
+the respectful servant of Your Excellency who has the misfortune...."
+
+"Oh," interrupted the Governor General, as he turned a chair around on
+one leg and smiled nervously. "If all the servants of My Excellency
+were like His Reverence Father Dámaso, I would prefer to serve My
+Excellency myself."
+
+The Reverences did not know how to respond to this interruption.
+
+"Take a seat, Your Reverences!" he added after a short pause, softening
+his tone a little.
+
+Captain Tiago came in dressed in a frock coat and walking on
+tip-toes. He was leading Maria Clara by the hand. The young maiden was
+trembling when she entered, but notwithstanding she made a graceful
+and ceremonious bow.
+
+"Is this your daughter?" asked the Governor General, somewhat
+surprised.
+
+"And Your Excellency's, my General," replied Captain Tiago
+seriously. [14]
+
+The Alcalde and the adjutants opened wide their eyes, but His
+Excellency did not lose his gravity. He extended his hand to the
+young maiden and said to her affably: "Happy are the fathers who have
+daughters like you, señorita. They have spoken to me about you with
+respect and consideration.... I have desired to see you and to thank
+you for your pretty deed of to-day. I am informed of all, and when
+I write to His Majesty's Government I will not forget your generous
+conduct. In the meantime, señorita, allow me in the name of His
+Majesty the King whom I represent here and who loves to see peace and
+tranquillity among his subjects, and in my own name, that of a father
+who also has daughters of your age, allow me to extend to you most
+sincere thanks and propose your name for some mark of recognition."
+
+"Señor ..." replied Maria Clara, trembling.
+
+His Excellency guessed what she wanted to say, and replied: "It is
+well enough, señorita, that you are satisfied in your own conscience
+with the mere esteem of your own people. The testimony of one's people
+is the highest reward and we ought not to ask more. But, however,
+I will not let pass this excellent opportunity to show you that,
+if justice knows how to punish, she also knows how to reward and is
+not always blind."
+
+"Señor Don Juan Crisostomo awaits Your Excellency's orders," announced
+the adjutant in a loud voice.
+
+Maria Clara trembled.
+
+"Ah!" exclaimed the Governor General. "Permit me, señorita, to express
+the desire to see you again before I leave town. I still have some
+very important things to say to you. Señor Alcalde, Your Lordship
+will accompany me for a walk after the conference which I will hold
+alone with Señor Ibarra."
+
+"Your Excellency will permit us," said Father Salví meekly, "to inform
+you that Señor Ibarra is excommunicated ..."
+
+His Excellency interrupted him saying: "I am glad that I have nothing
+more to deplore than the condition of Father Dámaso, for whom I
+sincerely wish a complete recovery, because at his age a voyage to
+Spain for his health would not be pleasant. But this depends on
+him ... and in the meantime, may God preserve the health of Your
+Reverences."
+
+They retired one after the other.
+
+"We will see who will make the journey first," said a Franciscan.
+
+"I am going off now right away!" said Father Sibyla, with indignation.
+
+"And we are going back to our provinces, too," said the Augustins.
+
+They could not endure that through the fault of a Franciscan His
+Excellency had received them coldly.
+
+In the entrance hall they met Ibarra, their host only a few hours
+ago. They exchanged no salutations, but their looks were eloquent.
+
+The Alcalde, on the contrary, when the friars had disappeared,
+greeted the young man and extended his hand to him in a familiar
+way. But the arrival of the adjutant, who was looking for Ibarra,
+did not give them an opportunity to converse.
+
+Ibarra was dressed in deep mourning. He presented himself in a calm
+manner, and bowed profoundly, despite the fact that the sight of the
+friars had not seemed a good omen for him.
+
+The Governor General advanced a few steps. "It gives me great
+satisfaction to shake your hand. Grant me your entire confidence."
+
+"Señor ... such kindness...!"
+
+"Your surprise offends me. It indicates that you did not expect a
+good reception from me. That is doubting my justice!"
+
+"A friendly reception, señor, for an insignificant subject like myself,
+is not justice, it is a favor."
+
+"Well, well!" said His Excellency, sitting down and pointing out a
+seat for Ibarra. "Let us speak frankly. I am very much pleased with
+your action and I have already proposed to His Majesty's Government
+that they grant you an insignia for your philanthropic intention of
+erecting a school.... If you had asked me, I would have attended the
+ceremony with a great deal of pleasure and perhaps the unpleasantness
+would have been avoided."
+
+"My idea of erecting a school seems to me so insignificant," replied
+the young man, "that I did not think it an occasion worthy of taking
+the attention of Your Excellency from your many duties and cares. Then,
+too, it was my duty to first address the highest authority of the
+province."
+
+His Excellency made a bow of satisfaction and adopting a still more
+intimate manner, continued:
+
+"In regard to the unpleasantness which you have had with Father
+Dámaso, have no fear nor regret. I will not touch a hair of your head
+while I govern these Islands. And in regard to the excommunication,
+I will speak to the Archbishop, for it is necessary for us to adapt
+ourselves to circumstances. Here, we cannot laugh about these things
+in public as we do in Spain or in cultured Europe. Nevertheless, be
+more prudent in the future. You have put yourself in opposition to
+the religious corporations, which, on account of your position and
+wealth, need to be respected. But I will protect you, because I like
+good sons, I like to see a person respect the honor of his father. I,
+too, love my father, and as sure as there is a God, I know what I
+would have done had I been in your place...."
+
+And quickly turning the conversation, he asked: "You have told me
+that you come from Europe; were you in Madrid?"
+
+"Yes, señor; for some months."
+
+"You have perhaps heard of my family?"
+
+"Your Excellency had just left when I had the honor to be presented
+to it."
+
+"And why, then, did you come here without bringing some letter of
+introduction?"
+
+"Señor," replied Ibarra bowing, "because I do not come directly from
+Spain, and because, having heard of Your Excellency's character,
+I thought that a letter of introduction would not only be useless,
+but even offensive. All Filipinos are recommended to you."
+
+A smile appeared on the lips of the old officer and he replied slowly,
+as if weighing and measuring his words:
+
+"It flatters me to learn that you think so ... and ... so it ought to
+be. However, young man, you ought to know what loads we bear upon our
+shoulders here in the Philippines. Here, we, old army officers, have to
+do and be everything: King, Secretary of State, of War, of Agriculture,
+of Internal Affairs and of Justice. The worst part of it is the fact
+that in regard to everything we have to consult our distant Mother
+Country, which approves or rejects our propositions, according to
+circumstances, sometimes blindly. And you know how we Spaniards say:
+'Grasp much, get little.' Then, too, we come here ignorant of the
+country and we leave it as soon as we begin to know it. With you I can
+be frank, for it would be useless to appear otherwise. In Spain, where
+each branch of the Government has its own Minister, born and brought
+up in the country, where they have the press and public opinion, the
+opposition is open and before the eyes of the Government, and shows
+up its faults; yet, even there, all is imperfect and defective. And
+when you consider the conditions here, it is a wonder that all is
+not upset, with all those advantages lacking, and with the opposition
+working in the dark. Good intentions and wishes are not wanting in us
+governing officials, but we find ourselves obliged to make use of eyes
+and arms which frequently we do not know, and which, perhaps, instead
+of serving the country, serve only their own interests. That is not
+our fault; it is the fault of circumstances. You arouse my interest
+and I do not want our present system of government to prejudice you
+in any way. I cannot watch everything, nor can I attend to all. Can
+I be useful to you in any way? Have you anything to request?"
+
+Ibarra meditated.
+
+"Señor," he replied, "my greatest desire is the happiness of my
+country, a happiness due to the efforts of our Mother Country and to
+the efforts of my fellow countrymen, united with the eternal bonds
+of a common interest and common object. What I ask the Government
+can only give after many years of continuous work and proper reforms."
+
+His Excellency looked at him for several seconds with a look which
+Ibarra met naturally, without timidity and without boldness.
+
+"You are the first man with whom I have spoken in this country,"
+he exclaimed grasping his hand.
+
+"Your Excellency has only seen those who lead a grovelling existence
+in the city. You have not seen the calumniated hovels of our towns. If
+you had, you would have seen true men, if generous hearts and simple
+manners make true men."
+
+The Governor General arose and paced the sala from one side to
+the other.
+
+"Señor Ibarra," he exclaimed, stopping a moment. The young man
+arose. "I will probably leave here within a month. Your education and
+your mode of thinking are not for this country. Sell what you possess,
+get your trunk ready and come with me to Europe. That climate will
+be better for you."
+
+"I shall cherish all my life the memory of Your Excellency's kindness,"
+replied Ibarra, moved by what the Governor General had said. "But I
+ought to live in the country where my fathers have lived...."
+
+"Where they have died, you should say, to speak more
+exactly. Believe me! I possibly know your country better than you
+do yourself.... Ah! Now I remember," he exclaimed changing the tone
+of his voice. "You are going to marry a lovely girl and I am keeping
+you here! Go, go to her side, and that you may have greater liberty
+send her father to me," he added, smiling. "Do not forget, however,
+that I want you to accompany me for a walk."
+
+Ibarra bowed and departed.
+
+His Excellency called his adjutant.
+
+"I am happy," said he, giving him a light slap on the shoulder. "To-day
+I have seen for the first time how one can be a good Spaniard without
+ceasing to be a good Filipino and to love his country. To-day, at last,
+I have shown the Reverences that we are not all their playthings. This
+young man has afforded me the opportunity, and, in a short time,
+I will have settled all of my accounts with the friar. It's a pity
+that this young man, some day or other ... but call the Alcalde to me."
+
+The latter presented himself at once.
+
+"Señor Alcalde," he said to him, as he entered the room, "in order
+to avoid a repetition of scenes such as Your Honor witnessed this
+afternoon, scenes which I deplore because they take away the prestige
+of the Government and all Spaniards, I want to commend to you warmly
+Señor Ibarra, that you may not only aid him in carrying out his
+patriotic ends, but also prevent in the future any person of whatever
+class or under whatever pretext, from molesting him."
+
+The Alcalde understood the reprimand and bowed to conceal his
+confusion.
+
+"Have the alferez, who is in command here, informed to the same
+effect. And you will find out if it is true that this officer has
+methods of procedure that are not in accordance with the regulations. I
+have heard more than one complaint on this score."
+
+Captain Tiago, all starched and ironed, presented himself.
+
+"Don Santiago," said His Excellency, in a cordial tone of voice,
+"a little while ago I was congratulating you on having a daughter
+like the Señorita de los Santos. Now I want to congratulate you on
+your future son-in-law. The most virtuous of daughters is certainly
+worthy of the best citizen of the Philippines. Is the date of the
+wedding known?"
+
+"Señor!" stammered the Captain, wiping away the perspiration which
+was running down his face.
+
+"O, come! I see that there is nothing definite. If you need godfathers,
+I will be one of them with the greatest pleasure. I would do it to
+take away the bad taste which so many of the weddings which I have
+attended here have left in my mouth," he added, turning to the Alcalde.
+
+"Yes, señor!" replied Captain Tiago, with a smile which inspired
+compassion.
+
+Ibarra had gone in search of Maria Clara, almost on a run. He had so
+many things to tell her. He heard some gentle voices in one of the
+rooms and knocked at the door.
+
+"Who knocks?" asked Maria Clara.
+
+The voices were silenced and the door ... was not opened.
+
+"It is I. May I come in?" asked the young man, his heart beating
+violently.
+
+The silence was not broken. A few seconds afterward gentle steps
+approached the door and Sinang's cheerful voice murmured through the
+key-hole: "Crisostomo, we are going to the theatre to-night. Write
+what you have to say to Maria Clara."
+
+Then the footsteps were heard retreating, as quickly as they had come.
+
+"What does that mean!" murmured Ibarra to himself, as he went slowly
+away from the door.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+THE PROCESSION.
+
+
+In the evening, by the light of lanterns hung from windows, to the
+ringing of bells and bursting of bombs, the procession started for
+the fourth time.
+
+The Governor General left the house on foot, in company with his two
+adjutants, Captain Tiago, the Alcalde, the alferez, and Ibarra. The
+Civil Guards and the officials of the town preceded them and cleared
+the way. His Excellency had been invited to witness the procession
+from the house of the gobernadorcillo, in front of which a platform
+had been erected for the recitation of a loa, or religious poem,
+in honor of the Patron Saint. Ibarra had previously declined with
+pleasure an invitation to hear this poetical composition, as he had
+preferred to witness the procession from the house of Captain Tiago
+with Maria Clara and her friends. But, as His Excellency wished to
+hear the loa, there was no other remedy for Ibarra but to console
+himself with the hope of seeing her at the theatre.
+
+The procession was headed by three sacristans carrying silver
+candlesticks. The children of the school, accompanied by their
+teacher, followed. Then came the small boys, with colored paper
+lanterns fastened to the ends of pieces of bamboo, each more or
+less adorned according to the caprices of the boy, for this part
+of the illumination was paid for entirely by themselves. However,
+they fulfilled this duty with a great deal of pleasure.
+
+In the midst of it all, men serving as police, passed to and fro to
+see that the files of the procession were not broken or the people
+jammed together in a crowd. For this purpose they used their wands
+and inflicted some hard blows, thus managing to add to the brilliancy
+of the procession, to the edification of souls and to the glory of
+religious pomp.
+
+At the same time that the officers inflicted these sanctified floggings
+with their wands free of charge, others, to console those who had
+been punished, distributed wax and tallow candles, also free of charge.
+
+"Señor Alcalde," said Ibarra, in a low voice, "do they inflict those
+blows to punish the sinners or merely for pleasure?"
+
+"You are right, Señor Ibarra," replied the Governor General, who had
+overheard his question. "This spectacle ... barbarous ... astonishing
+to those who come from other countries, ought to be prohibited."
+
+Although it cannot be explained, the first saint who appeared
+was San Juan el Baptisto. On seeing him, you would say that the
+cousin of Our Saviour did not enjoy any great renown among these
+people. He had slender feet and legs and the face of a hermit, and
+was carried along on an old wooden litter. In marked contrast to the
+representation of San Juan, was that of San Francisco, the founder of
+the great order. The latter was drawn in a car, and, as Tasio said:
+"What a car! How many lights and glass lanterns! Why, I have never
+seen you surrounded by so many illuminations, Giovanni Bernardone! And
+what music!"
+
+Behind the music came a standard representing the same saint, but with
+seven wings. It was carried by the brothers of the Third Order, dressed
+in guingon and praying in a loud and mournful voice. The next in the
+procession was Santa Maria Magdalena, a most beautiful image with
+an abundant growth of hair, a handkerchief of embroidered piña cloth
+between her ring-covered fingers, and wearing a dress of silk adorned
+with gold-leaf. Lights and incense surrounded her. The glass tears from
+her eyes reflected the colors of the colored fire which was burned here
+and there, giving a fantastic aspect to the procession. Consequently,
+the sinful saint appeared to be weeping now green, now red and now blue
+tears. The people did not begin to burn these colored lights till San
+Francisco was passing; San Juan el Baptisto did not enjoy this honor,
+passing by quickly, ashamed perhaps to go dressed in skins among so
+many saints covered with gold and precious jewels.
+
+"There goes our saint!" cried the daughter of the gobernadorcillo to
+her visitors. "I loaned her my rings, but I did it to get to Heaven."
+
+Those carrying the illuminations stopped near the platform to hear
+the loa. The saints did the same. They and their carriers wanted
+to hear the verses. Those who carried San Juan, tired of waiting,
+squatted down in the characteristic Filipino manner, and found it
+convenient to leave their burden on the ground.
+
+"You'll get into trouble," objected one.
+
+"Jesús! In the sacristy, they leave him in a corner among
+spider-webs...."
+
+After Magdalena came the women. They differed from the men in
+arrangement. Instead of the children, the old women came first and
+finally the unmarried women. Behind these came the car of the Virgin,
+and behind that, the curate under his canopy. Father Dámaso gave the
+following reason for putting the young women next to the Virgin's
+car: "The Virgin likes young women, but not old ones." Of course,
+this explanation caused many of the older women to make wry faces,
+but that did not change the taste of the Virgin.
+
+San Diego followed Magdalena, but he did not seem to rejoice over the
+fact, for he was as precise in his behavior as on the morning when he
+followed along behind San Francisco. Six brothers of the Third Order
+drew the car. San Diego stopped before the platform and awaited for
+the people to salute him.
+
+But it was necessary to await the car which contained the image of the
+Virgin. Preceding this car were some people dressed in a fantastic
+manner which made children cry and babies scream. In the midst of
+that dark mass of habits, hoods and girdles, to the sound of that
+monotonous and nasal prayer, one could see, like white jessamine,
+like fresh pansies among old rags, twelve young lassies dressed in
+white, crowned with flowers, with hair curled and eyes bright as the
+necklaces they wore. Seizing hold of two wide blue bands which were
+tied to the car of the Virgin, they drew it along, reminding one of
+doves drawing the car of Spring.
+
+And now when the images were all attentive, when this child and
+that had been slapped sufficiently to make him listen to the verses,
+when everybody had his eyes fixed on the half open curtain, at last,
+an aaaah! of admiration escaped from the lips of all.
+
+And the sight merited it. A young child appeared with wings, riding
+boots, a cordon over its shoulder, a belt and a plumed hat.
+
+"The Señor Alcalde!" cried some one, but the young prodigy recited
+a poem in such a manner that the Alcalde was not offended at the
+comparison.
+
+The procession then continued. San Juan followed out his bitter career.
+
+As the Virgin passed before the house of Captain Tiago, a heavenly song
+greeted her like the words of an archangel. It was a sweet, melodious,
+supplicating voice, weeping the Ave Maria of Gounod. The music of
+the procession was silenced, the praying ceased, and Father Salví
+himself stopped. The voice trembled and brought tears to the cheeks
+of those who heard it. That voice expressed more than a salutation,
+a prayer, or a plaint.
+
+From the window, where he was viewing the procession, Ibarra heard
+the voice, and melancholy took possession of his heart. He understood
+what that soul was suffering and what was expressed in that song. He
+was afraid to think of the cause of that grief.
+
+The Governor General found him pensive and sad.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+DOÑA CONSOLACION.
+
+
+Why were the windows in the alferez's house closed? Where was
+the masculine face and the flannel shirt of the Medusa or Muse of
+the Civil Guard while the procession was passing? Could she have
+understood how unpleasant was the sight of the swelling veins of
+her forehead, filled, it seemed, not with blood but with vinegar
+and bile; of her large cigar, that worthy ornament of her red lips;
+and of her envious look; could she have understood all of that, and,
+giving way to a generous impulse, have refrained from disturbing the
+gayety of the crowd by her sinister apparition?
+
+Alas! Her generous impulses lived only in the golden age.
+
+Her house was sad because other people were merry, as Sinang put
+it. There neither lanterns nor flags could be seen. In fact, if the
+sentry were not walking up and down in front of the gate, you would
+have said that the house was unoccupied.
+
+A feeble light illumined the disarranged sala, and made transparent
+the oyster-shell windows filled with spider-webs and covered with
+dust. The Señora, according to her custom, her hands folded, sat in
+a wide arm-chair. She was dressed the same as every day, that is to
+say, outrageously out of taste. In detail, she had a handkerchief
+tied around her head, while short, slender locks of tangled hair
+hung down on either side; a blue flannel shirt over another shirt
+which should have been white; and a faded-out skirt which moulded
+itself to her slender thighs as she sat with her legs crossed and
+nervously wiggled her foot. From her mouth, came big puffs of smoke,
+which she fastidiously blew up in the space toward which she looked
+when her eyes were open.
+
+That morning the Señora had not heard mass, not because she had not
+cared to hear it, for on the contrary she wanted to show herself to
+the multitude and to hear the sermon, but because her husband had not
+permitted her to do so. As was usually the case, his prohibition was
+accompanied by two or three insults, oaths and threats of kicking. The
+alferez understood that his "female" dressed herself in a ridiculous
+manner, and that it was not fitting to expose her to the eyes of the
+people from the capital nor even the country districts.
+
+But she did not understand it that way. She knew that she was
+beautiful, attractive, that she had the manners of a queen and that
+she dressed much better and more gorgeously than Maria Clara herself,
+though to be sure the latter wore a tapis over her skirt while she
+wore only the skirt. The alferez had to say to her: "Oh, shut your
+mouth or I'll kick you till you do!"
+
+Doña Consolacion did not care to be kicked, but she planned revenge.
+
+The dark face of the Señora never had inspired confidence in anybody,
+not even when she painted it. That morning she was exceptionally
+uneasy, and as she walked from one end of the sala to the other, in
+silence and as if meditating something terrible, her eyes shone like
+those of a serpent about to be crushed. Her look was cold, luminous,
+and penetrating and had something vicious, loathsome and cruel in it.
+
+The slightest defect in anything, the most insignificant or unusual
+noise brought forth an obscene and infamous expression; but no one
+responded. To offer an excuse was a crime.
+
+So the day passed. Encountering no obstacle in her way--her husband
+had been invited out--she became saturated with bile.
+
+Everything around bent itself before her. She met no resistance,
+there was nothing upon which she could discharge the vials of her
+wrath. Soldiers and servants crawled before her.
+
+That she might not hear the rejoicing going on outside, she ordered
+the windows to be closed, and charged the sentry not to permit any
+one to enter. She tied a handkerchief around her head to prevent
+it from bursting; and, in spite of the fact that the sun was still
+shining brightly, she ordered the lamps lighted.
+
+A madwoman who had been detained for disturbing the public peace was
+taken to the barracks. The alferez was not there at the time and the
+unhappy woman had to pass the night seated on a bench. The following
+day the alferez returned. Fearing lest the unhappy woman should become
+the butt of the crowd during the fiesta, he ordered the soldiers who
+were guarding her to treat her with pity and give her something to
+eat. Thus the demented woman passed two days.
+
+Whether the proximity to Captain Tiago's house made it possible for
+the sad song of Maria Clara to reach her ears, whether other strains
+of music awoke in her memories of old songs, or whether there was
+some other cause for it, at any rate, the madwoman began that night
+to sing with a sweet and melancholy voice the songs of her youth. The
+soldiers heard her and kept silent. Those songs brought back memories
+of the old times.
+
+Doña Consolacion also heard it in her sorrow, and became interested
+in the person who was singing.
+
+"Tell her to come upstairs at once!" she ordered, after some seconds
+of meditation. Something like a smile passed over her dry lips.
+
+They brought the woman and she presented herself without any
+discomposure, and without manifesting either fear or surprise.
+
+"Orderly, tell this woman in Tagalog to sing!" said the alfereza. "She
+don't understand me; she does not know Spanish."
+
+The demented woman understood the orderly and sang the song "Night."
+
+Doña Consolacion listened to the beginning with a mocking smile which
+disappeared gradually from her lips. She became attentive, then
+more serious and pensive. The woman's voice, the sentiment of the
+verses and the song itself impressed her. That dry and burning heart
+was perhaps softened. She understood the song well: "Sadness, cold,
+and dampness, wrapped in the mantle of Night descend from the sky,"
+as the folk song puts it. It seemed that they were also descending
+upon her heart. "The withered flower which during the day has paraded
+its dress, desirous of applause and full of vanity, at nightfall
+repenting, makes an effort to raise its faded petals to the sky, and
+begs for a little shade in which to hide itself, so as to die without
+the mockery of the light which saw it in its pomp, to die without
+the vanity of its pride being seen, and begging for a drop of dew,
+to weep over it. The night bird, leaving its solitary retreat in the
+hollow of the old tree, disturbs the melancholy of the forests...."
+
+"No, no! Do not sing!" exclaimed the alfereza in perfect Tagalog
+and raising to her feet somewhat agitated. "Don't sing! Those verses
+hurt me!"
+
+The demented woman stopped. The orderly muttered "Bah!" and exclaimed
+"She knows how to patá Tagalog!" and stood looking at the señora full
+of surprise.
+
+The Muse understood that she had been caught, and was ashamed. As
+her nature was not that of a woman, her shame took the form of rage
+and hatred. She pointed out the door to the impudent orderly and with
+a kick closed it behind him. She took several turns about the room,
+twisting a whip between her nervous hands, and then, stopping suddenly
+in front of the demented woman, said in Spanish: "Dance!"
+
+The demented one did not move.
+
+"Dance! Dance!" she repeated in a threatening voice.
+
+The poor woman looked at the Señora, her eyes devoid of expression. The
+alfereza raised one arm and then the other, shaking them in a
+menacing way.
+
+She then leaped up in the air, and jumped around urging the other woman
+to imitate her. The band in the procession could be heard playing
+a slow, majestic march, but the Señora, leaping about furiously
+was keeping time to different music than that the band was playing,
+that music which resounded within her. A curious look appeared in the
+madwoman's eyes, and a weak smile moved her pale lips. She liked the
+Señora's dancing.
+
+The alfereza stopped dancing as if ashamed. She raised the whip,
+that terrible whip made in Ulango and improved by the alferez by
+winding wire around it, that same terrible whip which the ladrones
+and soldiers knew so well.
+
+"Now it is your turn to dance ... dance!"
+
+And she began to whip lightly the demented woman's bare feet.
+
+The pale face contracted with pain, and she was obliged to defend
+herself from the blows by her hands.
+
+"Come! Go ahead!" she exclaimed with savage delight, and she passed
+from lento to allegro-vivace in the use of her whip.
+
+The unhappy woman screamed and quickly raised her feet.
+
+"You have got to dance, you d----d Indian!" exclaimed the Señora and
+the whip whizzed and whistled.
+
+The woman let herself sink to the floor and tried to cover her
+legs with her hands, at the same time looking with wild eyes at her
+tormentor. Two heavy lashes on her back made her rise again. Now it was
+no longer a scream; it was a howl which escaped from the unfortunate
+woman. The thin shirt was torn, the skin broke open and the blood
+oozed out.
+
+The sight of blood excites a tiger; so, too, the sight of the blood
+of her victim infuriated Doña Consolacion.
+
+"Dance! dance! Curse you! D----n you! Dance! Cursed be the mother
+who bore you!" she cried. "Dance, or I'll kill you by whipping you
+to death!"
+
+Then the alfereza, taking the woman with one hand and whipping her
+with another, began to jump and dance.
+
+The insane woman understood her at last and went on moving her arms
+regardless of time or tune. A smile of satisfaction contracted the
+lips of the teacher. It was like the smile of a female Mephistopheles
+who had succeeded in developing a good pupil; it was full of hatred,
+contempt, mockery and cruelty; a coarse laugh could not have expressed
+more.
+
+Absorbed in the enjoyment which the spectacle afforded her, she did
+not hear her husband coming, until he opened the door with a kick.
+
+The alferez appeared, pale and gloomy. He saw what was going on there
+and looked daggers at his wife. She did not move from her tracks and
+stood smiling in a cynical way.
+
+In the gentlest manner possible, he put his hand on the shoulder of
+the dancing woman and made her stop. The demented woman sighed and
+slowly sat down on the blood-covered floor.
+
+The silence continued. The alferez was breathing heavily. His wife
+was observing him with her questioning eyes. She seized the whip
+and in a calm and measured tone asked him: "What's the matter with
+you? You have not said 'good evening' to me."
+
+The alferez, without replying, called the orderly.
+
+"Take this woman," he said, "and have Marta give her another shirt
+and take care of her. Find her good food, and a good bed.... Let him
+look out who treats her badly!"
+
+After carefully closing the door, he turned the key in the lock and
+approached his señora.
+
+"You want me to smash you?" he said, clenching his fists.
+
+"What's the matter with you?" asked she, retreating a step or two.
+
+"What's the matter with me?" he shouted, in a thundering voice, and,
+giving vent to an oath, showed her a paper covered with scribbling. He
+continued:
+
+"Didn't you write this letter to the Alcalde, saying that I am paid
+for permitting the gambling, d----n you? I don't know how I can keep
+from smashing you."
+
+"Go ahead! Try it if you dare!" said she, with a mocking smile. "He
+who smashes me has got to be more of a man than you!"
+
+He heard the insult, but he saw the whip. He seized one of the plates
+which were on the table and threw it at her head. The woman, accustomed
+to these fights, ducked quickly and the plate was shivered to pieces
+against the wall. A glass, a cup, and a knife shared the same fortune.
+
+"Coward!" she cried. "You dare not come near me!"
+
+And then she spat at him to exasperate him more. The man, blind and
+howling with rage, threw himself on her, but she, with wonderful
+rapidity, struck him a few blows across the face with the whip, and
+quickly escaped. Closing the door of her room with a slam, she locked
+herself in. Roaring with rage and pain the alferez followed her, but,
+coming up against the door, he could do nothing but belch forth a
+string of blasphemies.
+
+"Cursed be your ancestors, you swine! Open, d----n you! Open that door
+or I'll break your skull!" he howled, pounding and kicking the panels.
+
+Doña Consolacion did not reply. A moving of chairs and trunks could
+be heard, as though some one was trying to raise a barricade of
+household furniture. The house fairly shook with the oaths and kicks
+of the husband.
+
+"Don't you come in! Don't you come in!" she said, in a bitter
+voice. "If you show yourself, I'll shoot you!"
+
+The husband calmed down, little by little, and contented himself with
+pacing from one end of the sala to the other like a wild animal in
+its cage.
+
+"Go and cool your head!" continued the woman in mockery. She seemed
+to have concluded her preparations for defense.
+
+"I swear that when I catch you, no one--not even God--will see you
+again! I'll smash you so fine."
+
+"Yes! Now you can say what you wish. You would not let me go to
+mass. You would not let me fulfill my duty to God!" she said with
+such sarcasm as she alone knew how to use.
+
+The alferez took his helmet, straightened out his clothes, and walked
+away several paces. But, at the end of several minutes, he returned
+without making the slightest noise, for he had taken off his boots. The
+servants, accustomed to these spectacles, paid no attention to them,
+but the novelty of this move with the boots attracted their notice
+and they gave each other the wink.
+
+The alferez sat down on a chair next to the door and had the patience
+to wait more than half an hour.
+
+"Have you really gone out or are you there, you he-goat?" asked a
+voice from time to time, changing the epithets but raising the tone.
+
+Finally, she commenced to take away the furniture from her
+barricade. He heard the noise and smiled.
+
+"Orderly! Has the señor gone out?" cried Doña Consolacion.
+
+The orderly at a signal from the alferez, replied: "Yes, señora,
+he has gone out!"
+
+He could hear her laugh triumphantly. She drew back the bolt. The
+husband arose to his feet slowly; the door was opened.
+
+A cry, the noise of a body falling, oaths, howling, swearing, blows,
+hoarse voices. Who can describe what took place in the darkness of
+the bedroom?
+
+The orderly, going out to the kitchen, made a very expressive gesture
+to the cook.
+
+"And now you'll catch it!" said the latter.
+
+"I? No, sir. The town will, not I. She asked me if he had gone out,
+not if he had returned."
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+MIGHT AND RIGHT.
+
+
+It was about ten o'clock at night. The last rockets lazily soared
+into the dark sky, where paper balloons shone like new stars. Some of
+the fireworks had set fire to houses and were threatening them with
+destruction; for this reason men could be seen on the ridges of the
+roofs carrying buckets of water and long bamboo poles with cloths tied
+on the ends. Their dark shadows seemed descended from ethereal space
+to be present at the rejoicings of human beings. An enormous number of
+wheels had been burned, also castles, bulls, caraboas and other pieces
+of fireworks, and finally a great volcano, which surpassed in beauty
+and grandeur anything that the inhabitants of San Diego had ever seen.
+
+Now the people turned in one great crowd toward the plaza to attend
+the last theatrical performance. Here and there could be seen the
+colored Bengal lights, fantastically illuminating groups of merry
+people. The small boys were making use of their torches to search
+for unexploded firecrackers in the grass, or, in fact, for anything
+else that might be of use to them. But the music was the signal and
+all abandoned the lawn for the theatre.
+
+The large platform was splendidly illuminated. Thousands of lights
+surrounded the pillars and hung from the roof, while a number, in
+pyramid-shaped groups, were arranged on the floor of the stage. An
+employee attended to these and whenever he would come forward to
+regulate them, the public would whistle at him and shout: "There he
+is! There he is now!"
+
+In front of the stage, the orchestra tuned its instruments, and
+behind the musicians sat the principal people of the town. Spaniards
+and rich visitors were occupying the reserved chairs. The public,
+the mass of people without titles or rank, filled the rest of the
+plaza. Some carried with them benches, not so much for seats as
+to remedy their lack of stature. When they stood upon them, rude
+protests were made on the part of those without benches or things to
+stand on. Then they would get down immediately, but soon mount up on
+their pedestals again as if nothing had happened.
+
+Comings and goings, cries, exclamations, laughter, squibs that had
+been slow in going off, and firecrackers increased the tumult. Here,
+a foot broke through a bench, and some one fell to the floor, while
+the crowd laughed and made a show of him who had come so far to see
+a show. There, they fought and disputed over positions, and, a little
+farther on, the noise of breaking bottles and glasses could be heard:
+it was Andeng. She was carrying drinks and refreshments on a tray
+which she was balancing with both hands, but she had met her lover
+and he tried to take advantage of her helplessness by tickling....
+
+The teniente mayor presided at the production since the gobernadorcillo
+was fonder of monte.
+
+Maria Clara and her friends had arrived, and Don Filipo received
+them, and accompanied them to their seats. Behind came the curate
+with another Franciscan and some Spaniards. With the curate were some
+other people who make it their business to escort the friars.
+
+"May God reward them in another life," said the old man, referring
+to them as he walked away from Maria Clara's party.
+
+The performance began with Chananay and Marianito in Crispinoé la
+Comare. Everybody had eyes and ears intent upon the stage, except
+one, Father Salví. He seemed to have come to the theatre for no other
+purpose than to watch Maria Clara, whose sadness gave to her beauty
+an air so ideal and interesting that everybody looked upon her with
+rapture. But the Franciscan's eyes, deeply hidden in their hollow
+orbits, spoke no words of rapture. In that sombre look one could read
+something desperately sad. With such eyes Cain might have contemplated
+from afar the Paradise whose delights his mother had pictured to him.
+
+The act was just ending when Ibarra arrived. His presence occasioned
+a buzz of conversation. The attention of everybody was fixed on him
+and on the curate.
+
+But the young man did not seem to be aware of it, for he greeted
+Maria Clara and her friends with naturalness and sat down at their
+side. The only one who spoke was Sinang.
+
+"Did you see the volcano when they touched it off?" she asked.
+
+"No, my little friend. I had to accompany the Governor General."
+
+"Well, that is too bad! The curate came with us and he was telling
+us stories about condemned people. What do you think? Doesn't he do
+it to make us afraid so that we cannot enjoy ourselves? How does it
+appear to you?"
+
+The curate arose and approached Don Filipo, with whom he seemed to
+be having a lively discussion. He was speaking with animation and
+Don Filipo replying with moderation and in a low voice.
+
+"I am sorry that I cannot please Your Reverence," said the
+latter. "Señor Ibarra is one of the heaviest tax-payers and has a
+right to sit here as long as he does not disturb the public order."
+
+"But is not scandalizing good Christians disturbing the public
+order? You let a wolf into the flock. You will be held responsible
+for this before God and before the authorities of the town."
+
+"I always hold myself responsible for acts which emanate from my own
+will, Father," replied Don Filipo, slightly inclining his head. "But
+my little authority does not give me power to meddle in religious
+affairs. Those who wish to avoid contact with him do not have to
+speak to him. Señor Ibarra does not force himself on any one."
+
+"But he affords danger. He who loves danger perishes in it."
+
+"I don't see any danger, Father. The Alcalde and the Governor General,
+my superiors, have been talking with him all the afternoon, and it
+is not for me to give them a lesson."
+
+"If you don't put him out of here, we will leave."
+
+"I am very, very sorry, but I cannot put any one out of here."
+
+The curate repented having said what he did, but now there was no
+alternative. He made a signal to his companion, who laboriously rose
+to his feet and both went out. The persons attached to the friars
+imitated the priests, not, however, without first glancing with hatred
+at Ibarra.
+
+Murmurs and whispers increased. Then various persons approached and
+saluted the young man and said:
+
+"We are with you. Take no notice of them."
+
+"Who are 'them'?" he asked with surprise.
+
+"Those who have gone out in order to avoid contact with you."
+
+"To avoid contact with me? Contact with me?"
+
+"Yes, they say that you are excommunicated."
+
+Ibarra, surprised, did not know what to say and looked around him. He
+saw Maria Clara, who was hiding her face behind her fan.
+
+"But is it possible?" he exclaimed at last. "Are we still in the
+darkness of the Middle Ages? So that----"
+
+And turning to the young women and changing his tone, he said:
+
+"Excuse me; I have forgotten an appointment. I will return to accompany
+you home."
+
+"Stay!" said Sinang. "Yeyeng is going to dance in the 'La
+Calandria.' She dances divinely."
+
+"I cannot, my little friend, but I will certainly return."
+
+The murmurs increased.
+
+While Yeyeng, dressed in the style of the lower class of Madrid, was
+coming on the stage with the remark: "Da Usté su permiso?" (Do you
+give your permission?) and as Carvajal was replying to her "Pase usté
+adelante" (Pass forward), two soldiers of the Civil Guard approached
+Don Filipo, asking him to suspend the performance.
+
+"And what for?" asked he, surprised at the request.
+
+"Because the alferez and his Señora have been fighting and they
+cannot sleep."
+
+"You tell the alferez that we have permission from the Alcalde,
+and that no one in the town has any authority over him, not even the
+gobernadorcillo, who is my on-ly su-per-ior."
+
+"Well, you will have to suspend the performance," repeated the
+soldiers.
+
+Don Filipo turned his back to them. The guards marched off.
+
+In order not to disturb the general tranquillity, Don Filipo said
+not a word about the matter to any one.
+
+After a piece of light opera, which was heartily applauded, the Prince
+Villardo presented himself on the stage, and challenged all the Moros,
+who had imprisoned his father, to a fight. The hero threatened to
+cut off all their heads at a single blow and to send them all to
+the moon. Fortunately for the Moros, who were making ready to fight
+to the tune of the "Riego Hymn," [15] a tumult intervened. All of a
+sudden, the orchestra stopped playing and the musicians made a rush
+for the stage, throwing their instruments in all directions. The
+brave Villardo was not expecting such a move, and, taking them
+for allies of the Moros he also threw down his sword and shield and
+began to run. The Moros, seeing this terrible giant fleeing, found it
+convenient to imitate him. Cries, sighs, imprecations and blasphemies
+filled the air. The people ran, trampled over each other, the lights
+were put out, and the glass lamps with their cocoanut oil and little
+wicks were flying through the air. "Tulisanes! Tulisanes!" cried
+some. "Fire! Fire! Ladrones!" cried others. Women and children wept,
+chairs and spectators were rolled over on the floor in the midst of
+the confusion, rush and tumult.
+
+"What has happened?"
+
+Two Civil Guards with sticks in hand had gone after the musicians
+in order to put an end to the spectacle. The teniente mayor, with
+the cuaderilleros, [16] armed with their old sabers, had managed to
+arrest the two Civil Guards in spite of their resistance.
+
+"Take them to the tribunal!" shouted Don Filipo. "Be careful not to
+let them get away!"
+
+Ibarra had returned and had sought out Maria Clara. The terrified
+young maidens, trembling and pale, were clinging closely to him. Aunt
+Isabel was reciting the litanies in Latin.
+
+The crowd having recovered a little from the fright and some one
+having explained what had caused the rush and tumult, indignation
+arose in everyone's breast. Stones rained upon the Civil Guards who
+were being conducted to the tribunal by the cuaderilleros. Some one
+proposed that they burn the barracks of the Civil Guards and that
+they roast Doña Consolacion and the alferez alive.
+
+"That is all that they are good for," cried a woman, rolling up her
+sleeves and stretching out her arms. "They can disturb the people
+but they persecute none but honorable men. They do nothing with the
+tulisanes and the gamblers. Look at them! Let us burn the cuartel."
+
+Somebody had been wounded in the arm and was asking for confession. A
+plaintive voice was heard coming from under an upset bench. It was
+a poor musician. The stage was filled with the players and people
+of the town and they were all talking at the same time. There
+was Chananay, dressed in the costume of Leonor in the "Trovador,"
+talking in corrupted Spanish with Ratia, who was in a school teacher's
+costume. There too, was Yeyeng, dressed in a silk wrapper, talking
+with the Prince Villardo. There too, Balbino and the Moros, trying
+to console the musicians who were more or less sorry sights. Some
+Spaniards were walking from one place to another, arguing with every
+one they met.
+
+But a nucleus for a mob already formed. Don Filipo knew what was
+their intention and tried to stop them.
+
+"Do not break the peace!" he shouted. "To-morrow we will demand
+satisfaction: we will have justice. I will take the responsibility
+for our getting justice."
+
+"No!" some replied. "They did the same thing in Calamba. The same
+thing was promised, but the Alcalde did nothing. We want justice done
+by our own hands. To the cuartel!"
+
+In vain the teniente mayor argued with them. The group that had
+gathered showed no signs of changing its attitude or purpose. Don
+Filipo looked about him, in search of help. He saw Ibarra.
+
+"Señor Ibarra, for my sake, as a favor, hold them while I seek some
+cuaderilleros."
+
+"What can I do?" asked the young man, perplexed. But the teniente
+mayor was already in the distance.
+
+Ibarra in turn looked about him, for he knew not whom. Fortunately, he
+thought he discerned Elias, in the crowd, but not taking an active part
+in it. Ibarra ran up to him, seized his arm and said to him in Spanish:
+
+"For heaven's sake! Do something, if you can! I cannot do anything."
+
+The pilot must have understood, for he lost himself in the mob.
+
+Lively discussions were heard mingled with strong interjections. Soon
+the mob began to disperse, each one of the participants becoming less
+hostile. And it was time for them to do so, for the cuaderilleros
+were coming to the scene with fixed bayonets.
+
+In the meantime, what was the curate doing?
+
+Father Salví had not gone to bed. Standing on foot, immovable and
+leaning his face against the shutter, he was looking toward the plaza
+and, from time to time, a suppressed sigh escaped his breast. If the
+light of his lamp had not been so dim, perhaps one might have seen that
+his eyes were filling with tears. Thus he stood for almost an hour.
+
+The tumult in the plaza roused him from this state. Full of surprise,
+he followed with his eyes the people as they rushed to and fro in
+confusion. Their voices and cries he could vaguely hear even at that
+distance. One of the servants came running in breathlessly and informed
+him what was going on.
+
+A thought entered his mind. Amid confusion and tumult libertines
+take advantage of the fright and the weakness of woman. All flee to
+save themselves; nobody thinks of anyone else; the women faint and
+their cries are not heard; they fall; are trampled over; fear and
+fright overcome modesty, and under cover of darkness.... He fancied
+he could see Ibarra carrying Maria Clara fainting in his arms, and
+then disappearing in the darkness.
+
+With leaps and bounds, he went down the stairs without hat, or cane,
+and, almost like a crazy person, turned toward the plaza.
+
+There he found some Spaniards reproving the soldiers. He looked
+toward the seats which Maria Clara and her friends had been occupying,
+and saw that they were vacant.
+
+"Father curate! Father curate!" shouted the Spaniards to him, but he
+took no notice and ran on in the direction of the house of Captain
+Tiago. There he recovered his breath. He saw through the transparent
+shade, a shadow--that adorable shadow, so graceful and delicate in
+its contour--that of Maria Clara. He could also see another shadow,
+that of her aunt carrying cups and glasses.
+
+"Well!" he muttered to himself. "It seems that she has only fallen
+ill."
+
+Aunt Isabel afterward closed the shell windows and the graceful shadow
+could no longer be seen.
+
+The curate walked away from there without seeing the crowd. He was
+looking at the bust of a beautiful maiden which he had before his
+eyes, a maiden sleeping and breathing sweetly. Her eyelids were shaded
+by long lashes, which formed graceful curves like those on Rafael's
+virgins. Her small mouth was smiling, and her whole countenance seemed
+to breathe virginity, purity and innocence. That sweet face of hers
+on the background of the white draperies of the bed was a vision like
+the head of a cherubim among the clouds. His impassioned imagination
+went on and pictured to him.... Who can describe all that a burning
+brain can conceive?
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+TWO VISITORS.
+
+
+Ibarra found his mind in such a state that it was impossible for
+him to sleep. So, in order to divert himself and to drive away the
+gloomy idea which distracted his mind, he began work in his solitary
+laboratory. Morning came upon him, still at work making mixtures and
+compounds to the action of which he submitted pieces of cane and other
+substances, and afterward enclosed them in numbered and sealed flasks.
+
+A servant entered, announcing the arrival of a peasant.
+
+"Let him enter!" said he, without even turning to look.
+
+Elias entered and remained standing in silence.
+
+"Ah! is it you?" Ibarra exclaimed in Tagalog on recognizing
+him. "Excuse me if I have kept you waiting. I was not aware of your
+presence. I was making an important experiment."
+
+"I do not wish to disturb you!" replied the young pilot. "I have come
+in the first place, to ask you if you want anything from the province
+of Batangas, whither I am going now; and, in the second place, to
+give you some bad news."
+
+Ibarra looked inquiringly at the pilot.
+
+"The daughter of Captain Tiago is ill," added Elias quietly, "but
+the illness is not serious."
+
+"I had already feared it," responded Ibarra. "Do you know what the
+illness is?"
+
+"A fever. Now, if you have nothing to order----"
+
+"Thanks, my friend. I wish you a good journey, but before you go,
+permit me to ask you a question. If it is indiscreet, do not answer
+me."
+
+Elias bowed.
+
+"How were you able to quiet the mob last night?" asked Ibarra, fixing
+his eyes on him.
+
+"In a very simple way," replied Elias, with entire frankness. "At the
+head of it were two brothers whose father died from the effects of a
+whipping at the hands of the Civil Guard. One day I had the fortune
+to save them from the same hands into which their father fell, and
+for this both are under obligations to me. Last night I went to them,
+and requested them to dissuade the others from their purpose."
+
+"And those two brothers whose father died by being whipped to death?"
+
+"They will end their lives in the same way," replied Elias in a low
+voice. "When adversity has marked itself once on a family, all the
+members have to perish. When the lightning strikes a tree, it reduces
+it all to ashes."
+
+And Elias, seeing that Ibarra was silent, took his leave.
+
+The latter on finding himself alone, lost the serenity of countenance
+which he had preserved in the presence of the pilot, and grief
+manifested itself in his face.
+
+"I--I have made her suffer," he muttered.
+
+He quickly dressed himself and descended the stairs.
+
+A little man, dressed in mourning, with a large scar on his left cheek,
+meekly saluted him, stopping him on his way.
+
+"What do you wish?" Ibarra asked him.
+
+"Señor, my name is Lucas. I am the brother of the man who was killed
+yesterday during the ceremony when the stone was being laid."
+
+"Ah! You have my sympathy--and, well?"
+
+"Señor, I wish to know how much you are going to pay my brother's
+family."
+
+"How much I am going to pay?" repeated the young man without being
+able to conceal a bored expression. "We will talk that over. Come
+back this afternoon, for I am busy to-day."
+
+"Only tell me how much you are going to pay," insisted Lucas.
+
+"I have told you that we would talk about that some other time. I'm
+too busy to-day," said Ibarra, impatiently.
+
+"You haven't time now, señor?" asked Lucas with bitterness and putting
+himself in front of the young man. "You do not have time to occupy
+yourself about the dead?"
+
+"Come this afternoon, my good fellow!" repeated Ibarra, restraining
+himself. "To-day I have to go and see a sick person."
+
+"Ah! and you forget the dead for a sick person? Do you think that
+because we are poor----"
+
+Ibarra looked at him and cut off what he was saying.
+
+"Don't try my patience!" said he, and went on his way. Lucas stood
+looking at him, with a smile on his face, full of hatred.
+
+"You do not know that you are a grandson of the man who exposed my
+father to the sun!" he muttered between his teeth. "You have the very
+same blood in your veins!"
+
+And, changing his tone he added:
+
+"But if you pay well, we are friends."
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV
+
+EPISODE IN ESPADAÑA'S LIFE.
+
+
+The festival was over. The citizens found, just as every year, that
+their treasury was poorer, that they had worked, perspired, and stayed
+up nights without enjoying themselves, without acquiring new friends,
+and in a word, had paid dearly for the noise and their headaches. But
+it did not matter. The next year they would do the same thing, and
+the same for the coming century, just as had always been the custom
+to the present time.
+
+Enough sadness reigned in Captain Tiago's house. All the windows were
+closed; the people scarcely made a noise, and no one dared to speak
+except in the kitchen. Maria Clara, the soul of the house, lay sick
+in her bed.
+
+"What do you think, Isabel? Shall I make a donation to the cross of
+Tunasan or to the cross of Matahong?" asked the solicitous father
+in a low voice. "The cross of Tunasan grows, but that of Matahong
+sweats. Which do you think is the most miraculous?"
+
+Isabel thought for a moment, moved her head and murmured: "To grow--to
+grow is more miraculous than to sweat. We all sweat, but we do not
+all grow."
+
+"That is true, yes, Isabel, but bear in mind that for wood to sweat
+when it is made into the leg of a chair is no small miracle. Well,
+the best thing to do is to give alms to both crosses, so that neither
+will feel resentful, and Maria Clara will recover more quickly. Are
+the rooms in good order? You know that a new señor comes with the
+doctors, a relative of Father Dámaso by marriage. It is necessary
+that nothing be lacking."
+
+The two cousins, Sinang and Victoria, were at the other end of the
+dining-room. They had come to keep company with the sick Maria. Andeng
+was helping them clean up a tea service in order to serve tea.
+
+"Do you know Doctor Espadaña?" asked Maria Clara's foster sister,
+directing her question to Victoria.
+
+"No!" replied the latter. "The only thing that I know about him is
+that he charges very dearly, according to Captain Tiago."
+
+"Then he ought to be very good," said Andeng. "The one who performed
+the operation on the stomach of Doña Marta charged a big price,
+but he was very wise."
+
+"You goose!" exclaimed Sinang. "Not all who charge high prices are
+wise. Look at Doctor Guevara. He did not know how to aid a woman in
+childbirth, but after cutting off the child's head, he collected one
+hundred pesos from the widower. What he did know was how to charge."
+
+"What do you know about it?" her cousin asked, giving her a jab with
+her elbow.
+
+"Why shouldn't I know about it? The husband, who is a wood-sawyer,
+after losing his wife, had to lose his house also, for the Alcalde was
+a friend of the doctor's and made him pay. Why shouldn't I know? My
+father loaned him money so that he could make a trip to Santa Cruz."
+
+A coach stopped before the house and cut off all the conversation.
+
+Captain Tiago, followed by Aunt Isabel, ran downstairs to receive
+the new arrivals. They were the doctor, Don Tiburcio de Espadaña, his
+wife, Doctora Doña Victorina de los Reyes de de Espadaña; and a young
+Spaniard. The latter had a sympathetic face and a pleasing appearance.
+
+The doctora wore a silk gown, embroidered with flowers, and on her
+hat, a large parrot half crushed among trimmings of red and blue
+ribbons. The dust of the road had mingled with the rice powder on
+her cheeks, strongly accentuating her wrinkles. She was leaning on
+the arm of her lame husband.
+
+"I have the pleasure to present to you our cousin, Don Alfonso Linares
+de Espadaña," said Doña Victorina, pointing toward the young man. "The
+gentleman is a god-son of a relative of Father Dámaso, and is private
+secretary to all the ministers."
+
+The young man bowed gracefully. Captain Tiago almost kissed his hand.
+
+Doña Victorina was a woman of about forty-five summers, which,
+according to her arithmetical calculations, was equivalent to
+thirty-two springs. She had been pretty in her youth, but, raging over
+her own beauty, she had looked with disdain on many Filipino adorers,
+for her aspirations were for the other race. She had not cared to
+entrust her little white hand to anybody, but this not on account
+of lack of confidence on her part, for she had entrusted rings and
+jewels of inestimable value to various foreign adventurers.
+
+Six months before the time of the happenings of which we are writing,
+she saw her beautiful dream realized, that dream of her whole life,
+on account of which she had disdained all manner of flattery and even
+the promises of love, which had been cooed into her ears, or sung
+in serenades by Captain Tiago. Late, it is true, she had realized
+her dream; but she knew well the proverb--"Better late than never,"
+and consoled herself by repeating it again and again. "There is no
+complete happiness on this earth," was her other favorite proverb, but
+neither of these ever passed her lips in the presence of other people.
+
+Doña Victorina, after passing her first, second, third and fourth youth
+in fishing in the sea of men for the object of her dreams, had at last
+to content herself with what fortune cared to give her. The poor little
+woman, if she, instead of having passed thirty-two springs, had not
+passed more than thirty-one--the difference according to her arithmetic
+was very great--would have thrown back the prize which Destiny offered
+her, and preferred to wait for another more in conformity with her
+tastes. But, as the man proposed and necessity disposed it so, for she
+needed a husband very badly, she was compelled to content herself with
+a poor man, who had been driven by necessity to leave the Province
+of Estremadura in Spain. He, after wandering about the world for six
+or seven months, a modern Ulysses, found at last in the island of
+Luzon, hospitality, money, and a faded Calypso, his better half--but
+alas! a bitter half. He was known as the unhappy Tiburcio Espadaña,
+and, although he was thirty-five years old and seemed even older,
+he was, however, younger than Doña Victorina, who was only thirty-two.
+
+He had come to the Philippines in the capacity of clerk in the
+custom house, but after all the sea-sickness of the voyage and
+after fracturing a leg on the way, he had the bad luck to receive
+his discharge fifteen days after his arrival. He was left without a
+single cuarto.
+
+Distrusting the sea, he did not wish to return to Spain without having
+made a fortune. So he decided to devote himself to something. Spanish
+pride did not permit him to do any manual labor. The poor man would
+have worked with pleasure to have earned an honorable living, but the
+prestige of the Spaniard did not permit this, nor did that prestige
+provide him with the necessities of life.
+
+At first he lived at the expense of some of his countrymen, but,
+as Tiburcio had some self-respect, the bread was sour to him, and
+instead of getting fat he grew thin. As he had neither knowledge of
+any science, money nor recommendations, his countrymen, in order to
+get rid of him, advised him to go to some of the provinces and pass
+himself off as a Doctor of Medicine. At first, he did not like the
+idea, and opposed the plan, for although he had been a servant in the
+San Carlos Hospital, he had not learned anything about the science of
+healing, his duty having been to dust off the benches and light the
+fires, and, even in this work, he had served only a short time. But
+as necessity was pressing him hard, and as his friends pointed out the
+vanity of his scruples, he took their advice, went into the provinces
+and began to visit the sick, charging as much for his services as
+his conscience permitted. Later on he began to charge dearly and
+to put a high price on his visits. On this account, he was at once
+taken to be a great doctor and would probably have made his fortune,
+had not the attention of the Protective Medical Society of Manila,
+been called to his exorbitant charges and to his harmful competition.
+
+Private citizens and professors interceded in his behalf. "Man!" said
+the zealous Doctor C. in speaking of him. "Let him make his little
+money. Let him make his little six or seven thousand pesos. He will be
+able to return to his native land then and live in peace. What does
+it matter to you? Let him deceive the unwary natives. Then they may
+become smarter. He is a poor, unhappy fellow. Do not take the bread
+from his mouth. Be a good Spaniard!"
+
+Doctor C. was a good Spaniard and he winked at the matter. But when the
+facts reached the ears of the people, they began to lose confidence in
+him, and little by little Don Tiburcio Espadaña lost his clientage,
+and found himself almost obliged to beg for bread day by day. Then
+it was that he learned from a friend of his, who was also a friend
+of Doña Victorina about the position of that woman, and about her
+patriotism and good heart. Don Tiburcio saw in her a bit of blue sky
+and asked to be presented.
+
+Doña Victorina and Don Tiburcio met. Tarde venientibus ossa, he would
+have exclaimed if he had known Latin. She was no longer passable,
+she was past. Her abundant hair had been reduced to a wad about the
+size of an onion top, as the servants were wont to describe it. Her
+face was full of wrinkles and her teeth had begun to loosen. Her eyes
+had also suffered, and considerably, too. She had to squint frequently
+when she cared to look off at a certain distance. Her character was
+the only thing that had remained unchanged.
+
+At the end of half an hour's conversation, they came to an
+understanding and accepted each other. She would have preferred
+a Spaniard less lame, less of a stammerer, less bald, one with
+more teeth, one of more rank and social standing, or categoría,
+as she called it. But this class of Spaniards never came to ask her
+hand. She had heard, too, more than once that "opportunity is bald,"
+and she honestly believed that Don Tiburcio was that very opportunity,
+for on account of his dark days he had prematurely lost his hair. What
+woman is not prudent at thirty-two?
+
+Don Tiburcio, for his part, felt a vague melancholy when he thought
+of his honeymoon. He smiled with resignation especially when he
+called the phantom of hunger to his aid. He had never had ambition
+or pretensions. His tastes were simple, his thoughts limited;
+but his heart, untouched till then, had dreamed of a very different
+divinity. In his youth when, tired by his day's labor, after a frugal
+meal, he lay down on a poor bed, he dreamed of a smiling, affectionate
+image. Afterward, when his sorrows and privations increased, the
+years passed and his poetical dreams were not fulfilled, he thought
+merely of a good woman, a willing hand, a worker, who might afford
+him a small dowry, console him when tired from labor, and quarrel
+with him from time to time. Yes, he was thinking of the quarrels as
+a happiness! But when, obliged to wander from country to country,
+in search no longer of a fortune, but of some commodity to sustain
+his life for the remainder of his days; when, deluded by the accounts
+of his countrymen who came from beyond the seas, he embarked for the
+Philippines--then the vision of a housekeeper gave way to an image
+of an arrogant mestiza, a beautiful native with large black eyes,
+draped in silks and transparent garments, loaded with diamonds and
+gold, offering him her love and her carriages.
+
+He arrived in the Philippines and believed that he was about to
+realize his dream, for the young women who, in silver-plated carriages,
+frequented the Luneta and the Malecon, Manila's popular and fashionable
+drives, looked at him with a certain curiosity. Later, when this
+curiosity on their part had ceased, the mestiza disappeared from his
+dreams, and with great labor he formed in his mind a picture of a
+widow, but an agreeable widow. So it was that when he saw only part
+of his dream taking on real form, he became sad. But he was somewhat
+of a philosopher and said to himself: "That was a dream, but in the
+world one does not live in dreams." Thus he settled all his doubts;
+she wasted a lot of rice powder on her cheeks. Pshaw! When they were
+once married he would make her stop that easily enough; she had many
+wrinkles in her face, but his coat had more bare spots and patches;
+she was old, pretentious, and imperious, but hunger was more imperious,
+and still more pretentious; and then, too, he had a sweet disposition,
+and, who could tell?--love modifies character; she spoke Spanish very
+badly, but he himself did not speak it well; at least, the head of
+the Customs department had so notified him in his discharge from his
+position, and besides, what did it matter? What if she was old and
+ridiculous? He was lame, toothless and bald. When some friend jested
+with him, he would respond: "Give me bread and call me a fool."
+
+Don Tiburcio was what is vulgarly called a man who would not harm a
+fly. He was modest and incapable of conceiving an evil thought. He
+would have made a good missionary had he lived in olden times. His
+stay in the country had not given him that conviction of his
+own superiority, of his own worth, and of his high importance,
+which the larger part of his countrymen acquire in a few weeks
+in the Philippines. His heart had never been able to conceive
+hatred for anybody or anything. He had not yet been able to find a
+revolutionist. He only looked upon the people as unhappy beings whom
+it was fitting for him to deprive of a little of their wealth in order
+to prevent himself becoming even more unhappy than they. When they
+tried to make a case against him for passing as a doctor without a
+proper license, he did not resent it, he did not complain. He saw the
+justice of the case, and only replied: "But it is necessary to live!"
+
+So they were married and went to Santa Aña to pass their honeymoon. But
+on the night of the wedding Doña Victorina had a bad attack of
+indigestion. Don Tiburcio gave thanks to God and showed solicitude
+and care. On the second night, however, he conducted himself like an
+honorable man, but on the day following, when he looked in the mirror
+at his bare gums, he smiled with melancholy: he had grown ten years
+older at least.
+
+Doña Victorina, charmed with her husband, had a good set of front
+teeth made for him, and had the best tailors in the city dress and
+equip him. She ordered carriages and calesas, sent to Batangas and
+Albay provinces for the finest spans of horses, and even obliged him
+to make two entries in the coming horse races.
+
+In the meantime, while she was transforming her husband, she did not
+forget her own person. She laid aside the silk saya or Filipino skirt
+and piña cloth bodice, for a dress of European style. She substituted
+false curls in front for the simple hair dress of the Filipinos. Her
+dresses, which fitted her "divinely bad," disturbed the peace and
+tranquillity of the entire neighborhood.
+
+The husband never went out of the house afoot--she did not want people
+to see that he was lame. He always took her for drives through the
+places most deserted, much to her pain, for she wanted to display
+her husband on the drives most frequented by the public. But out of
+respect for their honeymoon, she kept silent.
+
+The last quarter of the honeymoon had just begun when he wanted to
+stop her from using rice powder on her cheeks, saying to her that it
+was false and not natural. Doña Victorina frowned and looked squarely
+at his front set of teeth. He at once became silent, and she learned
+his weakness.
+
+She soon got the idea that she was to become a mother and made the
+following announcement to all her friends: "Next month, we, I and
+de Espadaña are going to the Peñinsula. [17] I don't want to have my
+son born here and have them call him a revolutionist."
+
+She added a de to her husband's name. The de did not cost anything
+and gave categoría to the name. When she signed herself, she wrote
+Victorina de los Reyes de de Espadaña. That de de Espadaña was her
+mania. Neither the lithographer who printed her cards, nor her husband,
+could get the idea out of her head.
+
+"If I do not put more than one de in the name people will think that
+I haven't it, fool!" said she to her husband.
+
+She was talking continually about her preparations for the voyage
+to Spain. She learned by memory the names of the points where the
+steamers called, and it was a pleasure to hear her talk--"I am going
+to see the sismus of the Suez Canal. De Espadaña thinks that it is
+the most beautiful, and De Espadaña has seen the whole world."--"I
+will probably never return to this land of savages."--"I was not
+born to live here. Aden or Port Said would be more suitable for
+me. I have always thought so since I was a child." Doña Victorina,
+in her geography, divided the world into two parts, the Philippines
+and Spain. In this she differed from the lower class of people in
+Madrid for they divide it into Spain and America, or Spain and China,
+America and China being merely different names for the same country.
+
+The husband knew that some of these things were barbarisms, but he
+kept silent so that she would not mock him and twit him with his
+stammering. She feigned to be whimsical in order to increase her
+illusion that she was a mother, and she began to dress herself in
+colors, adorn herself with flowers and ribbons, and to walk through the
+Escolta in a wrapper. But oh! what an illusion! Three months passed and
+the dream vanished. By this time, having no fear that her son would
+be a revolutionist, she gave up the voyage. She consulted doctors,
+mid-wives and old women, but all in vain. To the great displeasure
+of Captain Tiago she made fun of San Pascual Bailon, as she did not
+care to run to any saint. On account of this a friend of her husband
+told her:
+
+"Believe me, Señora, you are the only espiritu fuerte (strong-minded
+person) in this country."
+
+She smiled without understanding what espiritu fuerte meant, but, at
+night, when it was time to be sleeping, she asked her husband about it.
+
+"Daughter," replied he, "the e--espir--espiritu most fu-fuerte that I
+know--know about is a--a--ammonia. My fr-fr-friend must have be-been
+us-using a figure of rhetoric."
+
+From that time on, she was always saying, whenever she could, "I am
+the only ammonia in this country, speaking rhetorically, as Señor N. de
+N. who is from the Peñinsula and who has much categoría, puts it."
+
+Whatever she said had to be done. She had come to dominate her
+husband completely. On his part, he offered no great resistance,
+and was converted into a little lap dog for her. If he incommoded
+her she would not let him go out for a drive, and when she became
+really infuriated, she would snatch out his false teeth and leave him
+a horrible-looking man for one or more days, according to the offense.
+
+It occurred to her that her husband ought to be a Doctor of Medicine
+and Surgery, and so she expressed herself to him.
+
+"Daughter! Do you want them to arrest me?" he said, frightened.
+
+"Don't be a fool. Let me arrange it!" she replied. "You are not going
+to attend any one, but I want them to call you a doctor and me a
+doctora, eh?"
+
+And on the following day Rodoreda, a prominent marble dealer in Manila,
+received an order for the following engraving on black marble: Dr. De
+Espadaña, Specialist in All Kinds of Diseases.
+
+All of the servants had to give them their new titles, and, in
+consequence of it all, she increased the number of her curls in
+front, the layer of rice powder, the ribbons and laces, and looked
+with more disdain than ever on the poor and less fortunate women
+of her country, who had less categoría than she. Each day she felt
+herself more dignified and elevated, and, following along this road,
+in less than a year she would think herself of divine origin.
+
+These sublime thoughts, however, did not prevent her from growing more
+ridiculous and older each day. Every time that Captain Tiago met her
+in the street and remembered that he had once made love to her in vain,
+he would go at once to the church and give a peso for a mass as a thank
+offering for his good luck in not marrying her. In spite of this,
+Captain Tiago highly respected her husband, on account of his title
+of "specialist in all kinds of diseases," and he listened with close
+attention to the few phrases that he managed to stutter out. In fact,
+it was on account of this title and the fact that the doctor did not
+attend everybody, that the Captain chose him to attend his daughter.
+
+As to the young man Linares, it is a different story. When she
+was making ready for her voyage to Spain, Doña Victorina thought of
+having an administrator from the Peñinsula to look after her affairs,
+for she did not trust Filipinos. Her husband remembered a nephew in
+Madrid who was studying to become a lawyer, and who was considered
+the smartest one in his family. They wrote to him, then, sending him
+in advance money for the passage, and, when the dream was dispelled,
+the young man was already on his way.
+
+These are the three persons who had just arrived.
+
+While they were eating their breakfast, Father Salví arrived, and,
+as the husband and wife had already met the friar, they presented
+him to the young Linares, with all his titles. The young man blushed.
+
+As was natural they spoke of Maria Clara. The young maiden was resting
+and sleeping. They talked over the voyage. Doña Victorina showed her
+verbosity by criticising the customs of the provinces, the nipa houses,
+the bamboo bridges, without forgetting to tell the curate about her
+friendship with the Commander of the Army, the Alcalde so and so,
+Judge so and so of the Supreme Court, and with the governor of the
+province, all persons of categoría, who had much consideration for her.
+
+"If you had come two days before, Dona Victorina," replied Captain
+Tiago during a short pause, "you would have met His Excellency,
+the Governor General. He sat right there."
+
+"What? How's that? Was His Excellency here? And in your house? A lie!"
+
+"I tell you he sat right there. If you had come two days before----"
+
+"Ah! What a shame that little Clara did not fall sick
+before!" exclaimed she, in real sorrow. And directing herself to
+Linares: "Do you hear, cousin? His Excellency was here! You see
+De Espadaña was right when he told you that we were not going to
+the house of a miserable native. For you should know, Don Santiago,
+that our cousin was a friend of all the Ministers in Madrid and all
+the Dukes, and he dined in the house of Count del Campanario (belfry)."
+
+"Duke de la Torre (tower), Victorina," said her husband, correcting
+her.
+
+"It amounts to the same thing. Do you think you can tell me that----"
+
+"Would I find Father Dámaso in town to-day?" interrupted Linares,
+turning to Father Salví. "They have told me that he is near here."
+
+"He is, precisely, and will come here in a little while," replied
+the curate.
+
+"How glad I am! I have a letter for him," exclaimed the young man. "And
+if it had not been for this happy chance which brought me here,
+I would have come expressly to visit him."
+
+"The happy chance--that is, Maria Clara--had, in the meantime
+awakened."
+
+"De Espadaña!" said Doña Victorina, finishing her breakfast. "Are
+we going to see little Clara?" And turning to Captain Tiago, "For
+you only, Don Santiago; for you alone! My husband does not treat
+anybody except people of categoría, and he even refuses some of
+them! My husband is not like those about here--in Madrid he only
+visited people of categoría."
+
+They passed into the sick room.
+
+The room was almost dark. The windows were shut for fear of a draught,
+and the little light which illuminated the room came from the two
+wax candles which were burning in front of an image of the Virgin
+of Antipolo.
+
+Her head wrapped up in a handkerchief, saturated in cologne water,
+her body wrapped in wide folds of white sheets which outlined her
+virginal form, the sick maiden lay on her bed of kamakon [18] among
+jusi and piña curtains. Her hair, forming a frame around her oval
+face, increased her transparent paleness, which was animated only
+by her large eyes full of sadness. At her side were her two friends
+and Andeng.
+
+De Espadaña felt of her pulse, examined her tongue, asked some
+questions, and shaking his head seriously, said:
+
+"Sh-sh-she is si-sick. But we-we-we can cu-cu-cure her."
+
+Doña Victorina looked with pride at those around her.
+
+"A li-lichen in mil-milk in the-the morning; syrup of marsh
+marsh-mal-mallow, tw-o--two hounds'--hounds' tongue pi-pills,"
+ordered De Espadaña.
+
+"Take courage, little Clara," said Doña Victorina, approaching her. "We
+have come to cure you. I am going to present our cousin to you."
+
+Linares was absorbed, contemplating those eloquent eyes which seemed
+to be seeking some one, and he did not hear Doña Victorina call him.
+
+"Señor Linares," said the curate, calling him out of his ecstacy. "Here
+comes Father Dámaso."
+
+In fact, Father Dámaso was coming, pale and somewhat sad. On leaving
+his bed, his first visit was to Maria Clara. He was no longer the
+Father Dámaso that he had been, so robust and talkative. He now walked
+along in silence and with unsteady footsteps.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV
+
+SCHEMES.
+
+
+Without paying attention to anybody, Father Dámaso went straight to
+the sick room and took hold of Maria's hand.
+
+"Maria!" said he, with indescribable tenderness, as tears dropped
+from his eyes. "Maria, my child, you are not going to die!"
+
+Maria opened her eyes and looked at him with surprise.
+
+None who knew the Franciscan suspected that he ever had such tender
+thoughts. No one ever supposed that a heart existed under that gross
+and rude aspect.
+
+Father Dámaso could say no more and left the maiden, weeping like
+a child. He went out through the room at the head of the stairs,
+to give free vent to his grief, on Maria Clara's balcony under her
+favorite vines.
+
+"How he loves his god-daughter!" thought they all.
+
+Father Salví witnessed the scene, immovable and silent, lightly biting
+his lips.
+
+When his grief was somewhat soothed, Father Dámaso was introduced
+by Doña Victorina to the young Linares, who approached the friar
+with respect.
+
+Father Dámaso gazed at him in silence from head to foot. He took
+the letter which the young man handed to him and read it apparently
+without understanding it, for he asked him:
+
+"And who are you?"
+
+"Alfonso Linares, the god-son of your brother-in-law," stammered the
+young man.
+
+Father Dámaso leaned back and examined the young man again. His face
+brightened up and he rose to his feet.
+
+"And so you are the god-son of little Charles!" he exclaimed. "Come
+here and let me embrace you. It was some days ago that I received your
+letter. So it is you! I did not know you--but that is easily explained,
+for you were not yet born when I left the country. I never knew you."
+
+And Father Dámaso stretched out his robust arms to the young man who
+blushed, either from shame or suffocation. Father Dámaso seemed to
+have completely forgotten his grief.
+
+After the first moments of effusion had passed, and questions had been
+asked about Carlicos, as he called little Charles, Father Dámaso asked:
+
+"Well. What does Carlicos want me to do for you?"
+
+"I believe he says something in the letter," stammered Linares again.
+
+"In the letter? Let us see. 'Tis so! And he wants me to get you a
+job and a wife! Hm! Employment--employment: that is easy. Do you know
+how to read and write?"
+
+"I have graduated in law from the Central University."
+
+"Carambas! So you are a pettifogger? Well, you don't look it--you look
+more like a young gentleman. But so much the better! But to find you
+a wife--hm! hm! a wife."
+
+"Father, I am not in a hurry about it," said Linares, confused.
+
+But Father Dámaso began to walk from one end of the room to the other,
+muttering: "A wife! A wife!"
+
+His face by this time was no longer sad, nor was it cheerful. It
+expressed the greatest seriousness and he seemed to be
+meditating. Father Salví surveyed the scene from a distance.
+
+"I did not believe that it could give me such pain," murmured Father
+Dámaso in a mournful voice. "But of two evils the lesser."
+
+And raising his voice and approaching Linares, he said:
+
+"Come here, my boy! We will speak with Santiago."
+
+Linares turned pale and allowed himself to be led along by the priest,
+who was deep in thought.
+
+Then it was Father Salví's turn to walk up and down the room and he
+did so, meditating, as was his custom.
+
+A voice bidding him good morning stopped his monotonous tread. He
+raised his head and his eyes met Lucas, who saluted him humbly.
+
+"What do you want?" asked the eyes of the curate.
+
+"Father, I am the brother of the man who was killed on the day of
+the fiesta," replied Lucas, in a tearful tone.
+
+Father Salví stepped back.
+
+"And what of it?" he muttered, in an unintelligible voice.
+
+Lucas made an effort to weep, and dried his eyes with his handkerchief.
+
+"Father," said he, crying, "I have been to Crisostomo's house to ask
+him for indemnity. At first, he received me with kicks, saying that
+he would not pay anything, since he had run the risk of being killed
+through the fault of my dear, unfortunate brother. Yesterday, I went
+to talk with him again, but he had already left for Manila, leaving
+me for charity's sake five hundred pesos for my poor brother--five
+hundred pesos--ah! Father."
+
+The curate listened to the first part of his story with surprise and
+attention, but slowly there appeared on his lips a smile--a smile
+of such contempt and sarcasm at the comedy that was being played,
+that if Lucas had seen it he would have fled in all haste.
+
+"And what do you want now?" he asked, turning his back to him.
+
+"Alas! Father, for love of God tell me what I ought to do. Father,
+you have always given good advice."
+
+"Who has told you that? You do not live here."
+
+"But the whole province knows you, Father!"
+
+Father Salví went up to him with his eyes full of anger and, motioning
+to the street, said to the frightened Lucas:
+
+"Go to your house and give thanks to Don Crisostomo that he has not
+sent you to jail. Get away from here."
+
+Forgetting his rôle, Lucas muttered:
+
+"Well, I thought----"
+
+"Out of here!" cried Father Salví, in a nervous tone.
+
+"I want to see Father Dámaso."
+
+"Father Dámaso is busy. Out of here!" ordered the curate, in an
+imperative tone, again.
+
+Lucas went down the stairs murmuring: "He is another. How poorly he
+pays! He who pays better...."
+
+The voice of the curate had reached the ears of all in the house,
+even Father Dámaso, Captain Tiago and Linares.
+
+"An insolent beggar who came to ask alms and doesn't want to work,"
+said Father Salví, taking his hat and cane and starting toward the
+convent.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI
+
+THE PERSECUTED.
+
+
+By the dim light which the moon diffused through the thick branches
+of the trees, a man wandered along the forest trails slowly and
+cautiously. From time to time, as if to find out where he was,
+he whistled a particular melody, to which another in the distance
+responded with the same air. The man listened attentively, and
+afterward proceeded in the direction of the distant sound.
+
+Finally, passing through the thousand difficulties which a virgin
+forest offers in the night time, he came to a small clearing. High
+rocks, crowned with trees, surrounded the place, forming a sort of
+ruined amphitheatre. Recently cut trees, with their charred trunks
+and enormous rocks, which Nature had covered with her mantle of green
+foliage, filled the middle of the open space.
+
+Scarcely had the unknown man arrived, when another figure quickly
+appeared from behind one of the large rocks, advanced and drew
+a revolver.
+
+"Who are you?" he asked in Tagalog and, in an imperious voice, as he
+cocked the hammer of his weapon.
+
+"Is old Pablo among you?" asked the first calmly, without replying
+to the question or becoming intimidated.
+
+"Do you refer to the Captain? Yes, he is."
+
+"Tell him, then, that Elias is looking for him here," said the man.
+
+"Are you Elias?" asked the other with a certain respect, and
+approaching him without lowering his revolver. "Then come."
+
+Elias followed him.
+
+They penetrated into a kind of cavern, which was hollowed out in the
+depths of the earth. The guide, who knew the way, told the pilot when
+he ought to get down, stoop or crawl. However, it was not long before
+they came to a sala or room in the cave, miserably illuminated by pitch
+torches, and occupied by twelve or fifteen armed men. The faces of
+the men were dirty and their clothes ragged; some were sitting down,
+others lying down, conversing among themselves in a low tone. Leaning
+his elbows on a stone which served as a table and contemplating
+thoughtfully the lamp, which was shedding very little light for the
+amount of smoke it made, sat an old man. His countenance was sad,
+and his head wrapped in a bloody rag. If we had not known that the
+place was a cave of tulisanes, we would have said, on reading the
+desperation on the face of the old man, that it was the Tower of
+Hunger on the eve when Ugolino devoured his sons.
+
+At the arrival of Elias and the guide, the men were about to arise,
+but, at a signal from the guide, they were quieted and contented
+themselves with examining the pilot, who was entirely unarmed.
+
+The old man turned his head slowly and his eyes met the sturdy
+figure of Elias. The latter, in turn, with his head uncovered, full
+of sadness and interest, gazed upon the old man.
+
+"Is it you?" asked the old man, his face brightening a little as he
+recognized the youth.
+
+"How badly off you are!" murmured Elias, in an half-intelligible tone
+of voice.
+
+The old man bowed in silence, made a sign to the men, who then arose
+and left, not, however, without first directing glances at the pilot,
+measuring his stature and muscles.
+
+"Yes!" said the old man to Elias as soon as they found themselves
+alone. "Six months ago, I gave you refuge in my house. Then, it was
+I who sympathized with you; now, fortune has changed and it is you
+who pity me. But sit down, and tell me how you came here."
+
+"Some fifteen days ago they told me of your misfortune," replied the
+young man slowly, and in a low voice, looking toward the light. "I
+at once set out on the road and I have been searching for you from
+mountain to mountain. I have travelled over the greater part of
+two provinces.
+
+"Rather than spill innocent blood," said Pablo, "I have had to flee. My
+enemies are afraid to show themselves and shield themselves behind
+some unhappy fellows who have never done me the slightest injury."
+
+Then, after a short pause, of which Elias took advantage to read the
+thoughts in that melancholy countenance, he replied:
+
+"I have come to make a proposition. Having searched in vain for some
+member of the family which has caused me my misfortunes, I have decided
+to leave the province where I am living and to emigrate to the north
+and live there among the heathen and independent tribes. Do you want
+to leave this life and go with me? I will be your son, since you have
+lost those whom you had, and I, who have no family, will take you as
+my father."
+
+The old man shook his head and said:
+
+"At my age, when a person makes a desperate resolution it is because
+there is no other course open. A man who, like me has passed his youth
+and the best years of his life working for his own future and for the
+future of his sons, a man who has been submissive to all the wishes
+of his superiors, who has discharged conscientiously all his duties,
+suffered everything in order to live in peace and in tranquillity;
+when such a man, whose blood has been chilled by Time, renounces all
+his past and all his future, on the very edge of his grave--when a
+man does this, it is because he has decided with mature judgment that
+peace does not exist, and that there is no Supreme Good. What use
+is there in living a few miserable days in a foreign land? I had two
+sons, a daughter, a fireside, a fortune. I enjoyed consideration and
+esteem. Now I am like a tree that has been stripped of its branches;
+a wandering fugitive, hunted like a wild beast in the forest, and
+all--why? Because a man dishonored my daughter, because her brothers
+wanted to make that man account for his infamous deed, and because that
+man is placed above all others with a title of Minister of God. But
+despite it all, I, a father, I, dishonored in my old age, pardoned the
+injury, for I was indulgent with the passions of youth and the weakness
+of the flesh, and, as the evil was irreparable, I wanted to save what
+still remained to me. But the criminal, afraid that vengeance was near
+at hand, sought the destruction of my sons. What did he do? You do
+not know? Do you know how they feigned that there had been a robbery
+in the convent and how one of my sons figured among the accused? The
+other son they could not include because he was away. Do you know the
+tortures to which they were submitted? You know them because they are
+like those in other towns. I saw my son hung by the hair, I heard his
+cries, I heard him call me, and, coward that I was, and, accustomed to
+peace, I was not brave enough to kill or be killed. Do you know that
+the robbery was not proved, that it was seen that it was a calumny,
+that the curate was transferred to another town and that my son died
+from the result of his tortures? The other boy, who was still left
+for me, was not a coward like his father. The executioner was afraid
+that this son would take revenge for the death of his brother and so,
+under pretense of his not having a cedula, [19] which for the moment
+had been forgotten, he was imprisoned by the Civil Guard, maltreated,
+irritated and provoked by force and injuries until he was driven to
+suicide. And I have survived after such a disgrace. But, if I had not
+the courage of a father to defend his sons, I have left a heart to
+take vengeance and I shall be revenged! The discontented are uniting
+under my command, my enemies increase my camp, and on that day when
+I consider myself strong enough I will go down into the plain and
+extinguish in fire both my vengeance and my own existence. And that
+day will come or there is no God!"
+
+The old man rose to his feet deeply agitated. With his eyes sparkling
+like fire and, in a hollow voice, he added, tearing his long hair:
+
+"Curses upon me, curses upon me for having restrained the avenging
+hand of my sons. I have assassinated them! Had I allowed them to kill
+the criminal; had I had less faith in the justice of God and of men,
+I would now have my sons; perhaps they would have been fugitives,
+but I would have them and they would not have died in torture. I
+was not born to be a father! For that reason, I haven't them with
+me now! Curses upon me for not having learned, with all my years,
+in what age we live! But in blood and fire, and in my own death,
+I will know how to take vengeance for them!"
+
+The unfortunate father, in the paroxysm of his grief, had taken off
+the bandage from his head, opening up a wound which he had on the
+forehead and from which the blood oozed out.
+
+"I respect your grief," replied Elias, "and I understand your desire
+for vengeance. I, too, am like you, but, for fear of harming an
+innocent one, I prefer to forget my misfortunes."
+
+"You can forget them because you are young, and because you have
+not lost your son, have not lost your last hope! But, I assure you,
+I will not harm an innocent person. Do you see that wound? I allowed
+myself to receive that in order not to kill a poor cuaderillero who
+was fulfilling his duty."
+
+"But see!" said Elias, after a moment's silence. "See what frightful
+destruction you will bring upon our unfortunate country. If you seek
+revenge by your own hand your enemies will retaliate, not against
+you, not against those who are armed, but against the people, who
+are always accused, and then how many more injustices!"
+
+"Let the people learn to defend themselves. Let each learn to defend
+himself."
+
+"You know that that is impossible. Señor, I have known you in other
+times when you were happy, then you gave me wise advice. Will you
+permit me...?"
+
+The old man crossed his arms and seemed to meditate upon what he was
+going to say.
+
+"Señor," continued Elias, measuring his words well, "I have had the
+fortune to be of service to a young man, rich, of good heart, noble,
+and a lover of his country's welfare. They say that this young man
+has friends in Madrid. I do not know it, but I can positively assure
+you that he is a friend of the Governor General. What do you say if
+we make him the bearer of the people's complaints, if we can interest
+him in the cause of the unhappy?"
+
+The old man shook his head.
+
+"Do you say that he is a rich man? The rich think of nothing but to
+increase their riches. Pride and pomp blind them, and, since they are
+generally well off, especially if they have powerful friends, none
+of them ever troubles himself about the unfortunates. I know it all,
+for I was once rich myself."
+
+"But the man of whom I am speaking does not seem to be like the
+others. He is a son who would not allow the memory of his father to be
+dishonored. He is a young man who thinks about the future--thinks of
+a good future for his sons, for he may in a short time have a family
+of his own."
+
+"Then he is a man who is going to be happy. Our cause is not a cause
+for happy men."
+
+"But it is a cause for men of good hearts."
+
+"That may be," replied the old man sitting down. "Suppose that he
+consented to carry our complaints to the Governor General. Suppose
+that he finds in the court those who will argue for us. Do you think
+we will get justice?"
+
+"Let us try it before resorting to bloody measures," replied
+Elias. "It must seem strange to you that I, another unfortunate,
+young, robust--that I should propose to you old and weak--peaceful
+measures. But it is because I have seen so many miseries caused
+by us similar to those caused by tyrants. The unarmed is the one
+who suffers."
+
+"And if we do not accomplish anything?"
+
+"Something will be accomplished, believe me! Not all who govern are
+unjust. And if we do not accomplish anything, if our voice is not
+listened to, if the man turns a deaf ear to the grief of his fellow
+men, then we will put ourselves under your orders."
+
+The old man, full of enthusiasm, embraced the young man.
+
+"I accept your proposition, Elias. I know that you will keep your
+word. You come to me and I will help you take vengeance for your
+father. You will help me to take vengeance for my sons--my sons who
+were like you!"
+
+"In the meantime, Señor, avoid all violent measures."
+
+"You can expound the complaints of the people. You certainly know
+them. When will we know the answer?"
+
+"Within four days send a man to meet me on the beach at San Diego
+and I will tell him what the person in whom I have hope says. If he
+accepts, we will get justice, and if he does not accept, I will be
+the first to fall in the fight which we will begin."
+
+"Elias will not die. Elias will be chief, when Captain Pablo falls,
+satisfied in his revenge," said the old man.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII
+
+THE COCK FIGHT.
+
+
+In order to keep the Sabbath holy in the Philippines the people
+generally go to the cock fight, just as in Spain they go to the
+bull fight. Cock fighting, a passion introduced into the country and
+exploited for a century, is one of the vices of the people, more deeply
+rooted than the opium vice among the Chinese. The poor go there to
+risk what little they have, desirous of making money without working;
+the rich go there to amuse themselves, using the money which they
+have left over from their feasts and thanksgiving masses. The cock is
+educated with great care, with more care, perhaps, than the son who
+is to succeed his father in the cock-pit. The Government permits it
+and almost recommends it, for it decrees that the fight shall only
+be held in the public plazas and on holidays from after high mass
+till dark--eight hours.
+
+The San Diego cock-pit does not differ from others which are found in
+all the towns. It consists of three parts: The first, or entrance,
+is a large rectangle, some twenty meters in length and fourteen in
+breadth. On one side is the door, generally guarded by a woman who
+collects the entrance fee. From the contribution which each one
+makes the Government receives a part, some hundred thousands of
+pesos each year. They say that with this money, which gives license
+to the vice, magnificent schools are raised, bridges and roadways
+constructed, and rewards offered for the encouragement of agriculture
+and commerce. Blessed be the vice which produces such good results! In
+this first precinct are the vendors of betel nut, cigars and tobacco,
+delicacies and refreshments. There the small boys, who accompany their
+fathers or uncles, are carefully initiated into the secrets of life.
+
+This precinct communicates with another of slightly larger dimensions,
+a sort of vestibule, where the people gather before the fight. There,
+one sees most of the cocks, tied by a cord to a bone driven into the
+ground like a nail; there, are the bettors, the lovers of the sport,
+the man skilled in fastening the gaffs or spurs to the cock's legs;
+there, bargains are made, the situation discussed, money borrowed,
+and people curse, swear and laugh boisterously. In one place, some
+one is caressing his game cock, passing his hand over his brilliant
+plumage; in another, a man examines and counts the number of scales
+on the rooster's legs, for that, they say, is a sign of valor. The
+battles of the heroes are related. There, too, you will see many a
+disappointed owner, with a sour face carrying out by the legs, a dead
+rooster, stripped of its plumage--the animal which was a favorite
+for months, petted, cared for day and night, and on which flattering
+hopes had been founded: now, nothing more than a dead fowl, to be
+sold for a peseta, stewed in ginger and eaten that very night. Sic
+transit gloria mundi! The loser returns to his fire-side, where an
+anxious wife and ragged children await him, without his little capital,
+without his rooster. From all that gilded dream, from all the care of
+months, from daybreak to sunset, from all those labors and fatigue,
+from all that, results a peseta, the ashes left from so much smoke.
+
+In this foyer, or vestibule, the most ignorant discuss the coming
+contests; the most trifling, examine conscientiously the bird, weigh
+it, contemplate it, extend its wings, feel of its muscles. Some of
+the people are very well dressed, and are followed and surrounded by
+the backers of their game cocks. Others, dirty, with the seal of vice
+imprinted on their squalid faces, anxiously follow the movements of
+the rich and watch their betting, for the pocketbook can be emptied
+and the passion still be unsatisfied. There you see no face that is
+not animated, no indolent Filipino; none apathetic, none silent. All
+is movement, passion, eagerness.
+
+From this place, one passes into the arena or rueda, as it is
+called. The floor, inclosed by bamboos, is generally elevated higher
+than the floor of the other two parts of the cock-pit. Running up
+from the floor and almost touching the roof, are rows of seats for
+the spectators or gamblers--they come to be the same. During the
+combat these seats are filled with men and children who cry, shout,
+perspire, quarrel, and blaspheme. Fortunately, scarcely any women visit
+the cock-pit. In the rueda are the prominent men, the rich class,
+the bettors, the bookmaker, and the referee. The cocks fight on the
+ground, which is beaten down perfectly smooth, and there Destiny
+distributes to families laughter or tears, feasts or hunger.
+
+As we enter, we can see the gobernadorcillo, Captain Pablo, Captain
+Basilio, and Lucas, the man with the scar on his face who was so
+disconsolate over the death of his brother.
+
+Captain Basilio approaches one of those present and asks him:
+
+"Do you know what cock Captain Tiago is going to bring?"
+
+"I do not know, Señor. This morning two arrived, one of them the lásak
+(black sprinkled with white) which whipped the Consul's talisain
+(red, sprinkled with black)."
+
+"Do you think that my bulik (black, red and white), can beat him?"
+
+"Yes, I surely do. I'll stake my house and shirt on him!"
+
+At that moment Captain Tiago arrived. He was dressed, like the big
+gamblers, in a camisa of Canton linen, woolen pantaloons, and a
+panama-straw hat. Behind him came two servants, carrying the lásak
+and a white cock of colossal proportions.
+
+"Sinang tells me that Maria Clara is improving steadily," said
+Captain Basilio.
+
+"She no longer has any fever, but she is still weak."
+
+"Did you lose last night?"
+
+"A little. I heard that you won.... I am going to see if I can win
+back my money."
+
+"Do you want to fight your lásak?" asked Captain Basilio, looking at
+the rooster.
+
+"That depends on whether there is any money up."
+
+"How much will you stake?"
+
+"I don't play less than two thousand."
+
+"Have you seen my bulik?" asked Captain Basilio, and then called a
+man to bring a small rooster.
+
+Captain Tiago examined it, and after weighing it in his hand, and
+examining its scales, he handed it back.
+
+"What do you put up?" he asked.
+
+"Whatever you say."
+
+"Two thousand five hundred?"
+
+"Make it three?"
+
+"Three."
+
+"Let her go!"
+
+The circle of curious people and gamblers learn that the two celebrated
+cocks are to be fought. Both the roosters have made a history for
+themselves; both have a reputation. All want to see and examine the
+two celebrities. Opinions are expressed, and prophecies made.
+
+In the meantime the voices grow louder, the confusion is augmented, the
+rueda fills up and a rush is made for the seats. The soltadores bring
+two cocks to the ring for a preliminary contest. One of the roosters
+is blanco (white), the other rojo (red). They are already spurred, but
+the gaffs are not yet unsheathed. Cries of "Al blanco! al blanco!" are
+heard. Some one else shouts, "Al rojo!" The blanco is the favorite.
+
+Civil Guards circulate among the crowd. They are not wearing
+the uniform of their body, nor do they wear the costume of the
+native. Pantaloons of guingon with a red fringe, a blue-spotted blouse
+shirt, and the cuartel cap--you have here their disguise, in harmony
+with their deportment; watching and betting, making disturbance and
+talking of maintaining the peace.
+
+While the shouting is going on and men are jingling money in their
+hands; while the people are going down in their pockets for the last
+cuarto, or, if that is wanting, pledging their word, promising to
+sell their carabao, or their next harvest, two young men, apparently
+brothers, follow the gamblers with envious eyes. They approach, timidly
+murmur words which nobody catches, and each time become more and more
+melancholy, and look at each other with disgust and indignation. Lucas
+observes them, smiles malignantly, rattles some silver pesos, passes
+near to the two brothers, and looks toward the rueda, shouting:
+
+"I am betting fifty, fifty against twenty on the white!"
+
+The two brothers exchanged looks.
+
+"I told you," murmured the older, "not to bet all your money. If you
+had obeyed me, we would have it now to put on the red."
+
+The younger one approached Lucas timidly and touched him on the arm.
+
+"Is it you?" exclaimed the latter turning around and feigning
+surprise. "Does your brother accept my proposition or did you come
+to bet?"
+
+"How can we bet when we have lost all?"
+
+"Then you accept?"
+
+"He does not want to! If you could lend us something: you have already
+said that you knew us...."
+
+Lucas scratched his head, pulled down his camisa and replied:
+
+"Yes, I know you. You are Tarsilo and Bruno, both young and strong. I
+know that your brave father died from the result of the hundred
+lashes which the soldiers gave him. I know that you do not think of
+avenging him."
+
+"You need not meddle in our history," interrupted Tarsilo, the
+older. "That is a disgrace. If we did not have a sister, we would
+have been hanged long ago."
+
+"Hanged? They only hang cowards, or some one who has no money or
+protection. Certainly the mountains are near."
+
+"A hundred against twenty on the blanco," cried one as he passed
+the group.
+
+"Loan us four pesos ... three ... two," begged the younger
+brother. "Presently I will return it to you doubled. The fight is
+going to begin."
+
+Lucas scratched his head again.
+
+"Tst! This money is not mine. Don Crisostomo has given it to me for
+those who want to serve him. But I see that you are not like your
+father. He was really courageous."
+
+And, saying this, he went away from them, although not far.
+
+"Let us accept. What does it matter?" said Bruno to his brother. "It
+amounts to the same thing whether you are hanged or shot down. We
+poor serve for nothing else."
+
+"You are right, but think of our sister."
+
+In the meantime, the circle around the ring had been dispersed; the
+fight was going to commence. The voices began to die away, and the
+two soltadores and the skilled gaff fitter, were alone in the middle
+of the rueda. At a signal from the referee, the sheaths were removed
+from the razor-like knives on the cocks' legs, and the fine blades
+glistened in a menacing way.
+
+The two brothers, gloomy and silent, approached the ring and, resting
+their faces against the bamboo railing, watched the preparations. A man
+approached them and said in their ears: "Hundred to ten on the blanco!"
+
+Tarsilo looked at him stupidly. Bruno elbowed his brother, who
+responded with a grunt.
+
+The soltadores handle the roosters with masterly skill, taking
+great care not to wound them. A deep silence reigns throughout the
+pit. You would think that those present, with the exception of the two
+soltadores, were horrible wax figures. The two roosters are brought
+close together and allowed to pick at each other and thus become
+irritated. Then they allow them to look at each other, so that the
+poor little birds may know who has plucked out their feathers, and
+with whom they should fight. The feathers around the neck stand up;
+they look at each other fixedly; flashes of wrath escape from their
+little, round eyes. The moment has come. The birds are placed on the
+ground in the ring at a certain distance from each other.
+
+The cocks advance slowly. Their little steps are heard upon the hard
+floor. Nobody speaks; nobody breathes. Lowering and raising their
+heads, as if measuring each other with a look, the two roosters mutter
+sounds, perhaps of threat or contempt. They have perceived the shining
+blades. Danger animates them, and they turn toward each other decided,
+but they stop at a short distance, and, as they look at each other,
+they bow their heads and again raise their feathers on end. With
+their natural valor, they rush at each other impetuously; they strike
+beak against beak; breast against breast, blade against blade, and
+wing against wing. The blows have been stopped with dexterity and
+skill, and only a few feathers have fallen. They again measure each
+other! Suddenly the blanco turns and, raising himself in the air,
+flashes his death-dealing knife, but the rojo has already doubled up
+his legs, ducked his head and the blanco has only cut the air. Then,
+on touching the ground, to avoid being wounded from behind, he turns
+quickly and faces the other. The red attacks him with fury, but he
+defends himself with coolness. Not without reason was he the favorite
+of the crowd. All, trembling and anxious, follow the movements of
+the battle, now this one and now that one giving an involuntary
+shout. The ground is being covered with red and white feathers,
+tinged with blood. But the duel does not go to the one who draws first
+blood. The Filipino here follows the laws laid down by the Government,
+which say that the cock which is killed or flees loses the fight. The
+blood now wets the ground; the blows are repeated, but the victory
+is still undecided. Finally, making a supreme effort, the blanco
+throws himself forward to give a last blow; he drives his knife into
+the wing of the rojo and buries it among the bones. But the blanco
+has been wounded in the breast, and both, weak from loss of blood,
+and panting, fastened together, remain immovable until the blanco
+falls, bleeds through his neck, kicks violently and is in the agony
+of death. The rojo, pinned by his wing, is held to the other's side;
+and little by little he doubles up his legs and slowly closes his eyes.
+
+Then the referee, in accordance with the regulations prescribed by
+the Government, declares the rojo the winner. A wild and prolonged
+outcry greets the decision, an outcry which is heard throughout
+the town. He, who, from afar, hears the cry, understands that the
+dejado has beaten the favorite, for otherwise the outcry would not
+have lasted so long. So it happens among nations: when a small nation
+succeeds in gaining a victory over a greater one, the song and story
+of it last through centuries.
+
+"Do you see?" said Bruno, with indignation, to his brother, "if you
+had taken my advice to-day, we would have had one hundred pesos. On
+your account we are without a cuarto."
+
+Tarsilo did not reply, but, with wide-open eyes, looked around him
+as if in search of some one.
+
+"There he is talking with Pedro," added Bruno. "He is giving him
+money--what a lot of money!"
+
+Tarsilo remained silent and thoughtful. With the arm of his camisa,
+he wiped away the sweat which formed in drops on his forehead.
+
+"Brother," said Bruno, "I am decided, even if you are not. The lásak
+ought to win and we ought not to lose the opportunity. I want to bet on
+the next fight. What does it matter? Thus, we will avenge our father."
+
+"Wait!" said Tarsilo to him, and looked him in the eyes. Both were
+pale. "I am with you. You are right. We will avenge our father."
+
+He stopped, however, and again wiped away the perspiration.
+
+"Why do you stop?" asked Bruno impatiently.
+
+"Do you know what fight is the next one? Is it worth the trouble?"
+
+"What! Haven't you heard? Captain Tiago's lásak against Captain
+Basilio's bulik. According to the run of luck, the lásak ought to win."
+
+"Ah! The lásak. I would bet ... but let us make sure first."
+
+Bruno made a gesture of impatience, but followed his brother. The
+latter looked the rooster over carefully, thought about it, debated
+with himself and asked a few questions. The unfortunate fellow was
+in doubt. Bruno was nervous and looked at him angrily.
+
+"Why, don't you see that wide scale which he has there near the
+spur? Do you see those feet? What more do you want? Look at those
+legs. Stretch out his wings. And that broken scale on top of that
+wide one, and that double one?"
+
+Tarsilo did not hear him, he kept on examining the cock. The rattle
+of silver coins reached his ears.
+
+"Let us see the bulik now," said he, in a choking voice.
+
+Bruno stamped the ground with his feet, grated his teeth, but obeyed
+his brother.
+
+They approached the other group. There they were arming the cock,
+they were selecting gaffs for him, and the expert, in fitting them
+to the rooster's legs, was preparing a piece of red silk. He waxed
+it and rubbed it over his knee a number of times.
+
+Tarsilo gazed at the bird with a sombre air. It seemed that he was
+not looking at the cock, but at something in the future. He passed
+his hand over his forehead.
+
+"Are you ready?" he asked his brother, his voice scarcely perceptible.
+
+"I? Long ago. Without having to see them."
+
+"It is our poor sister----"
+
+"Bah! Didn't they tell you that the leader is Don Crisostomo? Have
+you not seen him walking with the Governor General? What danger will
+we run?"
+
+"And if we are killed?"
+
+"What does it matter? Our father died from being whipped to death."
+
+"You are right."
+
+Both brothers sought Lucas in the crowd.
+
+As soon as they caught sight of him, Tarsilo stopped.
+
+"No! Let us go away from here! We are going to lose," he exclaimed.
+
+"Go if you wish. I am going to accept."
+
+"Bruno!"
+
+Unfortunately, a man approached them and said:
+
+"Are you betting? I am backing the bulik."
+
+The two brothers did not reply.
+
+"I'll give you odds."
+
+"How much?" asked Bruno.
+
+The man counted out four peso pieces. Bruno looked at him, breathless.
+
+"I have two hundred. Fifty to forty."
+
+"No," said Bruno promptly. "Make it ..."
+
+"All right! fifty to thirty."
+
+"Double it if you wish!"
+
+"Well! The bulik is my winning color and I have just won. Hundred
+against sixty!"
+
+"That's a go! Wait till I go and get my money."
+
+"But I will be the stake-holder," said the other, in whom the manner
+of Bruno inspired little confidence.
+
+"It's all the same to me!" responded the latter, trusting in the
+strength of his fists.
+
+And, turning to his brother, he said:
+
+"Go away, if you wish; I'm going to stay."
+
+Then Tarsilo reflected. He loved his brother and the game. He could
+not leave him alone, and he murmured. "Let it be so!"
+
+They approached Lucas. The latter saw them coming and smiled.
+
+"Eh! there!" said Tarsilo.
+
+"What is it?"
+
+"How much do you give?" asked the two brothers.
+
+"I have already told you. If you want to find some others to help
+us surprise the cuartel, I will give you thirty pesos apiece, and
+ten pesos for each companion you get. If all comes out well, each
+will receive one hundred pesos and you two, double that amount. Don
+Crisostomo is rich."
+
+"Accepted," exclaimed Bruno. "Hand over the money."
+
+"I knew well that you were brave, like your father. Come! Don't
+let them hear us or they will kill us," said Lucas, pointing to the
+Civil Guards.
+
+And taking them into a corner, he told them, as he counted out the
+money to them:
+
+"To-morrow Don Crisostomo will arrive and bring arms. Day after
+to-morrow, about eight o'clock at night, come to the cemetery. I
+will tell you about the final arrangements. You have time to find
+some other companions."
+
+They took leave of each other. Now the two brothers seemed to have
+changed their rôles. Tarsilo was calm; Bruno, pale.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII
+
+THE TWO SEÑORAS.
+
+
+While Captain Tiago was fighting his lásak against the bulik,
+Doña Victorina took a walk through the town, with the intention of
+seeing the condition of the indolent natives, and of their houses
+and fields. She had dressed as elegantly as she could, putting all
+her ribbons and flowers on her silk gown, in order to impress the
+provincials, and make them see how great a distance was between
+them and her sacred person. Giving her arm to her lame husband, she
+fluttered through the streets of the town, among the stupefied and
+wondering inhabitants. Cousin Linares had remained in the house.
+
+"What ugly houses these natives have," began Doña Victorina, making a
+grimace. "I don't know how they can live there: one must be a native
+to do it. They meet us and don't uncover their heads! Hit them over
+the head as the curates and tenientes of the Guardia Civil do when
+they don't take off their hats. Teach them manners."
+
+"And if they hit me?" asked Dr. de Espadaña.
+
+"Aren't you a man?"
+
+"Bu--bu--but, I am la--la--lame."
+
+Doña Victorina was becoming bad-humored. The streets were not paved,
+and the train of her gown was covered with dust. Besides, they met many
+young women, who, on passing her, cast down their eyes and did not
+admire her lavish dress as they should have done. Sinang's coachman,
+who was driving her and her cousin in an elegant carriage, had the
+impudence to call out tabi [20] to them in such a warning voice
+that she had to get out of the way, and was only able to exclaim,
+"Look at that brute of a coachman! I am going to tell his master that
+he should educate his servants better!"
+
+"Let us go back to the house," she ordered her husband.
+
+He, fearing that there was going to be a storm, turned on his heels
+and obeyed the command.
+
+They met the alferez on the way back and greeted him. He increased
+the discontent of Doña Victorina, for he not only failed to compliment
+her on her dress, but surveyed it almost with a mocking manner.
+
+"You ought not to extend your hand to a simple alferez," said she
+to her husband as soon as they were some distance away. "He scarcely
+touches his helmet, and you take off your hat. You don't know how to
+maintain your rank."
+
+"He is ch--ch--chief here!"
+
+"And what does that matter to us? Are we, perchance, natives?"
+
+"You are right," replied he, not wishing to quarrel.
+
+They passed by the officer's house. Doña Consolacion was in the window,
+as usual, dressed in her flannel outfit and smoking her cigar. As
+the house was rather low, they could see each other as they passed,
+and Doña Victorina could distinguish her very well. The Muse of the
+Guardia Civil examined her with tranquillity from head to foot, and,
+afterward, sticking out her lower lip, spit, turning her face to the
+other side. That put an end to Doña Victorina's patience, and, leaving
+her husband without any support, she squared herself in front of the
+alfereza, trembling with rage, and unable to speak. Doña Consolacion
+turned her head slowly, looked her over again, and then spit again,
+but with still greater disdain.
+
+"What is the matter with you, Doña?" said the alfereza.
+
+"Can you tell me, Señora, why you look at me so? Are you envious?" Doña
+Victorina finally succeeded in saying.
+
+"I envious of you?" said the Medusa with scorn. "O, yes! I envy
+those curls."
+
+"Come, wife!" said the doctor. "Do--don't take no--no--notice of her!"
+
+"Let me give this shameless common person a lesson!" replied the woman,
+giving her husband a push. He nearly fell to the ground. Turning to
+Doña Consolacion, she continued:
+
+"Look how you treat me! Don't think that I am a provincial, or a
+soldiers' querida! In my house in Manila alferezas never are allowed
+to come in. They wait at the door."
+
+"Oh-oh! Most Excellent Señora! Alferezas don't enter, but invalids
+like that out there. Ha, ha, ha!"
+
+If it hadn't been for all the paint on her face, one could have seen
+Doña Victorina blush. She wanted to throw herself upon her enemy,
+but the sentry stopped her. In the meantime, the street was filling
+up with curious people.
+
+"Listen! I lower myself talking with you. People of categoría ... Do
+you want my clothes to wash? I will pay you well. Do you think that
+I don't know that you are a washerwoman?"
+
+Doña Consolacion became furious. The reference to her being a
+washerwoman wounded her.
+
+"Do you think that we do not know what you are? Get out! My husband has
+already told me. Señora, I, at least, have not belonged to more than
+one man, but you? One must be pretty hard up to take the leavings."
+
+This shot struck Doña Victorina square in the breast. She rolled up
+her sleeves, clenched her fists, and, gnashing her teeth, began:
+
+"Come down here, you nasty old thing, that I may smash your filthy
+mouth."
+
+The Medusa disappeared quickly from the window, but was soon seen
+coming down the stairs on a run, swinging her husband's whip.
+
+Don Tiburcio interposed, pleading with them, but they would have come
+to blows if the alferez had not arrived.
+
+"But, señoras!... Don Tiburcio!"
+
+"Teach your woman better; buy her better clothes. If you haven't
+the money, rob the people. You have your soldiers for that!" shouted
+Doña Victorina.
+
+"Señora," said the alferez furiously. "Thank yourself that I don't
+forget that you are a woman; for if you were not, I would kick you
+to pieces, with all your curls and ribbons."
+
+"Se--se--señor al--alferez!" said Don Tiburcio.
+
+"Go ahead! Kill us! You don't wear big enough trousers, you quack."
+
+And so the battle waged: words, gestures, cries, insults, and
+injuries. They brought out all the nasty things they could think of,
+all four speaking at the same time, and, saying so many things and
+bringing to light so many truths, that we will not relate here all
+that was said. The people who had gathered around to satisfy their
+curiosity, if they understood all the remarks, must have enjoyed
+themselves not a little. They were all waiting to see them come to
+blows. Unfortunately for the spectators, the curate came along and
+pacified them.
+
+"Señoras! señoras! What a shame. Señor alferez."
+
+"What are you meddling in these matters for, you hypocrite, you
+Carlist?"
+
+"Don Tiburcio, take away your wife! Señora, hold your tongue!"
+
+"Tell that to those robbers of the poor!"
+
+Finally, the dictionary of epithets was exhausted. The review of the
+disgraces of each couple was ended, and little by little they were
+separated, threatening and insulting each other. Father Salví kept
+going from one side to the other, adding life to the scene.
+
+"This very day we will go to Manila and we will present ourselves
+to the Governor General," said Doña Victorina, in fury to her
+husband. "You are not a man. It is a shame that you spend money
+for trousers."
+
+"B--b--but, wife, and the Guardia Civil? I--I--am lame."
+
+"You must challenge him to a duel with pistol or sword or, or----"
+
+And Doña Victorina looked at his false teeth.
+
+"Daughter, I never have used----"
+
+Doña Victorina did not let him finish. With a sublime movement she
+jerked out his false teeth in the middle of the street, and throwing
+them to the ground stepped on them. He, half crying, and she sputtering
+away, arrived at the house. At that time, Linares was talking with
+Maria Clara, Sinang, and Victoria, and, as he knew nothing about the
+quarrel, the sudden arrival of his cousins gave him a shock. Maria
+Clara was lying on a sofa among pillows and blankets, and was not a
+little surprised at the doctor's new physiognomy.
+
+"Cousin," said Doña Victorina, "you have got to challenge the alferez
+immediately to a duel, or----"
+
+"And why? what for?" asked Linares, surprised.
+
+"You challenge him right off, or I will tell them all who you are."
+
+"But, Doña Victorina!"
+
+The three young women looked at one another.
+
+"The alferez has insulted us. The old witch came down with her whip,
+and that thing there allowed it all. A man!"
+
+"Pshaw!" said Sinang. "They have been fighting and we haven't seen it."
+
+"The alferez has broken the doctor's teeth," added Victoria.
+
+"This very day we are going to Manila. You stay here to challenge
+him to a duel, and, if you don't, I'll tell Don Santiago that all
+that you have told him is a lie. I will tell him----"
+
+"But, Doña Victorina! Doña Victorina!" interrupted Linares, pale
+and going closer to her. "You keep quiet. Don't make me call to
+mind"----and he added in a low voice--"Don't be imprudent, especially
+just now."
+
+Just at that time, when this was going on, Captain Tiago arrived home
+from the cock-pit. He was downhearted. He had lost his lásak.
+
+But Doña Victorina did not give him much time to sigh. In a few
+words, and with many insults, she related to him what had passed,
+she, of course, trying to put herself in a good light.
+
+"Linares is going to challenge him. Do you hear? If he don't, I won't
+let him marry your daughter. Don't you permit it. If he has no courage,
+he does not merit Clarita."
+
+"Then you are going to marry this gentleman?" asked Sinang, with her
+jolly eyes full of tears. "I knew that you were discreet, but I did
+not think you so fickle."
+
+Maria Clara, pale as wax, raising herself half up, looked at her father
+with frightened eyes, and then at Doña Victorina and Linares. The
+latter turned red in the face, Captain Tiago looked down, and the
+señora added:
+
+"Clarita, bear it in mind, and never marry a man who does not wear
+trousers. You expose yourself to insults like a dog, if you do."
+
+But the young maiden did not reply and said to her friends:
+
+"Take me to my room, for I cannot go alone."
+
+They helped her to her feet, and, leaning her marble-like head on
+pretty Sinang's shoulder, and, with the arms of her friend around
+her waist, she went to her bedroom.
+
+That night the doctor and his wife collected their things together,
+submitted their account to Captain Tiago--which amounted to several
+thousand pesos--and very early on the following day, left for Manila
+in the Captain's carriage. To timid Linares they intrusted the rôle
+of the avenger.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX
+
+THE ENIGMA.
+
+
+As Lucas had announced, Ibarra arrived the next day. His first visit
+was to the family of Captain Tiago, with the object of seeing Maria
+Clara and telling her that His Most Illustrious Greatness had already
+reconciled him with the Church. He brought a letter of recommendation
+to the curate, written by the hand of the Archbishop himself. Aunt
+Isabel was not a little delighted over it, for she liked the young
+man and did not look favorably upon the marriage of her niece with
+Linares. Captain Tiago was not at home.
+
+"Come in," said the aunt in her half-Castellano language. "Maria,
+Don Crisostomo is again in the grace of God. The Archbishop has
+dis-excommunicated him."
+
+But the young man could not advance. His smile froze on his lips, and
+words fled from his mind. Linares was standing next to Maria Clara on
+the balcony, interweaving nosegays with the flowers and leaves on the
+climbing plants. On the floor, were scattered roses and sampagas. Maria
+Clara was leaning back on a sofa, pale, pensive, her look sad, playing
+with her ivory fan. But the fan was not as white as her poor fingers.
+
+At the presence of Ibarra, Linares turned pale and Maria Clara's
+cheeks were tinged with carmine. She tried to rise, but her strength
+failing her, she cast her eyes upon the floor, and let fall her fan.
+
+An embarrassing silence reigned for several seconds. Finally, Ibarra
+was able to advance, and tremblingly murmured:
+
+"I have just arrived and have hastened to see you.... I find that
+you are better than I thought."
+
+Maria Clara seemed to have turned dumb. She could not pronounce a
+single word, and continued to keep her eyes on the floor.
+
+Ibarra surveyed Linares with a look which the modest young man bore
+with considerable haughtiness.
+
+"Well, I see that my arrival was not expected," he said slowly. "Maria,
+pardon me for not having announced my coming. Some other day I will
+be able to explain to you my conduct."
+
+These words were accompanied with a look at Linares. The maiden
+raised her eyes to Ibarra, those beautiful eyes, full of purity and
+melancholy, so supplicating and sweet that Ibarra stopped confused.
+
+"May I come to-morrow?"
+
+"You know that on my part you are always welcome," replied she,
+scarcely able to pronounce the words.
+
+Ibarra walked away, apparently tranquil; but a tempest raged in his
+mind, and his heart was chilled. What he had just seen and felt was
+incomprehensible. What was it? Doubt, apathy or treason?
+
+"Oh, woman!" he murmured.
+
+He arrived, without noticing it, at the place where the school house
+was being constructed. The work was well along. Ñor Juan, with his
+yard stick and plumb-line, was going to and fro among the numerous
+workmen. On seeing the young man approach, he ran to meet him.
+
+"Don Crisostomo," said he, "you have arrived at last. We were all
+expecting you. Just see how the walls are rising. They are already
+a meter and ten centimeters high. Within two days, they will be as
+high as a man. I have not allowed them to use anything but the best
+of wood. Do you want to look at the cellar?"
+
+The workmen saluted him respectfully.
+
+"Here is the system of drainage which I have taken the liberty to
+add," said Ñor Juan. "These underground canals lead to a cesspool
+about thirty feet off. It will serve to fertilize the garden. This
+was not in the plans. Do you object to it?"
+
+"Quite on the contrary, I approve of it and I congratulate you on
+your idea. You are a true architect. From whom did you learn the
+profession?"
+
+"From myself, señor," replied the modest old man.
+
+"O, yes! Before I forget it: let the scrupulous people know (for
+some may fear to speak to me) that I am no longer excommunicated. The
+Archbishop invited me to dine with him."
+
+"Pshaw! señor! We don't take any notice of excommunications. We are
+all excommunicated. Dather Dámaso is himself; however, he goes on,
+as fat as ever."
+
+"How's that?"
+
+"I feel sure about it. A year ago he gave the coadjutor a blow with
+his cane, and the coadjutor is as much a priest as he. Who takes any
+notice of excommunications, señor?"
+
+Ibarra caught sight of Elias among the workmen. He saluted him like
+the others, but with a look that gave Ibarra to understand that he
+wanted to speak with him.
+
+"Ñor Juan," said Ibarra, "will you bring me a list of the workmen?"
+
+Ñor Juan disappeared and Ibarra approached Elias, who was alone,
+raising a large stone and loading it in a cart.
+
+"If you are able, señor, to grant me some hours of conversation, come
+this afternoon to the shore of the lake and embark in my banca, for I
+want to talk with you about some serious matters," said Elias. Ibarra
+gave a nod of assent and went away.
+
+Ñor Juan brought the list, but Ibarra read it in vain. The name of
+Elias was not on it.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX
+
+THE VOICE OF THE PERSECUTED.
+
+
+Before the sun went down, Ibarra put his foot into Elias's banca
+on the shore of the lake. He seemed displeased about something,
+as though he had been opposed or contradicted.
+
+"Pardon me, señor," said Elias on seeing him. "Pardon me for having
+ventured to make this appointment with you. I would like to speak
+with you freely, and here we have no witnesses. We can return within
+an hour."
+
+"You are mistaken, friend Elias," replied Ibarra, trying to smile. "You
+will have to take me to that town over there, where you see that
+belfry. Fate obliges me to go there."
+
+"Fate?"
+
+"Yes; on my way here, I met the alferez. He insisted upon accompanying
+me. I thought about you, and knew that he would recognize you, and, in
+order to get rid of him, I told him that I was going to that town. Now
+I will have to remain there all day to-morrow, for the man whom I am
+going to see will not look for me till to-morrow afternoon."
+
+"I am obliged to you for your thoughtfulness, but you might have
+simply told him to accompany you," replied Elias with naturalness.
+
+"How's that? And what about you?"
+
+"He would never have recognized me. The only time that he ever saw me,
+I don't believe that he thought to take down a description of me."
+
+"I am in hard luck!" sighed Ibarra, thinking of Maria Clara. "What
+have you to say to me?"
+
+Elias looked around him. They were far from the shore. The sun
+had already sunk below the horizon, and, as the twilight in these
+latitudes is very short, the darkness was falling over the earth,
+and the disk of the full moon was already shining.
+
+"Señor," replied Elias, in a grave voice, "I am the spokesman of many
+unfortunate people."
+
+"Unfortunate people. What do you mean?"
+
+In a few words, Elias referred to the conversation which he had had
+with the chief of the tulisanes, but omitted saying anything about the
+doubts which the chief entertained, or the threats. Ibarra listened
+attentively, and, when Elias concluded his story, a long silence
+reigned. Ibarra was the first to break the spell.
+
+"So that they desire----?"
+
+"Radical reforms in the armed forces, in the religious matters,
+and in the administration of justice. That is to say, they ask for
+paternal care on the part of the Government."
+
+"Reforms? In what sense?"
+
+"For example: more respect for human dignity; more security for the
+individual; less power in the hands of the forces already armed;
+fewer privileges for that body which easily abuses them."
+
+"Elias," replied the young man, "I don't know who you are, but
+I believe that you are not an ordinary man. You think and work
+differently from the others. You will understand me if I say to
+you that, even if it is true that the present state of affairs is
+defective, there will be a worse state if there is a change. I could
+arrange to get the assistance of my friends in Madrid, by paying
+them. I could speak to the Governor General, but all of that would
+accomplish nothing. He has not enough power to introduce reforms,
+nor would I ever take a step in that direction, for I know very well
+that, if it is true that these religious corporations have their
+defects, they are now necessities. They are what you might call a
+necessary evil."
+
+Elias raised his head and looked astonished.
+
+"Do you believe, señor, in necessary evils?" he asked, his voice
+slightly trembling. "Do you believe that in order to do good it is
+necessary to do evil?"
+
+"No. I look upon it as a violent remedy which we have to make use of
+to cure an illness. To illustrate further, the country is an organism
+which is suffering from a chronic illness, and, in order to cure it,
+the Government finds itself compelled to use medicines, hard and
+violent, if you wish, but useful and necessary."
+
+"He is a bad doctor, señor, who seeks to cure the symptoms and suppress
+them without trying to find the origin of the illness, or knowing it,
+fears to attack it. The Guardia Civil has no other end than this:
+the suppression of crime by terror and force. This end it neither
+fulfills nor carries out except in chance instances. And you have
+to take into account that society can be severe with individuals
+only after she has furnished all means necessary for their perfect
+morality. In our country, since there is no society, since the
+people and the Government do not form a unity, the latter ought to
+be indulgent, not only because indulgence is necessary, but because
+the individual, neglected and abandoned by Government, has less self
+responsibility than if he had been enlightened. Besides, following out
+your comparison, the medicine applied to the evils of the country is
+so much of a destroyer that its effect is only felt on the sane parts
+of the organism. These it weakens and injures. Would it not be more
+reasonable to fortify and strengthen the infirm organism and minimize
+a little the violence of the medicine?"
+
+"To weaken the Guardia Civil would be to put the security of the
+towns in danger."
+
+"The security of the towns!" exclaimed Elias with bitterness. "The
+towns have had the Guardia Civil for nearly fifteen years and
+what is the result? We still have tulisanes, we still hear of them
+sacking towns, and they still make their attacks on people on the
+roads. Robberies continue and the robbers are not punished. Crime
+exists and the real criminal goes free, but not so with the peaceful
+inhabitants of the town. Ask any honorable citizen if he looks upon
+this institution as a good, as a protection by the Government, or
+as an imposition, a despotism whose excesses do more harm than the
+violence of the criminals. Communication between people is paralyzed,
+for they fear to be maltreated for trifling causes. More importance
+is attached to the formality of the law than to the basal principle
+of it,--the first symptom of incapacity in government. The heads of
+the organization consider it their first duty to make people salute
+them, either of their own will or by force, even in the darkness of
+night. In this, their inferior officers imitate them and maltreat
+and fleece the poor countrymen. There is no such thing as sacredness
+of the fireside. There is no security for the individual. What have
+the people accomplished by overcoming their wrath and by waiting for
+justice at the hands of others? Ah! señor, if you call that preserving
+the order----"
+
+"I agree with you that there are evils," replied Ibarra. "But we
+have to accept those evils for the good which accompanies them. This
+institution may be imperfect, but believe me, by the terror which it
+inspires, it prevents the number of criminals from increasing."
+
+"You might better say that by that terror it increases the number
+of criminals," said Elias, correcting him. "Before this body was
+created, almost all the evildoers, with the exception of a very few,
+were criminals because of their hunger. They pillaged and robbed in
+order to live. That famine once passed over and hunger once satisfied,
+the roads were again free from criminals. It was sufficient to have
+the poor but valiant cuaderilleros chase them, with their imperfect
+arms--that body of men so often calumniated by those who have written
+upon our country, those men who have three legal rights, to do their
+duty, to fight and to die. And for all that, a jest as recompense. Now
+there are tulisanes who will be tulisanes all their lives. A crime
+inhumanly punished, resistance against the excesses of the power
+which inflicts such punishment, and fear that other atrocities may
+be inflicted--these make them forever members of that society who
+are bound by oath to kill and die [21]. The terrorism of the Guardia
+Civil impressed upon them closes forever the doors to repentance. And
+as a tulisan fights and defends himself in the mountains better than
+a soldier, whom he scorns, the result is that we are incapable of
+abating the evil which we have created. Call to mind what the prudent
+Governor General de la Torre did. The amnesty which he granted to
+these unhappy people has proved that in these mountains the hearts
+of men still beat, and only await pardon. Terrorism is useful only
+when the people are enslaved, when the mountains have no caverns,
+when the governing power can station a sentry behind every tree, and
+when the slave has in his body nothing but a stomach. But when the
+desperado who fights for his life feels the strong arm of that power,
+then his heart beats and his being fills with passion. Can terrorism
+put out the fire which----"
+
+"It confuses me, Elias, to hear you talk so. I would believe that
+you were right if I did not have my own convictions. But note this
+point--and do not be offended, for I do not include you--I look
+upon you as an exception--consider who those are who ask for this
+reform. Almost all are criminals or people who are in the way of
+becoming such."
+
+"Criminals or future criminals; but why are they so? Because their
+peace has been disturbed, their happiness taken away from them,
+their dearest affections wounded, and, after asking protection from
+Justice, they have been convinced that they can secure it only by
+their own hands, by their own efforts. But you are mistaken, señor,
+if you believe that only criminals ask for it. Go from town to town,
+from house to house. Listen to the secret sighings of the family and
+you will be convinced that the evils which the Guardia Civil causes
+are equal to if not greater than those which it corrects. Would you
+conclude then that all the citizens are criminals? Then, why defend
+them from the others? Why not destroy them?"
+
+"There is some flaw in your reasoning which escapes me now. In Spain,
+the Mother Country, this body lends and has lent very useful services."
+
+"I do not doubt it. Perhaps there it is better organized; the personnel
+more select. Perhaps, too, Spain needs such a body, but the Philippines
+do not. Our customs, our mode of living, which are always cited when
+any one wants to deny us a right, are totally forgotten when some
+one wants to impose something on us. And tell me, señor, why have not
+other nations adopted this institution, other nations which resemble
+Spain more than do the Philippines? Is it due to the efforts of such an
+institution that other nations have fewer robberies of the railways,
+fewer riots, fewer assassinations, and less hand-to-hand fighting in
+their great capitals?"
+
+Ibarra bowed his head in meditation. Afterward he raised it and
+replied:
+
+"That question, my friend, needs serious study. If my investigations
+tell me that these complaints are well founded, I will write to my
+friends in Madrid, since we have no deputies to represent us. In the
+meantime, believe me, the Government needs a body like the Guardia
+Civil, which has unlimited power, in order to make the people respect
+its authority and the laws imposed."
+
+"That would be all right, señor, if the Government were at war
+with the country; but, for the good of the Government, we ought
+not to make the people believe that they are in opposition to the
+law. Furthermore, if that were the case, if we preferred force to
+prestige, we ought to look well to whom we give this unlimited force
+or power, this authority. Such great power in the hands of men, and
+ignorant men at that, men full of passion, without moral education,
+without tested honor--such a thing is a weapon in the hands of a
+maniac in a multitude of unarmed people. I grant and I will agree
+with you that the Government needs this weapon, but let it choose
+that weapon well; let it choose the most worthy men to bear it."
+
+Elias was speaking with enthusiasm and with fervor. His eyes glistened
+and his voice vibrated. Then followed a solemn pause. The banca, no
+longer propelled by the paddle, floated tranquilly on the waves. The
+moon was shining majestically from a sapphire sky. Some lights were
+glimmering on the shore.
+
+"And what more do they ask?" said Ibarra.
+
+"Reforms in the priesthood," responded Elias, in a discouraged and
+sad tone of voice. "The unfortunates ask more protection against----"
+
+"Against the religious orders?"
+
+"Against their oppressors, señor."
+
+"Have the Filipinos forgotten what they owe to these orders? Have they
+forgotten the immense debt of gratitude they owe to them for having
+saved them from error and given them the Faith? What they owe to them
+for protection against the civil power? Here is one of the evils which
+result from not teaching the history of the country in our schools."
+
+Elias, surprised, could scarcely give credit to what he heard.
+
+"Señor," he replied in a grave voice. "You accuse the people of
+ingratitude: permit me, one of those who suffer, to defend the
+people. Favors, in order to be recognized as such, must be done by
+persons with disinterested motives. Let us consider in a general
+way the mission of the orders, of Christian charity, that threadbare
+subject. Let us lay history aside. Let us not ask what Spain did with
+the Jews, who gave all Europe a Book, a religion and a God! Let us not
+ask what Spain has done with the Arabic people who gave her culture,
+who were tolerant in religion and who reawakened in her a pure national
+love, fallen into lethargy and almost destroyed by the domination of
+Romans and Goths. Let us omit all that. Do you say that these orders
+have given us the Faith and have saved us from error? Do you call those
+outward ceremonies, faith? Do you call that commerce in straps and
+scapularies religion? Do you call those miracles and stories which we
+hear every day truth? Is that the law of Jesus Christ? To teach such
+a faith as this it was not at all necessary that a God should allow
+himself to be crucified. Superstition existed long before the friars
+came here; it was only necessary to perfect it and to raise the price
+of the traffic. Will you tell me that although our religion of to-day
+is imperfect, it is better than that which we had before? I will agree
+with you in that and grant it; but we have purchased it at too high
+a price if we have had to renounce our nationality and independence
+for it; when for it, we have given to the priests our best towns,
+our fields, and still give them our little savings in order to buy
+religious objects. A foreign industry has been introduced among us;
+we pay well for it, and are in peace. If you speak of the protection
+they have afforded us against the civil governors of the provinces,
+I would reply that through them we fall under the power of these
+governors. However, I recognize that a true Faith, and a true love
+for humanity guided the first missionaries who came to our shores. I
+recognize the debt of gratitude which is due those noble hearts. I
+know that in those days Spain abounded in heroes of all kinds, as well
+in religion as in politics, as well in civil life as in military. But
+because the forefathers were virtuous, should we consent to the abuses
+practiced by their degenerate descendants? Because a great good has
+been done for us, are we guilty if we prevent ourselves from being
+harmed? The country does not ask for abolition of the priesthood; it
+only asks for reforms which new circumstances and new needs require."
+
+"I love our country as you love it, Elias. I understand to some
+extent what you desire. I have heard with attention what you have
+said; yet, despite all of that, my friend, I believe we are looking
+upon it with a little prejudice. Here, less than in other things,
+I see the necessity of reforms."
+
+"Can it be possible, señor," said Elias, discouraged and stretching
+out his hands. "Do you not see the necessity of reforms, you whose
+family----"
+
+"Ah! I forget myself and I forget my own injuries for the sake of
+the security of the Philippines, for the sake of the interests of
+Spain," interrupted Ibarra eagerly. "To preserve the Philippines it
+is necessary that the friars continue as they are, and in union with
+Spain lies the welfare of our country."
+
+Ibarra had ceased speaking, but Elias continued to listen. His face
+was sad, his eyes had lost their brilliancy.
+
+"The missionaries conquered the country, it is true," he said. "Do
+you think that Spain will be able to keep the Philippines through
+the instrumentality of the friars?"
+
+"Yes, only through the friars. This is the belief held by all who
+have written on the Philippines."
+
+"Oh!" exclaimed Elias, discouraged and throwing his paddle into the
+bottom of the banca. "I did not think that you had so poor a conception
+of the Government and of the country."
+
+Ibarra replied: "I love our country, not only because it is the
+duty of all men to love the country to which they owe their being,
+not only because my father taught me so; but also because my mother
+was a native, an Indian, and because all my most beautiful memories
+live in these islands. I love it too, because I owe it my happiness
+and will continue to do so."
+
+"And I, I love it because I owe to it my misfortunes," said Elias.
+
+"Yes, my friend, I know that you are suffering, that you are
+unfortunate, and that this makes you see a dark future and influences
+your way of thinking. For this reason, I make allowance for your
+complaints. If I were able to appreciate the motives, if I had known
+part of that past----"
+
+"My misfortunes have another source. If I had known that they would
+have been of usefulness, I would have related them, for aside from
+that, I make no secret of them. They are well enough known by many."
+
+"Perhaps knowing them would rectify my opinions. You know I do not
+rely much upon theories; facts are better guides."
+
+Elias remained pensive for some moments.
+
+"If that is the case, señor," he replied, "I will relate briefly the
+history of my misfortunes."
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI
+
+ELIAS'S FAMILY.
+
+
+"Some sixty years ago my grandfather lived in Manila and kept books
+for a Spanish merchant. My grandfather was then very young, but was
+married and had a son. One night, without any one knowing the cause,
+the store-house was burned. The fire spread to the store and from the
+store to many others. The losses were very heavy. Search was made for
+the incendiary, and the merchant accused my grandfather. In vain he
+protested and, as he was poor and could not pay celebrated lawyers,
+he was condemned to be whipped publicly and to be led through the
+streets of Manila. It was not a great while ago that this infamous
+punishment was still in use here. It was a thousand times worse than
+death itself. My grandfather, abandoned by everybody except his wife,
+was tied to a horse and, followed by a cruel multitude, was whipped on
+every corner, in the sight of men, his brothers, and in the vicinity of
+the numerous temples of the God of Peace. When the unfortunate man,
+disgraced forever, had satisfied the punishment by his blood, his
+tortures and his cries, they untied him from the horse, for he had
+become unconscious. Would to God he had died! As a refined cruelty,
+they gave him liberty. His wife, embarrassed with a child at the time,
+begged in vain from door to door for work or alms that she might care
+for her sick husband and the poor son. But who would have confidence
+in the wife of an infamous man guilty of arson? The wife, then,
+had to give herself up to prostitution."
+
+Ibarra started from his seat.
+
+"Oh! do not be disturbed! Prostitution was not the only dishonor
+which she and her husband suffered. Honor and shame no longer existed
+for them. The husband cured his wounds, and, with his wife and son,
+hid in the mountains of this province. Here the woman brought forth
+a still-born child, deformed and full of disease. In the mountains,
+they lived for several months, miserable, isolated, hated and fleeing
+from all. Unable to endure the misery, less valorous than his wife,
+and growing desperate at seeing her ill and deprived of all aid and
+comfort, my grandfather hanged himself. The body rotted in the sight of
+the son, who was now scarcely able to take care of his sick mother. The
+bad odor of the rotting corpse disclosed it to Justice. My grandmother
+was accused and condemned for not having given notice. The death of
+her husband was attributed to her and people believed it. For, what
+is a wife of a wretch not capable of doing after having prostituted
+herself? If she took oath, they said she perjured herself; if she wept,
+they said that it was false; and if she invoked God, they said she
+blasphemed. However, they had some consideration for her and waited
+for her to give birth to a child before whipping her. You know that
+the friars spread the belief that the only way to deal with the
+natives is with the whip. Read what Father Gaspar de San Augustin says.
+
+"Thus condemned, the woman cursed the day when she would give
+birth to the child, and this not only prolonged her punishment, but
+violated her maternal sentiments. The woman delivered the child, and
+unfortunately the child was born robust. Two months later the sentence
+of whipping which had been imposed upon her was carried out, to the
+great satisfaction of the people, who thought that in this way they
+were fulfilling their duty. No longer able to be at peace in these
+mountains she fled with her two sons to a neighboring province and
+there they lived like wild beasts: hating and hated. The older boy,
+remembering his happy infancy and its contrast with such great misery,
+became a tulisan as soon as he had sufficient strength. Before long
+the bloody name of Bálat extended from province to province; it was
+the terror of the towns and the people, for he took his revenge with
+fire and blood. The younger boy, who had received from Nature a good
+heart, resigned himself to his lot at his mother's side. They lived
+on what the forests afforded them; they dressed in the rags that
+travellers threw away. The mother had lost her good name, she was now
+known only by such titles as the 'criminal,' the 'prostitute,' and the
+'horse-whipped woman.' The younger brother was known only as the son of
+his mother, because he had such a pleasant disposition that they did
+not believe him to be the son of the incendiary. Finally the famous
+Bálat fell one day into the hands of Justice. Society had taught him
+no good, but he was asked to account for his crimes. One morning as
+the younger boy was looking for his mother, who had gone to gather
+mushrooms from the forest, and had not yet returned, he found her
+lying on the ground by the roadside, under a cotton-tree. Her face
+was turned toward the sky, her eyes were torn from their sockets, and
+her rigid fingers were buried in the blood-stained earth. It occurred
+to the young man to raise his eyes and follow the direction in which
+his mother had been looking, and there from a limb of a tree he saw
+a basket, and in that basket the bloody head of his brother."
+
+"My God!" exclaimed Ibarra.
+
+"That is what my father must have exclaimed," continued Elias,
+coldly. "The men had cut the highwayman into quarters and buried him
+in a trunk of a tree. But the limbs were saved, and were hung up in
+different towns. If you go some time from Calamba to Santo Tomás you
+will still find the rotting leg of my uncle hanging from a lomboy
+tree. Nature has cursed the tree and it neither grows nor gives
+fruit. They did the same thing with the other members of his body,
+but the head, the head, as the best part of the man and that part which
+can be most easily recognized, they hung before the mother's cabin."
+
+Ibarra bowed his head.
+
+"The young man fled like one that is accursed," continued Elias. "He
+fled from town to town, through mountains and valleys, and when at
+last he thought he was not recognized by any one, he began to work
+in the store of a rich man in the province of Tayabas. His activity,
+his agreeable disposition, won for him the esteem of those who did
+not know his past life. By working and saving he managed to make
+a little capital, and, as the misery had passed away, and, as he
+was young, he thought that he would be happy. His good appearance,
+his youth, and his quite unencumbered position won for him the love
+of a girl in the town, but he did not dare to ask for her hand, for
+fear that she might learn of his past. But love became too strong
+and both erred. The man, in order to save the honor of the woman,
+risked all; he asked her to marry him, the papers were looked up and
+all was disclosed. The girl's father was rich and began to prosecute
+the man. The latter, however, did not try to defend himself, admitted
+it all and was sent to jail. The young woman gave birth to a boy and a
+girl. They were brought up in seclusion and made to believe that their
+father was dead. This was not difficult, for while the children were
+still young they saw their mother die, and they thought little about
+investigating their genealogy. As our grandfather was very rich, our
+youth was happy. My sister and I were educated together, we loved each
+other as only twins can when they know no other love. While very young,
+I went to study in the Jesuit College, and my sister, in order that
+we might not be entirely separated, went to the Concordia boarding
+school. Our short education having been ended, for we only wished
+to be farmers, we returned to the town to take possession of the
+inheritance which was left us by our grandfather. We lived happily
+for some time; the future smiled on us; we had many servants; our
+fields bore good crops; and my sister was on the eve of being married
+to a young man who loved her and to whom she was well suited. On
+account of some pecuniary questions, and, because my character was
+then haughty, I lost the good will of a distant relative, and he
+threw in my face one day my dark birth and my infamous ancestry. I
+thought it a calumny and demanded satisfaction. The tomb in which so
+much grief was sleeping was opened again and the truth came out. I
+was confounded. To make the misfortune greater, we had had for some
+years an old servant who had always suffered all my caprices without
+ever leaving us. He contented himself by weeping and crying while
+the other servants jested with him. I do not know how my relative
+found it out; the fact is that he summoned this old man before the
+court and made him tell the truth. The old servant was my father,
+who had stuck fast to his dear children and whom I had maltreated many
+times. Our happiness disappeared: I renounced our fortune; my sister
+lost her lover; and with our father we abandoned the town to go to
+some other point. The thought of having contributed to our disgrace
+and misfortune, cut short the life of the old man, from whose lips
+was learned all the sorrowful past. My sister and I were left alone.
+
+"She wept a great deal, but, amid such grief as they piled upon us,
+she could not forget her love. Without complaining, without saying a
+word, she saw her old lover marry another girl, and I saw her a little
+later gradually become ill, without being able to console her. One
+day she disappeared. In vain I searched for her everywhere; in vain
+I asked for her for six months. Afterward I learned that during the
+time while I was searching for her, one day when the water had risen
+in the lake, there had been found on the beach at Calamba the body of
+a girl, either drowned or assassinated. She had, they say, a knife
+piercing her breast. The authorities of Calamba published the fact
+in the neighboring towns. Nobody presented himself to claim the body;
+no young woman had disappeared. From the description which they gave
+me afterward, from the dress, the rings, the beauty of her face and
+her very abundant hair, I recognized her as my poor sister. From that
+time, I have been wandering from province to province. My fame and
+history are in the mouths of many people; they attribute all sorts
+of deeds to me; at times they calumniate me; but I take no notice of
+men and continue on my way. I have here briefly related my history,
+and that of a judgment at the hands of mankind."
+
+Elias became silent and continued rowing.
+
+"I believe that you are not wrong," murmured Ibarra, in a low voice,
+"when you say that justice ought to procure the welfare of the
+people by lifting up the criminals and by raising the standard of
+their morality. Only ... that is impossible--a Utopia. And then,
+where is the money for so many new employees to come from?"
+
+"And what are the priests for, the priests who proclaim peace and
+charity as their mission? Is it more meritorious for a priest to wet
+the head of a child, to give it salt to eat, than to awaken in the
+darkened conscience of a criminal that spark, given by God to every
+man, that he may seek to do good? Is it more human to accompany a
+criminal to the gallows than to accompany him through the difficult
+path which leads from vice to virtue? Are not spies, executioners and
+Guardias Civiles paid? The latter institution, besides being an evil,
+also costs money."
+
+"My friend, neither you nor I, although we wish it, can accomplish it."
+
+"Alone we are nothing, it is true. Take up the cause of the people,
+unite them, listen to their voices, give others an example to follow,
+give them the idea of what is called a fatherland, a patria!"
+
+"What the people ask for is impossible. We must wait."
+
+"To wait, to wait, is equivalent to suffering!"
+
+"If I should ask it, they would laugh at me."
+
+"And if the people should sustain you?"
+
+"Never! I would never be the one to lead the multitude and accomplish
+by force what the Government does not believe is opportune. No! If I
+ever saw the multitude armed for such a purpose, I would put myself on
+the side of the Government. And I would fight it, for in such a mob I
+would not see my country. I wish for its welfare: that is the reason
+that I am erecting the school-house. I look for it through means of
+instruction, education and progress. Without light there is no road."
+
+"Nor without fighting is there liberty," replied Elias.
+
+"I do not care for that kind of liberty."
+
+"Without liberty there is no light," replied the pilot with
+enthusiasm. "You say that you know very little about our country. I
+believe it. You do not see the fight that is impending. You do not see
+the cloud on the horizon. The combat begins in the sphere of ideas, and
+then descends to the arena to tinge it with blood. I hear the voice of
+God. Woe to them who resist it. History has not been written for them."
+
+Elias was transformed. As he stood up, his head uncovered, his manly
+face illumined by the moonlight, there was something extraordinary
+about him. He shook his long hair and continued:
+
+"Do you not see how all is awakening? Sleep has lasted for centuries,
+but one day a thunderbolt will fall and new life will be called
+forth. New tendencies are animating the spirits, and these tendencies
+to-day separated, will be united some day, and will be guided by
+God. God has not failed other peoples, nor will he fail ours. Their
+cause is liberty."
+
+A solemn silence followed these words. In the meantime, the banca
+carried along imperceptibly by the waves, neared the shore. Elias
+was the first to break the silence.
+
+"What have I to say to those who have sent me?" he asked, changing
+the tone of his voice.
+
+"I have already told you that I greatly deplore their condition,
+but for them to wait, since evils are not cured by other evils. In
+our misfortune, we are all at fault."
+
+Elias did not insist further. He bowed his head, continued rowing and,
+bringing the banca up to the shore, took leave of Ibarra saying:
+
+"I thank you, Señor, for your condescension. For your own interests
+I ask you in the future to forget me, and never to recognize me in
+whatever place you may meet me."
+
+And saying this, he turned his banca and rowed in the direction of a
+dense thicket on the beach. He seemed to observe only the millions of
+diamonds which his paddle lifted and which fell back into the lake,
+where they soon disappeared in the mystery of the blue waves.
+
+Finally, he arrived at the place toward which he had been rowing. A
+man came out of the thicket and approached him:
+
+"What shall I tell the captain?" he asked.
+
+"Tell him that Elias, if he does not die before, will fulfill his
+word," he replied gloomily.
+
+"Then when will you meet us?"
+
+"When your captain thinks that the hour of danger has come."
+
+"All right. Good-bye!"
+
+"If I do not die before," murmured Elias.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII
+
+CHANGES.
+
+
+The modest Linares was serious and very uneasy. He had just received a
+letter from Doña Victorina which, translated from the most illiterate
+Spanish, and omitting its many errors in spelling and punctuation,
+was as follows:
+
+
+    "Esteemed Cousin:--Within three days I want to know from
+    you if you have killed the alferez or he you. I don't want
+    another day to pass without this animal being punished. If this
+    length of time passes and still you have not challenged him,
+    I will tell Don Santiago that you never were secretary and
+    that you never joked with Canovas or with General Martinez. I
+    will tell Clarita that it is all a lie and I will not give
+    you another cuarto. If you challenge him, I promise you all
+    that you wish. If you do not challenge him, I will accept no
+    excuses or reasons.
+
+        "Your cousin who loves you in her heart.
+        "Victorina de los Reyes de de Espadaña.
+        "Sampalog, Monday Eve, 7 o'clock."
+
+
+It was a serious matter. Linares knew Doña Victorina's character
+and knew what she was capable of doing. To reason with her was out
+of the question; to beg was useless; to deceive her worse. There was
+no other remedy than to challenge.
+
+"But what can I do?" he said to himself, as he was walking alone. "If
+he receives me harshly? If I meet his wife? Who would want to be
+my second? The curate? Captain Tiago? Cursed be the hour in which I
+gave ear to her advice! What will this señorita say about me? Now I
+am sorry to have been secretary to all the ministers."
+
+The good Linares was in this sad soliloquy when Father Salví
+arrived. The Franciscan was certainly thinner and paler than usual,
+but his eyes shone with a peculiar light and a strange smile was seen
+on his lips.
+
+"Señor Linares, all alone?" saluted the priest and directed his steps
+to the sala, through the half open door of which notes of the piano
+were heard.
+
+Linares restrained a smile.
+
+"And Don Santiago?" added the curate.
+
+Captain Tiago presented himself at that moment, kissed the curate's
+hand, took the Father's hat and cane and smiled like one who had
+been blessed.
+
+"Well, well!" said the curate, going into the sala, followed by
+Linares and Captain Tiago. "I have good news from Manila which you
+will all enjoy. I have received letters from Manila which confirm the
+one which Señor Ibarra brought me yesterday--so that, Don Santiago,
+the impediment is removed."
+
+Maria Clara was seated at the piano between her two girl friends. She
+half rose to her feet at this remark, but her strength failed her and
+she sat down again. Linares turned pale and looked at Captain Tiago,
+who turned his eyes to the floor.
+
+"This young man really seems to me a very nice fellow," continued the
+curate. "At first, I judged him bad--he is a little quick-tempered. But
+he knows so well how to atone for his faults afterward, that one cannot
+hold any grudge against him. If it were not for Father Dámaso...." And
+the curate directed a quick glance at Maria Clara. She was listening
+to all that was going on but without taking her eyes off the music--in
+spite of the concealed pinches which Sinang gave her to express her
+joy. Had she been alone, she would have danced.
+
+"Father Dámaso?" asked Linares without finishing the sentence.
+
+"Yes," continued the curate. "Father Dámaso has said that as
+... godfather he could not permit ... but I believe that if finally,
+Señor Ibarra asks pardon, which I do not doubt he will do, all will
+be arranged."
+
+Maria Clara arose, made an excuse and retired to her room, accompanied
+by Victoria.
+
+"And if Father Dámaso does not pardon him?" asked Captain Tiago,
+in a low voice.
+
+"Then Maria Clara will see that Father Dámaso is her spiritual
+father. But I believe that they will come to an understanding."
+
+At that moment, steps were heard and Ibarra appeared, followed by
+Aunt Isabel. His presence on the scene produced a varied effect. He
+saluted Captain Tiago affably, the latter not knowing whether to
+smile or to weep; to Linares he bowed profoundly. Father Salví arose
+and extended his hand to him so affectionately that Ibarra could not
+suppress a look of surprise.
+
+"Do not think it strange," said Father Salví. "I was just paying you
+a compliment."
+
+Ibarra thanked him and approached Sinang.
+
+"Where have you been all day?" she asked, with a childish laugh. "We
+have been asking each other, 'Where could this soul redeemed from
+purgatory have gone?' Each one of us gave a different answer."
+
+"And will you not tell what you said?"
+
+"No, that is a secret; but I will surely tell you in private. Now
+tell us where you have been so that we can see who has been able to
+guess it."
+
+"No, that also is a secret; but I will tell you alone, if the señores
+will permit."
+
+"Certainly, certainly!" said Father Salví.
+
+Sinang took Crisostomo to one end of the hall. She was very happy
+with the idea of knowing a secret.
+
+"Tell me, my little friend," said Ibarra, "Is Maria angry with me?"
+
+"I do not know, but she says that it is better that you should forget
+her and then begins to cry. Captain Tiago wants her to marry that
+gentleman; Father Dámaso also wishes it; but she says neither yes
+nor no. This morning when we were asking for you, I said: 'What
+if he has gone to make love to some one else?' She replied to me:
+'Would to God that he had!' and then began to cry."
+
+Ibarra was serious.
+
+"Tell Maria that I want to speak with her alone."
+
+"Alone?" asked Sinang, knitting her eyebrows and looking at him.
+
+"Entirely alone, no. But so that we may not be seen by that other
+señor."
+
+"It is difficult, but don't worry. I will tell her."
+
+"And when will I know the answer?"
+
+"To-morrow come to the house early. Maria never wants to be alone. We
+keep her company. Victoria sleeps by her side one night, and I
+the next. To-morrow night it is my turn. But listen: What is the
+secret? You are going without telling me the principal thing."
+
+"That is true. I was in the town of Los Baños. I went up there to do
+some business in cocoanut trees, since I am thinking of building a
+factory. Your father will be my partner."
+
+"Nothing more than that? Give us the secret!" exclaimed Sinang in a
+loud voice and in the tone of a defrauded usurer. "I thought----"
+
+"Take care. I don't want you to tell it."
+
+"I have no desire to!" replied Sinang, sticking up her nose. "If it
+were something more important, I would tell it to my friends. But to
+buy cocoanuts! cocoanuts! Who is interested in cocoanuts?"
+
+And she went away in haste to find her girl friends.
+
+A few moments afterward, Ibarra seeing that the conversation was
+lagging, took leave of the gathering. Captain Tiago's expression
+was between sweet and sour; Linares was silent and observing; and
+the curate, feigning to be joyful, was telling stories. None of the
+girls had returned.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII
+
+PLAYING CARDS WITH THE SHADES.
+
+
+A cloudy sky hides the moon, and a cold wind, the omen of approaching
+December, whirls the dry leaves and dust in the narrow path leading
+to the cemetery.
+
+Under the gate, three forms are conversing in a low tone.
+
+"Have you spoken to Elias?" asked a voice.
+
+"No; you know he is very odd and discreet. But he ought to be with
+us. Don Crisostomo saved his life."
+
+"I accepted the offer for the same reason," said the first voice. "Don
+Crisostomo is having my wife treated at a doctor's house in Manila. I
+have agreed to take charge of the convent in the attack, so that I
+can settle my accounts with the curate."
+
+"And we, we will have charge of the attack on the cuartel, so that we
+can say to the members of the Guardia Civil that our father had sons."
+
+"How many will there be of you?"
+
+"Five! Five will be enough. Don Crisostomo's servant says that there
+will be twenty in all."
+
+"And if things don't turn out well?"
+
+"St!" said one, and they all became silent.
+
+In the semi-darkness, a form could be seen crawling along the
+fence. From time to time it stopped, as if to look behind.
+
+And it did so not without reason. Behind, at some twenty paces,
+came another form. This one was taller and seemed to be darker than
+the first. Each time that the first stopped this second one would
+disappear as if the earth had swallowed it.
+
+"They are following me," murmured the one ahead. "Is it a Guardia
+Civil? Has the sacristan lied?"
+
+"It appears that the appointment is here," said the second, in a low
+voice. "They are up to something bad, when the two brothers hide it
+from me."
+
+The first form finally arrived at the gate of the cemetery. The three
+who were already there advanced.
+
+"Is it you?"
+
+"Is it you?"
+
+"Let us separate. Some one is following me. To-morrow we will have
+the arms and to-morrow night will be our time. The cry is 'Viva Don
+Crisostomo!' Begone!"
+
+The three persons disappeared behind the wall. The recent arrival
+hid himself in the hollow of the gate and waited silently.
+
+"Let's see who is following me!" he murmured.
+
+The second person came along very cautiously, and stopped to look
+around.
+
+"I have arrived late!" said he in a half intelligible voice. "But
+perhaps they will return."
+
+And, as a fine rain began to fall and threatened to continue, he took
+refuge under the gate. Naturally, he met the other.
+
+"Ah! who are you?" asked the one who had just come up, in a manly
+voice.
+
+"And who are you?" replied the other tranquilly.
+
+There was a moment's pause. Each tried to recognize the other by the
+tone of his voice and to distinguish the other's features.
+
+"What are you waiting here for?" asked the one with the heavy voice.
+
+"Till the clock strikes eight, so as to have a game of cards with
+the dead. I want to win some money to-night," replied the other,
+in an ordinary tone. "And you: what do you come here for?"
+
+"A--a--for the same thing."
+
+"Well! I am glad. So I will not be without a companion. I have brought
+some cards. At the first stroke of the bell, I put down the albur
+(the first two cards put on the board in monte). At the second stroke,
+I put down the gallo (the second pair). The cards which move after I
+have put them down, are those which the dead choose for themselves. Did
+you also bring some cards?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Then?"
+
+"It is simple. Just as you act as 'banker' for them, so I hope that
+they will 'bank' for me." (In monte the banker deals the cards and
+bets that one of the cards in either the albur or gallo is turned up
+by dealing off the pack, before the card chosen by the other person
+is turned up. A banker can play against two others.)
+
+"And if the shades do not care to 'bank'?"
+
+"What can be done? The game is not obligatory upon the dead."
+
+There was a moment's silence.
+
+"Did you come armed? What if you have to fight with the shades of
+the dead?"
+
+"I'll use my fists," replied the taller of the two.
+
+"Ah! The devil! Now, I remember! The dead do not bet when there is
+more than one live person around. There are two of us."
+
+"Is that true? Well, I don't want to go away."
+
+"Nor I. I need some money," replied the smaller one. "But let us do
+this: We will decide by the cards which one shall go away."
+
+"All right!" replied the other, showing a certain amount of
+displeasure.
+
+"Then let us go in. Have you any matches?"
+
+They entered the cemetery and in the obscurity they searched for a
+place where they might decide the question with the cards. They soon
+found a niche upon which they sat down. The shorter one took from
+his hat some playing cards and the other lighted a match.
+
+Each one looked at the other in the light which the match made, but,
+judging from the expression on their faces, they did not recognize
+each other. However, we can recognize in the taller one, the one with
+the manly voice, Elias; and in the smaller one, Lucas, with the scar
+on his cheek.
+
+"Cut the cards!" said the latter, without ceasing to look at the other.
+
+He pushed aside some bones which were found on the niche and turned up
+an ace and a jack for the albur. Elias lighted one match after another.
+
+"On the jack!" said he and, in order to show which of the cards he
+was betting on, he placed upon it a piece of vertebræ.
+
+"I deal!" said Lucas and, after turning up four or five cards, an
+ace came up.
+
+"You have lost," he added. "Now leave me alone so that I may win
+some money."
+
+Elias, without saying a word, disappeared in the darkness.
+
+Some minutes afterward, the clock in the church struck eight and the
+bell announced the hour of prayer. But Lucas did not invite anybody
+to play with him. He did not call out the shades, as superstition
+demanded. Instead, he uncovered his head, murmured some prayers and
+crossed himself with the same fervor as the chief of the Brotherhood
+of the Most Sacred Rosary would have done at that moment.
+
+The drizzling rain continued all night. At nine o'clock the streets
+were dark and lonely. The little cocoanut oil lanterns, which each
+citizen had to hang out in front of his house gave light scarcely a
+meter around. It seemed as though they had been lighted so one might
+see the darkness.
+
+Two Civil Guards were walking from one side of the street to the
+other near the church.
+
+"It is cold," said one in Tagalog with a Visayan accent. "We aren't
+catching any sacristans. There is nobody to clean out the alferez's hen
+yard and we ought to catch some sacristan and make him do it. Since
+that one was killed, they have taken warning. I am getting tired
+of this."
+
+"So am I," replied the other. "Nobody commits any robbery; no one
+disturbs the peace; but, thank God, they say that Elias is in town. The
+alferez says that the one who catches him will be free from whippings
+for three months."
+
+"Ah! Do you know his identification marks?" asked the Visayan.
+
+"I certainly do! Stature, tall, according to the alferez's description;
+ordinary, according to the description of Father Dámaso; color,
+brunette; eyes, black; nose, regular; mouth, regular; beard, none;
+hair, black."
+
+"Ah! And particular marks?"
+
+"Camisa, black; pantaloons, black; a wood-cutter----"
+
+"Ah! He will not escape. I think I see him already."
+
+"I don't confuse him with anybody else, although you might think so."
+
+Both soldiers continued their beats.
+
+By the light of the lantern two forms could again be seen, one
+following the other cautiously. A forcible "Quien vive?" stops them
+both. The first one replied "España," in a trembling voice.
+
+The two soldiers drag him along and bring him up to the light,
+to recognize him. It was Lucas, but the soldiers were in doubt and
+questioned each other with a glance.
+
+"The alferez said nothing about his having a scar," said the Visayan
+in a low voice. "Where are you going?"
+
+"To order a mass for to-morrow."
+
+"Have you not seen Elias?"
+
+"I do not know him, señor," replied Lucas.
+
+"You dunce! I am not asking if you know him. Nor do we know him. I
+am asking you if you have seen him."
+
+"No, señor."
+
+"Listen closely. I will give you his description. Stature, at times
+tall, at times regular; skin and eyes, black; all the others are
+regular," said the Visayan. "Do you know him now?"
+
+"No, señor," replied Lucas, frightened.
+
+"Then, sulung! (Go along). You brute! You ass!" And they gave him
+a shove.
+
+"Do you know why Elias is tall, according to the alferez, and why he
+is short, according to the curate?" asked the Tagalog of the other.
+
+"No."
+
+"Because the alferez was stuck in a mud hole when he observed him,
+and the curate was on foot when he saw him."
+
+"That's right!" exclaimed the Visayan. "You are bright. Why are you
+a Guardia Civil?"
+
+"I haven't been always. I was a smuggler at one time," replied the
+Tagalog boastingly.
+
+But another form attracted their attention. They called out "Quien
+Vive?" and brought him up to the light. This time it was Elias himself.
+
+"Where are you going?"
+
+"I am pursuing, señor, a man who has whipped and threatened my
+brother. He has a scar on his face and his name is Elias----"
+
+"Ha?" exclaimed the two, and looked at each other frightened.
+
+And at once they started on a run toward the church, where a few
+minutes before Lucas had disappeared.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV
+
+THE DISCOVERY.
+
+
+The bell announces the hour of evening prayer. On hearing the
+religious sound, all stop, leave their work and uncover their heads;
+the laborer, coming from the fields on the carabao's back, suspends
+the song to which the animal keeps step, and prays; the women in the
+middle of the street make the sign of the cross, and move their lips
+with affectation so that no one may doubt their devotion: the man
+stops fondling his game-cock and recites the Angelus so that he may
+have good luck; in the houses, they pray in a loud voice ... every
+sound which is not a part of the Ave Maria is dissipated, silenced.
+
+However, the curate, without his hat, hastily crosses the street,
+scandalizing many old women. And still more scandalous, he directs
+his steps towards the alferez's house. The devout women think that
+it is time for them to stop the movement of their lips and to kiss
+the curate's hand, but Father Salví takes no notice of them. To-day
+he finds no pleasure in placing his bony hand under a Christian's
+nose. Some important business must be occupying him that he should
+so forget his own interests and those of the Church!
+
+He goes up the stairs and knocks impatiently at the alferez's door. The
+latter appears, his eyebrows knit and followed by his better half,
+who smiles malignantly.
+
+"Ah, Father Curate! I was just going to see you. Your he-goat...."
+
+"I have a most important matter...."
+
+"I can't allow your goat to go on breaking down my fence.... I'll
+shoot him if he gets in there again."
+
+"That is if you are alive to-morrow," said the curate, breathless,
+and directing himself toward the sala.
+
+"What! do you think that that seven-months-old puppy will kill me? I'll
+kick him to pieces."
+
+Father Salví stepped back and looked instinctively at the feet of
+the alferez.
+
+"Whom are you talking about?" asked he, trembling.
+
+"Of whom could I be talking but that big blockhead who proposes to
+challenge me to a duel with revolvers at one hundred paces?"
+
+"Ah!" sighed the curate, and added: "I have come to speak about a
+most urgent matter which seriously concerns the life of all of us."
+
+"Seriously!" repeated the alferez, turning pale in turn. "Does this
+young fellow shoot well...?"
+
+"I am not speaking about him."
+
+"Then?"
+
+The friar pointed to the door which the alferez shut in his customary
+manner, by a kick. The alferez usually found his hands superfluous. An
+imprecation and a groan from without were heard.
+
+"You brute. You have cut open my head!" cried his wife.
+
+"Now unbosom yourself," said he to the curate in a quiet manner. The
+latter looked at him for some time. Afterward he asked, in that nasal
+and monotonous priest's voice:
+
+"Did you see how I came running?"
+
+"Umph! I thought something was the matter with you."
+
+"When I leave my duties in this manner there are grave motives."
+
+"And what is it?" asked the other, stamping his foot on the floor.
+
+"Calm yourself!"
+
+"Then, why did you come in such a hurry?"
+
+The curate approached him and asked in a mysterious way:
+
+"Don't--you--know--anything--new?"
+
+The alferez shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"You confess that you know absolutely nothing?"
+
+"What! do you mean to tell me about Elias, whom your sacristan mayor
+hid last night?" he asked.
+
+"No, no! I don't speak of such matters now," replied the curate,
+in a bad humor. "I am talking about a great danger."
+
+"Then d----n it! Let it out."
+
+"Now then," said the friar slowly and with a certain disdain, "you
+will see again how important we priests are. The lowest layman is
+worth a regiment, so that a curate...."
+
+And then lowering his voice in a very mysterious manner:
+
+"I have discovered a great conspiracy."
+
+The alferez started and looked at the friar astonished.
+
+"A terrible and well-laid conspiracy, which is to break out this
+very night."
+
+"This very night!" exclaimed the alferez, moving at first toward
+Father Salví, and then running after his revolver and saber,
+which were hanging on the wall: "Whom shall I arrest? Whom shall I
+arrest?" he cried.
+
+"Be calm. It is not yet time, thanks to my great haste. At eight
+o'clock."
+
+"I'll shoot them all!"
+
+"Listen! This afternoon a woman, whose name I must not mention (it
+is a secret of the confessional) came to me and disclosed it all. At
+eight o'clock they will take the cuartel by surprise, sack the convent,
+seize the Government's steamboat and assassinate all the Spaniards."
+
+The alferez was stupified.
+
+"The woman has not told more than that," added the curate.
+
+"Has not told you more? Then I'll arrest her!"
+
+"No; I cannot consent to it. The tribunal of penitence is the throne
+of God of forgiveness."
+
+"Neither God nor forgiveness count in this matter. I'll arrest her."
+
+"You are losing your head. What you ought to do is to prepare
+yourself. Arm your soldiers quietly and put them in ambush. Send me
+four Guards for the convent and notify the people on the Government
+steamboat."
+
+"The boat is not here. I'll send to other sections for aid."
+
+"They would notice that and would not go on with their plans. No,
+don't do that. What is important is that we catch them alive and make
+them talk; I say, you will make them disclose the conspiracy. I, in the
+capacity of a priest, ought not to mix myself in these matters. Now's
+your chance! Here you can win crosses and stars. I ask only that you
+make it evident that I am the one who warned you."
+
+"It will be made evident, Father, it will be made evident! And perhaps
+a mitre will fall to you!" replied the radiant alferez.
+
+"Be sure and send me four un-uniformed Civil Guards, eh? Be
+discreet! To-night at eight o'clock, it will rain stars and crosses."
+
+While this was going on, a man came running down the road which led
+to Ibarra's house, and quickly went up the stairs.
+
+"Is the Señor at home?" asked Elias of the servant.
+
+"He is in his laboratory at work."
+
+Ibarra, in order to pass the time while he impatiently waited for the
+hour when he could make explanations to Maria Clara, had gone to work
+in his cabinet.
+
+"Ah, is it you, Elias?" he exclaimed. "I was thinking about
+you. Yesterday, I forgot to ask you for the name of that Spaniard in
+whose house your grandfather lived."
+
+"Don't bother yourself, Señor, about me...."
+
+"Look!" continued Ibarra, without noting the agitation of the young
+man, and putting a piece of bamboo to a flame. "I have made a great
+discovery. This bamboo is incombustible...."
+
+"Don't talk about bamboo now, Señor. Talk about collecting your papers
+and fleeing in a minute."
+
+Ibarra looked at him surprised, and, on seeing the seriousness in
+Elias's countenance, he dropped the object which he had in his hands.
+
+"Burn everything that can possibly implicate you in any way and put
+yourself in a more secure place within an hour."
+
+"And what for?" he asked at last.
+
+"Put all that you have of value in a secure place...."
+
+"And what for?"
+
+"Burn all papers written by you or to you. The most innocent can be
+interpreted in a bad sense."
+
+"But what for?"
+
+"What for? Because I have just discovered a conspiracy which will be
+attributed to you in order to ruin you."
+
+"A conspiracy? And who has planned it?"
+
+"I have been unable to learn the author of it. Only a moment ago I
+was talking with one of the unfortunate men who have been paid for
+it. I could not dissuade him."
+
+"And didn't that fellow say who paid him?"
+
+"Yes. Asking me to keep the secret, he told me that it was you."
+
+"My God!" exclaimed Ibarra. He stood stupefied.
+
+"Señor, don't hesitate, don't doubt, don't lose time, for undoubtedly
+the conspiracy will break out this very night."
+
+Ibarra, with staring eyes, and hands holding his head, seemed not to
+hear him.
+
+"The blow cannot be thwarted," continued Elias. "I have arrived too
+late. I do not know their leaders ... save yourself, Señor, save
+yourself for the sake of your country."
+
+"Where shall I flee? They are expecting me this evening," exclaimed
+Ibarra, thinking of Maria Clara.
+
+"To any other town, to Manila, to the house of some official; only
+flee somewhere so that they will not say that you are directing
+the movement."
+
+"And if I myself denounce the conspiracy?"
+
+"You denounce it?" exclaimed Elias, looking at him, and stepping
+back. "You would pass for a traitor and a coward in the eyes of
+the conspirators, and for a pusillanimous person in the eyes of
+others. They would say that you had played a trick to win some praise,
+they would say...."
+
+"But what can be done?"
+
+"Already I have told you. Destroy all the papers you have which relate
+to you; flee and await developments."
+
+"And Maria Clara?" exclaimed the young man. "No; death first!"
+
+Elias wrung his hands and said:
+
+"Well, then, at least avoid the blow. Prepare yourself against their
+accusations."
+
+Ibarra looked around him in a stupefied manner.
+
+"Then, help me! There in those bags I have my family letters. Sort
+out those from my father, which are, perhaps, the ones that would
+incriminate me. Read the signatures."
+
+Ibarra, stunned and overwhelmed, opened and closed drawers, collected
+papers, hastily read letters, tore up some, kept others, took down
+books and thumbed through some of them. Elias did the same, if indeed
+with less confusion, with equal zeal. But he stopped, with eyes wide
+open, turned over a paper which he had in his hand and asked in a
+trembling voice:
+
+"Did your family know Don Pedro Eibarramendia?"
+
+"Certainly!" replied Ibarra, opening a drawer and taking out a pile
+of papers. "He was my great-grandfather."
+
+"Your great grandfather? Don Pedro Eibarramendia?" he again asked,
+with livid features and a changed appearance.
+
+"Yes," replied Ibarra, distracted. "We cut short the name, for it
+was too long."
+
+"He was a Basque?" said Elias approaching him.
+
+"Yes; but what's the matter?" he asked, surprised.
+
+Elias closed his fist, shook it in Ibarra's face and looked at
+him. Crisostomo stepped back as soon as he read the expression on
+that face.
+
+"Do you know who Don Pedro Eibarramendia was?" he asked between
+his teeth. "Don Pedro Eibarramendia was that wretch who accused my
+grandfather and caused all our misery.... I was looking for one of
+his name. God has given you into my hands.... Account to me for our
+misfortunes."
+
+Ibarra looked at him terrified. Elias shook him by the arm and,
+in a bitter voice, filled with hate, said:
+
+"Look at me well; see if I have suffered, and you, you live, you love,
+you have fortune, home, consideration. You live ... you live!"
+
+And, beside himself, he ran toward a small collection of arms, but
+he had scarcely grasped two swords when he let them fall, and, like
+a madman, looked at Ibarra, who remained immovable.
+
+"What am I to do?" he said and fled from the house.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXV
+
+THE CATASTROPHE.
+
+
+There in the dining-room Captain Tiago, Linares, and Aunt Isabel were
+eating supper. In the sala the rattling of plate and tableware was
+heard. Maria Clara had said that she did not care to eat and had seated
+herself at the piano. By her side was jolly Sinang, who murmured little
+secrets in Maria's ear, while Father Salví uneasily paced the sala.
+
+It was not because the convalescent had no appetite that she was
+not eating. It was because she was awaiting the arrival of a certain
+person and had taken advantage of the moment in which her Argus could
+not be present, the hour when Linares ate.
+
+"You will see how that ghost will stay till eight o'clock," murmured
+Sinang, pointing to the curate. "At eight o'clock he ought to
+come. This priest is as much in love as Linares."
+
+Maria Clara looked at her friend, frightened. The latter, without
+noticing her expression, continued her terrible gossip:
+
+"Ah! Now I know why he doesn't go, in spite of all my hints. He
+doesn't want to burn the lamps in the convent. Don't you see? Ever
+since you fell ill, he has had the two lights which he used to burn,
+put out. But look at his eyes and his face!"
+
+Just at that moment the clock in the house struck eight. The curate
+trembled and went and sat down in a corner of the room.
+
+"He is coming," said Sinang, pinching Maria Clara. "Do you hear?"
+
+The bell in the church tolled eight and all arose to pray. Father
+Salví, with a weak and trembling voice, led, but, as each one had
+his own thoughts, nobody paid any attention to him.
+
+The prayer had scarcely ended, when Ibarra presented himself. The young
+man was wearing mourning, not only in his dress, but in his face. In
+fact, it was so evident that Maria Clara, on seeing him, arose and
+took a step toward him as if to ask what ailed him, but at the same
+instant a discharge of musketry was heard. Ibarra stopped, his eyes
+rolled and he was unable to speak. The curate hid himself behind a
+pillar. More shooting and more noise was heard in the direction of the
+convent, followed by cries and the sound of people running. Captain
+Tiago, Aunt Isabel and Linares entered the room, hurriedly crying
+"tulisan! tulisan!" Andeng followed them, brandishing a spit and ran
+toward her foster sister.
+
+Aunt Isabel fell on her knees and prayed the Kyrie eleison. Captain
+Tiago, pale and trembling, carried a chicken's liver on his fork, and,
+in tears, offered it to the Virgin of Antipolo. Linares had his mouth
+full and was armed with a spoon. Sinang and Maria Clara embraced each
+other. The only person who did not move was Ibarra. He stood as if
+petrified, his face indescribably pale.
+
+The cries and blows continued, the windows were shut with a bang,
+a whistle was heard, and occasionally a shot.
+
+"Christe eleison! Santiago, fasten the windows," groaned Aunt Isabel.
+
+"Fifty great bombs and a thanksgiving mass," replied Captain
+Tiago. "Ora pro nobis!"
+
+After a time, things quieted down and there was a terrible silence. The
+voice of the alferez was distinguished, as he came running in, and
+crying: "Father curate! Father Salví! Come!"
+
+"Misere! The alferez is asking for confession!" cried Aunt Isabel.
+
+"Is he wounded?" asked Linares at last. "Ah!"
+
+"Come, Father Salví! There is nothing to fear now," continued the
+alferez, shouting.
+
+Father Salví, pale, and decided at last, came out of his hiding-place
+and went downstairs.
+
+"The tulisanes have killed the alferez!" said Aunt Isabel.
+
+"Maria Clara, Sinang, go to your room! Fasten the door! Kyrie eleison!"
+
+Ibarra also went toward the stairs, in spite of Aunt Isabel, who was
+saying: "Don't go out! You haven't confessed yet. Don't go out!"
+
+The good old woman had been a great friend of Ibarra's mother.
+
+But Ibarra left the house. It seemed to him that all about him was
+revolving through the air, that even the ground was gone from under his
+feet. His ears buzzed. His legs moved heavily and irregularly. Waves
+of blood, light and darkness, succeeded one another on the retina of
+his eye.
+
+Despite the fact that the moon was shining brightly in the heavens, the
+young man stumbled on every stone in the solitary and deserted street.
+
+Near the cuartel he saw some soldiers with their bayonets fixed,
+talking excitedly. He passed by unseen.
+
+In the tribunal, blows, cries, wails, and curses were heard. The
+alferez's voice drowned all the others.
+
+"Put him in the stocks! Put handcuffs on that fellow! Two shots for
+whoever moves! Sergeant, you will mount your guard! Let no one pass,
+not even God! Corporal, let no one sleep!"
+
+Ibarra hastened his steps toward his house. His servants were uneasily
+awaiting him.
+
+"Saddle the best horse and go to bed!" said he to them.
+
+He entered his laboratory and hurriedly began to get his travelling
+bag ready. He opened an iron box, took out all the money which he
+found there and put it in a bag. He gathered his jewels together,
+took down a picture of Maria Clara which was hanging upon the wall,
+and, arming himself with a dirk and two revolvers, he turned to the
+cupboard where he had some tools.
+
+At that instant, three blows, loud and strong, sounded on the door.
+
+"Who's there?" asked Ibarra, in a doleful voice.
+
+"Open in the name of the King! Open the door at once, or we will
+knock it down!" replied an imperious Spanish voice.
+
+Ibarra looked toward the window. His eyes flashed and he cocked his
+revolver. But changing his mind, he left the arms and went to open
+the door at the same moment that the servants came up.
+
+Three Guards seized him instantly.
+
+"You are made a prisoner in the name of the King!" said the sergeant.
+
+"What for?"
+
+"They will tell you later. We are prohibited from saying a word."
+
+The young man reflected a moment and not wishing, perhaps, the soldiers
+to discover his preparations for flight, he took his hat and said:
+
+"I am at your disposal. I suppose it will be only for a short time."
+
+"If you promise not to escape, we will not handcuff you. The alferez
+grants this favor, but if you flee----"
+
+Ibarra followed, leaving the servants in consternation.
+
+In the meantime, what had become of Elias?
+
+On leaving Crisostomo's house, like a madman, he ran about without
+knowing where. He crossed fields, and in violent agitation arrived at a
+forest. He was fleeing from people, and from light. The moon troubled
+him and he entered the mysterious shade of the forest. Sometimes
+stopping, sometimes following unbroken paths, leaning upon century-old
+trunks, entangled in the briars, he looked toward the town, which
+lay at his feet bathed in the light of the moon, stretching itself
+out on the plain, lying on the shore of the lake. Birds, disturbed
+in their sleep, flew away. Owls screeched and flew from one limb to
+another. But Elias neither heard nor saw them. He thought he was being
+followed by the infuriated shades of his ancestors. He saw the horrible
+basket hanging from every branch with the blood-covered head of Bálat,
+just as his father had described it to him. He thought he saw the dead
+body of his grandmother lying at the foot of every tree. He seemed
+to see the skeleton of his dishonored grandfather in the darkness,
+and the skeleton, the old woman, and the head all cried out to him,
+"Coward! Coward!"
+
+He left the mountain and fled down toward the sea. He ran along the
+beach in agitation. But there in the distance, amid the waves, where
+the light of the moon seemed to raise a fog, he thought he saw a shade
+raise itself, the shade of his sister, with her breast covered with
+blood, her hair hanging loose in the air.
+
+Elias fell upon his knees on the sand.
+
+"And you, too!" he cried stretching out his arms.
+
+Then, with his eyes fixed on the fog, he arose slowly and, advancing
+toward it, went into the water as if to follow somebody. He waded on
+over the gentle slope of the beach which forms the bar. He was already
+far from the shore and the water was up to his belt. He went on and
+on, as if fascinated by a seducing spirit. The water was now up to his
+breast. Suddenly, the discharge of musketry awoke him from his dream,
+the vision disappeared, and the young man returned to reality. He
+stopped, reflected, and noticed that he was in the water. The lake
+was smooth and he could still see the lights in the fishermen's huts.
+
+He returned to the shore and made his way toward the town. What
+for? He himself did not know.
+
+The town seemed uninhabited. The houses were all closed. Even the
+animals, the dogs which are accustomed to bark at night, had hid
+themselves through fear. The silvery light of the moon increased the
+sadness and solitude.
+
+Afraid of meeting the Civil Guards, he went through the orchards and
+gardens. In one of the gardens he thought he saw two human forms,
+but he continued his way. Jumping over fences and walls, he arrived
+after great labor at the other side of the town, and directed his
+steps toward Ibarra's house. The servants were in the door, lamenting
+and commenting on the arrest of their master.
+
+Aware of what had passed, Elias went away, but returned to the house,
+leaped over the wall, crawled through a window and went into the
+cabinet or laboratory, where the candle which Ibarra had left was
+still burning.
+
+Elias saw the papers and the books. He found the arms and the little
+sacks which contained the money and the jewelry. All that had passed
+ran through his imagination again, and, seeing all the papers which
+might incriminate Ibarra, he thought of collecting them, throwing
+them through the window and burying them.
+
+He glanced toward the garden and, by the light of the moon, he saw
+two Civil Guards coming with an adjutant. Their bayonets and helmets
+were glistening in the light.
+
+Then he decided. He piled up the clothes and papers in the middle
+of the cabinet, emptied the oil in a lamp upon the pile and set fire
+to it. He quickly buckled the arms around him. He saw the picture of
+Maria Clara, hesitated--put it in one of the little sacks, and jumped
+out of the window with them all.
+
+It was already time, for the two Civil Guards were forcing their
+entrance.
+
+"Let us go up to get your master's papers," said the adjutant.
+
+"Have you permission? If not, you shall not go up!" said an old
+servant.
+
+But the soldiers pushed the servants aside with the butts of their
+guns and went upstairs. A thick smoke was already filling the whole
+house, and gigantic tongues of flame were coming out from the sala,
+licking the doors and windows.
+
+"Fire! Fire! Fire!" they all cried.
+
+Each hurried to save what he could, but the fire had filled the small
+laboratory, breaking out furiously among the inflammable materials. The
+Civil Guards had to turn back. The fire, roaring and sweeping all
+before it, closed the passage to them. In vain they brought water
+from the well. All were shouting, and crying for help, but they were
+isolated. The fire reached the other rooms and in thick columns of
+smoke ascended to the heavens. Some peasants came from a distance,
+but they arrived only in time to see the frightful spectacle, the
+end of that old building, so long respected by the elements.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVI
+
+WHAT PEOPLE SAY AND THINK.
+
+
+Day dawned at last for the terrorized people. The streets in which
+the cuartel and the tribunal were situated were still deserted and
+solitary. The houses showed no signs of life. However, a shutter was
+opened with a creaking noise and an infant head stuck out and looked
+in all directions.... Slap!... A sound announces hard contact between
+a strip of leather and a human body. The child made a grimace, closed
+its eyes and disappeared. The shutter was closed again.
+
+The example had been set. Without any doubt the opening and closing of
+the shutter has been heard, for another window was opened very slowly
+and cautiously and a wrinkled and toothless old woman thrust out her
+head. She was called Sister Ruté. She looked about, knit her brows,
+spit noisily and then crossed herself. In the house opposite, a little
+window was timidly opened and her friend, Sister Rufa appeared. They
+looked at each other for a moment, smiled, made some signals, and
+again crossed themselves.
+
+"Jesús! It was like a thanksgiving mass," said Sister Rufa.
+
+"Since the time that Bálat sacked the town I have never seen a night
+like it," replied Sister Puté.
+
+"What a lot of shots! They say that it was old Pablo's gang."
+
+"Tulisanes? It couldn't be. They say that it was the cuaderilleros
+against the Civil Guards. For this reason, they have arrested Don
+Filipo."
+
+"Sanctus Deus! They say that there are no less than fourteen killed."
+
+Other windows were opened and different faces appeared, exchanging
+salutations and commenting on the affair.
+
+In the light of the day--which promised to be a splendid one--could
+be seen in the distance, like ash-colored shadows, soldiers hurrying
+about in confusion.
+
+"There goes another corpse!" said some one from one of the windows.
+
+"One? I see two."
+
+"And so do I. But do you know what it was?" asked a man with a
+crafty face.
+
+"Certainly. The cuaderilleros."
+
+"No, Señor. An uprising at the cuartel."
+
+"What uprising? The curate against the alferez?"
+
+"No, nothing of the sort," said he who had asked the question. "The
+Chinese have risen in revolt."
+
+And he closed his window again.
+
+"The Chinese!" repeated all, with the greatest astonishment.
+
+In a quarter of an hour other versions of the affair were in
+circulation. Ibarra, with his servants, it was said, had tried to
+steal Maria Clara, and Captain Tiago, aided by the Guardia Civil had
+defended her.
+
+By this time the number of the dead was no longer fourteen, but
+thirty. Captain Tiago, it was said, was wounded and was going right
+off to Manila with his family.
+
+The arrival of two cuaderilleros, carrying a human form in a
+wheelbarrow, and followed by a Civil Guard, produced a great
+sensation. It was supposed that they came from the convent. From the
+form of the feet which were hanging down, they tried to guess who it
+could be. By half-past seven, when other Civil Guards arrived from
+neighboring towns, the current version of the affair was already
+clear and detailed.
+
+"I have just come from the tribunal, where I have seen Don Filipo
+and Don Crisostomo prisoners," said a man to Sister Puté. "I talked
+with one of the cuaderilleros on guard. Well, Bruno, the son of the
+man who was whipped to death, made a declaration last night. As you
+know, Captain Tiago is going to marry his daughter to a Spaniard. Don
+Crisostomo, offended, wanted to take revenge and tried to kill all
+the Spaniards, even the curate. Last night they attacked the convent
+and the cuartel. Happily, by mercy of God, the curate was in Captain
+Tiago's house. They say that many escaped. The Civil Guards burned
+Don Crisostomo's house, and if they had not taken him prisoner,
+they would have burned him, too."
+
+"They burned the house?"
+
+"All the servants were arrested. Why, you can still see the smoke
+from here!" said the narrator, approaching the window. "Those who
+come from there relate very sad things."
+
+All looked toward the place indicated. A light column of smoke was
+still ascending to the heavens. All made comments more or less pious,
+more or less accusatory.
+
+"Poor young man!" exclaimed an old man, the husband of Puté.
+
+"Yes!" replied his wife. "But he did not order a mass for the soul
+of his father, who undoubtedly needs it more than others."
+
+"But wife, you don't have any pity...."
+
+"Sympathy for the excommunicated? It is a sin to have pity for the
+enemies of God, say the curates. Don't you remember? He ran over the
+sacred burial ground as if he were in a cattle pen."
+
+"But a cattle pen and a cemetery are much alike," responded the old
+man, "except that but one class of animals enter the cemetery."
+
+"What!" cried Sister Puté. "Are you still going to defend him whom
+God so clearly punishes? You will see that they will arrest you,
+too. You may support a falling house, if you want to!"
+
+The husband became silent in view of this argument.
+
+"Yes," continued the old woman, "after striking Father Dámaso, there
+was nothing left for him to do but to kill Father Salví."
+
+"But you can't deny that he was a good boy when he was a child."
+
+"Yes, he was a good child," replied the old woman, "but he went to
+Spain. All those who go to Spain return heretics, so the curates say."
+
+"Oh!" exclaimed the husband, seeing his revenge. "And the curate,
+and all the curates, and the Archbishops, and the Pope, and the
+Virgin--are they not Spaniards? Bah! Are they heretics, too? Bah!"
+
+Happily for Sister Puté, the arrival of a servant, who rushed in
+confused and pale, cut off the discussion.
+
+"A man hanged in a neighboring orchard!" she exclaimed breathless.
+
+"A man hanged!" exclaimed all, full of amazement.
+
+The women crossed themselves. No one could stir.
+
+"Yes, Señor," continued the servant, trembling. "I was going to
+gather some peas in.... I looked into the orchard next door ... to
+see if there ... I saw a man swinging.... I thought it was Teo ... I
+went nearer to gather peas, and I saw that it was not he but it was
+another, and was dead ... I ran, ran and...."
+
+"Let us go and see it," said the old man, rising. "Take us there."
+
+"Don't go!" cried Sister Puté, seizing him by the shirt.
+
+"You'll get into trouble! He has hanged himself? Then all the worse
+for him!"
+
+"Let me see it, wife! Go to the tribunal, Juan, and report it. Perhaps
+he is not dead yet."
+
+And he went ino[typo, should be into?] the orchard, followed by the
+servant, who kept hid behind him. The women and Sister Puté herself
+came along behind, full of terror and curiosity.
+
+"There it is, Señor," said the servant stopping him and pointing with
+her finger.
+
+The group stopped at a respectful distance, allowing the old man to
+advance alone.
+
+The body of a man, hanging from the limb of a santol tree, was swinging
+slowly in the breeze. The old man contemplated it for some time. He
+looked at the rigid feet, the arms, the stained clothing and the
+drooping head.
+
+"We ought not to touch the corpse until some official has arrived,"
+said he, in a loud voice. "He is already stiff. He has been dead for
+some time."
+
+The women approached hesitatingly.
+
+"It is the neighbor who lived in that little house; the one who
+arrived only two weeks ago. Look at the scar on his face."
+
+"Ave Maria!" exclaimed some of the women.
+
+"Shall we pray for his soul?" asked a young girl as soon as she had
+finished looking at the dead body from all directions.
+
+"You fool! You heretic!" Sister Puté scolded her. "Don't you know what
+Father Dámaso said? To pray for a damned person is to tempt God. He who
+commits suicide is irrevocably condemned. For this reason, he cannot
+be buried in a sacred place. I had begun to think that this man was
+going to have a bad ending. I never could guess what he lived on."
+
+"I saw him twice speaking with the sacristan mayor," observed a girl.
+
+"It couldn't have been to confess himself or to order a mass!"
+
+The neighbors gathered together and a large circle surrounded the
+corpse which was still swinging. In half an hour some officers and
+two cuaderilleros arrived. They took the body down and put it in
+a wheelbarrow.
+
+"Some people are in a hurry to die," said one of the officers,
+laughing, while he took out the pen from behind his ear.
+
+He asked some trifling questions; took the declaration of the servant,
+whom he tried to implicate, now looking at her with evil in his eyes,
+now threatening her and now attributing to her words which she did
+not say--so much so that the servant, believing that she was going
+to be taken to jail, began to weep and finished by declaring that
+she was looking for peas, but that ... and she called Teo to witness.
+
+In the meantime, a peasant with a wide hat and a large plaster on
+his neck, was examining the body, and the rope by which it was hanging.
+
+The face was no more livid than the rest of the body. Above the
+rope could be seen two scars and two small bruises. Where the rope
+had rubbed, there was no blood and the skin was white. The curious
+peasant examined closely the camisa and the pantaloons. He noted that
+they were full of dust and recently torn in some places. But what most
+attracted his attention were the "stick-tights" [22] on his clothing,
+even up to his neck.
+
+"What do you see?" asked the officer.
+
+"I was trying to identify him, señor," stammered the peasant, lowering
+his hat further from his uncovered head.
+
+"But haven't you heard that it was one Lucas? Were you sleeping?"
+
+All began to laugh. The peasant, embarrassed, muttered a few words,
+and went away with head down, walking slowly.
+
+"Here! Where are you going?" cried the old man. "You can't get out
+that way. That's the way to the dead man's house."
+
+"That fellow is still asleep," said the officer with a jeer. "We'll
+have to throw some water on him!"
+
+Those standing around laughed again.
+
+The peasant left the place where he had played so poor a part and
+directed his steps toward the church. In the sacristy, he asked for
+the sacristan mayor.
+
+"He is still sleeping!" they replied gruffly. "Don't you know that
+they sacked the convent last night?"
+
+"I will wait till he awakes."
+
+The sacristans looked at him with that rudeness characteristic of
+people who are in the habit of being ill-treated.
+
+In a dark corner, the one-eyed sacristan mayor was sleeping in a
+large chair. His spectacles were across his forehead among his long
+locks of hair. His squalid, bony breast was bare, and rose and fell
+with regularity.
+
+The peasant sat down near by, disposed to wait patiently, but a
+coin fell on the floor and he began looking for it with the aid of a
+candle, under the sacristan mayor's big chair. The peasant also noted
+"stick-tights" on the sleeping man's pantaloons and on the arms of
+his camisa. The sacristan awoke at last, rubbed his good eye, and,
+in a very bad humor, reproached the man.
+
+"I would like to order a mass said, señor," replied he in a tone
+of excuse.
+
+"They have already finished all the masses," said the one-eyed man,
+softening his accent a little. "If you want it for to-morrow.... Is
+it for souls in Purgatory?"
+
+"No, señor;" replied the peasant, giving him a peso.
+
+And looking fixedly in his one eye, he added:
+
+"It is for a person who is going to die soon." And he left the
+sacristy. "I could have seized him last night," he added, sighingly
+as he removed the plaster from his neck. And he straightened up and
+regained the stature and appearance of Elias.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVII
+
+VAE VICTIS!
+
+
+Civil Guards were passing with a sinister air to and fro in front of
+the door of the tribunal, threatening with the butts of their guns
+the daring boys who stood on tip-toe or raised each other up in order
+to look through the grates in the windows.
+
+The sala did not present that same joyful aspect as it did when the
+program for the festival was being discussed. It was gloomy and the
+silence was almost death-like. The Civil Guards and the cuaderilleros
+who were occupying the room scarcely spoke and the few words that
+they did pronounce were in a low tone. Around the table sat the
+directorcillo, two writers and some soldiers scribbling papers. The
+alferez walked from one side to the other, looking from time to time
+ferociously toward the door. Themistocles after the battle of Salamis
+could not have shown more pride at the Olympic games. Doña Consolacion
+yawned in one corner of the room, and disclosed her black palate and
+her crooked teeth. Her cold and evil look was fixed on the door of
+the jail, covered with indecent pictures. Her husband, made amiable
+by the victory, had yielded to her request to be allowed to witness
+the interrogation and, perhaps, the tortures which were to follow. The
+hyena smelled the dead body, she licked her chops and was wearied at
+the delay in the punishment.
+
+The gobernadorcillo's chair, that large chair under the portrait of
+His Majesty, was empty and seemed destined for some other person.
+
+At nearly nine o'clock, the curate, pale and with eyebrows knit,
+arrived.
+
+"Well, you haven't made any one wait!" said the alferez sarcastically
+to the friar.
+
+"I would have preferred not to be present," replied Father Salví,
+in a low voice, without taking notice of the bitter tone.... "I am
+very nervous."
+
+"As no one came, I decided that, in order not to leave the chair
+empty, your presence.... You already know that the prisoners are to
+leave town this afternoon."
+
+"Young Ibarra and the teniente mayor?"
+
+The alferez pointed toward the jail.
+
+"Eight are in there," said he. "Bruno died last night at midnight,
+but his declaration has been obtained."
+
+The curate saluted Doña Consolacion, who responded with a yawn and an
+"aah!" The friar took the big chair under the picture of His Majesty.
+
+"We can begin," said he.
+
+"Bring out the two who are in the stocks!" ordered the alferez in his
+most terrifying voice. And turning to the curate, he added, changing
+his tone:
+
+"They are fastened in the stocks with two holes vacant!"
+
+For those who are interested in instruments of torture, we will say
+that the stocks is one of the most innocent. The holes in which are
+fastened the legs of the prisoner are a little more or less than
+a palm apart. Leaving two holes vacant, and putting the prisoner's
+legs in the holes on either side, would make the position strained,
+so that the ankles would suffer peculiarly and the lower extremities
+be stretched apart more than a yard. It does not kill instantly,
+as may well be imagined.
+
+The turnkey, followed by four soldiers, drew back the bolt and opened
+the door. A nauseating odor, and the thick, damp air escaped from the
+dense darkness of the prison and, at the same time, groans and sighs
+were heard. A soldier lighted a match, but the flame was extinguished
+in that foul, vitiated atmosphere, and they had to wait till the air
+was renewed.
+
+In the vague light of a candle, several human forms could be
+discerned. They were men, some of whom locked their arms around their
+knees and hid their heads between them, others were lying down, with
+their mouths to the ground, some standing, and some leaning against
+the wall. A blow and a creaking sound was heard, accompanied by oaths;
+the stocks were being opened.
+
+Doña Consolacion's body was bent forward, the muscles of her neck
+were rigid, her eyes riveted to the half open door.
+
+Between the soldiers came out Tarsilo, the brother of Bruno. He wore
+handcuffs. His torn clothes disclosed well-developed muscles. His
+eyes were fixed insolently on the alferez's wife.
+
+"This is the one who defended himself most bravely, and who ordered
+his companions to flee," said the alferez to Father Salví.
+
+Behind came another miserable sight, a man crying and weeping like
+a child. He was limping and his pantaloons were stained with blood.
+
+"Mercy, señor, have mercy! I will not enter the cuartel yard again,"
+he cried.
+
+"He is a crafty fellow," said the alferez, speaking to the curate. "He
+wanted to flee, but had received a flesh wound."
+
+"What is your name?" asked the alferez, speaking to Tarsilo.
+
+"Tarsilo Alasigan."
+
+"What did Don Crisostomo promise you for attacking the cuartel?"
+
+"Don Crisostomo has never communicated with us."
+
+"Don't deny it! You wanted to surprise us for him!"
+
+"You are mistaken. You whipped our father to death. We avenged him
+and nothing more. Look for your two soldiers!"
+
+The alferez looked at the sergeant, surprised.
+
+"They are at the bottom of that precipice. We threw them there
+yesterday. There they will rot. Now kill me! You will know nothing
+more."
+
+Silence and general surprise.
+
+"You are not going to tell who were your accomplices?" said the
+alferez in a threatening manner and brandishing a whip.
+
+A scornful smile curled the lips of the culprit.
+
+The alferez conferred for some minutes with the curate in a low
+voice. Then turning to the soldiers, he ordered:
+
+"Take him to where the dead bodies are!"
+
+In a corner of the yard, upon an old wagon, were five bodies close
+together and half covered by a filthy piece of torn matting. A soldier
+on guard was pacing up and down, and constantly spitting.
+
+"Do you recognize them?" asked the alferez, lifting the matting.
+
+Tarsilo did not respond. He saw the dead body of Pedro, with two
+others; one, his own brother, riddled with bayonet wounds, and the
+other, Lucas, with the rope still around his neck. His look became
+gloomy and a sigh seemed to escape from his breast.
+
+"Do you know them?" they asked him.
+
+Tarsilo remained silent.
+
+There was a whistling sound and the whip came down across his back. He
+trembled, and his muscles contracted. The lashes were repeated,
+but Tarsilo continued impassive.
+
+"Let them whip him till they cut him to pieces or till he makes a
+declaration," cried the alferez, exasperated.
+
+"Speak then!" said the directorcillo to him. "They will surely
+kill you."
+
+They led him back to the sala of the tribunal, where the other prisoner
+was invoking God, grating his teeth and shaking on his legs.
+
+"Do you know this man?" asked Father Salví.
+
+"This is the first time I have ever seen him," replied Tarsilo,
+looking with a certain pity on the other.
+
+The alferez gave him a cuff with his fist and kicked him.
+
+"Tie him to the bench!"
+
+Without taking off the bloody handcuffs, he was fastened to the wooden
+bench. The unhappy fellow looked about him as if in search of some one,
+and his eyes fell on Doña Consolacion. He smiled sardonically. Those
+present were surprised and followed his glance and saw the señora. She
+was biting her lips.
+
+"I have never seen an uglier woman," exclaimed Tarsilo amid the
+general silence. "I prefer to lie down on this bench as I am doing
+than to lie by her side, like the alferez."
+
+The Muse turned pale.
+
+"You are going to whip me to death, alferez," he continued, "but
+to-night I will be avenged by your woman."
+
+"Gag him!" shouted the alferez, furious and trembling with rage.
+
+It seemed as though Tarsilo had wanted the gag, for when he had it
+in his mouth, his eyes gleamed with a ray of satisfaction.
+
+At a signal from the alferez a guard, armed with a whip, began his
+cruel task. The whole body of Tarsilo shrank. A groan, suppressed and
+prolonged, could be heard in spite of the rag which stopped up his
+mouth. He lowered his head. His clothes were being stained with blood.
+
+Father Salví, pale and with a wild look, rose to his feet laboriously,
+made a sign with his hand and left the sala with vacillating steps. In
+the street, he saw a girl, leaning her back against the wall, rigid,
+immovable, listening attentively, looking into space, her marble-like
+hands extended along the old wall. The sun was shining full upon
+her. She was counting, it seemed without breathing, the sharp blows
+and listening to that heart-rending groan. She was Tarsilo's sister.
+
+In the meantime, the scene was continuing in the sala. The unfortunate
+fellow, overcome with pain, had become silent and waited for his
+punishers to tire. At last, the soldier breathless, let fall his
+arm. The alferez, pale with wrath and astonishment, made a signal
+for them to unloose him.
+
+Doña Consolacion then arose and whispered something into her husband's
+ear. He nodded his head, signifying that he understood.
+
+"To the well with him!" said he.
+
+The Filipinos know what that means. In Tagalog they call it
+timbain. We do not know who could have been the inventor of this
+method of punishment, but we are of the opinion that he must have lived
+long ago. In the middle of the tribunal yard there was a picturesque
+stone-wall, roughly made out of cobble stones, around a well. A rustic
+apparatus of bamboo in the form of a lever serves to draw out the vile,
+dirty and bad smelling water. Broken dishes, refuse and all sorts of
+filth collected there, since the well was a common receptacle for
+everything that the people threw away or found useless. An object
+which fell into the place, no matter how good it may have been, was
+thereafter surely lost. However, the well was never closed up. At
+times, prisoners were condemned to go down and make it deeper, not
+because it was thought that the work would be useful in any way,
+but because the work was so difficult. If a prisoner went down in
+the well once, he invariably contracted a fever, from which he died.
+
+Tarsilo contemplated all the preparations of the soldiers with a firm
+look. He was very pale and his lips were trembling or murmuring a
+prayer. The haughtiness of his desperation seemed to have disappeared,
+or at least to have weakened. A number of times he bent his head,
+fixed his eyes on the ground, resigned to his suffering.
+
+They took him to one side of the stone wall. Doña Consolacion followed
+smiling. The unfortunate wretch glanced enviously toward the pile of
+dead bodies, and a sigh escaped from his breast.
+
+"Speak now!" said the directorcillo again. "They will certainly drown
+you. At least, die without having suffered so much."
+
+"When you come out of this, you will die," said a cuaderillero.
+
+They took the gag out of his mouth and hung him by his feet. He had
+to go down head first and remain under the water some time just like
+a bucket, except that a man is left under the water a longer time.
+
+The alferez went to look for a watch that he might count the minutes.
+
+In the meantime, Tarsilo was hanging, his long hair waving in the
+air and his eyes half closed.
+
+"If you are Christians, if you have hearts," he begged, in a low voice,
+"let me down rapidly and make my head strike against the wall that I
+may die. God would reward such a good deed.... Perhaps some day you
+will be in the same straits as I am now."
+
+The alferez returned and with watch in hand witnessed the descent.
+
+"Slowly, slowly!" cried Doña Consolacion following the poor fellow
+with her eyes. "Be careful!"
+
+The pole was being lowered slowly. Tarsilo rubbed against
+the projecting stones and the dirty plants which grew in the
+crevices. Then, the pole ceased to move. The alferez was counting
+the seconds.
+
+"Up!" he ordered dryly, at the end of a half minute.
+
+The silvery harmony of the drops of water falling back into the well,
+announced the return of the unfortunate man to the light. As the
+weight on the end of the lever was heavy, he came up quickly. The
+rough pieces of stone and pebbles, torn loose from the walls, fell
+with splashes to the bottom.
+
+His face and hair full of filthy mud, his body wet and dripping,
+he appeared again in the sight of the silent crowd. The wind made
+him shiver with cold.
+
+"Do you want to make a declaration?" they asked him.
+
+"Take care of my sister!" the unhappy one murmured, looking at the
+cuaderillero, with supplication.
+
+The bamboo pole creaked again, and again the condemned man
+disappeared. Doña Consolacion observed that the water remained
+still. The alferez counted a minute.
+
+When Tarsilo came up again, his face was livid and his features
+contracted. He glanced at those standing around and kept open his
+bloodshot eyes.
+
+"Will you make a declaration?" asked the alferez again, with vexation.
+
+Tarsilo shook his head and again they let him down. His eyelids were
+almost closed and his eyes were gazing at the white clouds floating
+in the heavens. He bent his neck to keep sight of the light of day,
+but he was soon submerged in the water. That filthy curtain closed
+from him the sight of the world.
+
+A minute passed. The Muse saw large bubbles of air come up to the
+surface of the water.
+
+"He is thirsty," said she, laughing.
+
+The water was again smooth.
+
+This time a minute and a half had passed when the alferez gave
+the signal.
+
+Tarsilo's features were no longer contracted. The half opened lids
+showed the white of his eyes. Muddy water, clotted with blood,
+ran out of his mouth. The cool wind was blowing, but his body no
+longer shivered.
+
+Those present, pale and terrified, looked at each other in silence. The
+alferez made a signal for them to take him down from where he was
+hanging, and stepped aside for a few moments. Doña Consolacion a
+number of times applied the lighted end of her cigar to the bare legs
+of Tarsilo, but his body did not quiver. It put out the light.
+
+"He has asphyxiated himself," murmured a cuaderillero. "See how his
+tongue is turned, as if he wanted to swallow it."
+
+The other prisoner, trembling and perspiring, contemplated the
+scene. Like a madman he looked about him.
+
+The alferez ordered the directorcillo to question him.
+
+"Señor, Señor," he groaned. "I will tell you all that you wish."
+
+"Good. Let us see! What is your name?"
+
+"Andong, Señor!"
+
+"Bernardo ... Leonardo ... Ricardo ... Educardo. Gerardo ... or what?"
+
+"Andong, Señor," repeated the imbecile.
+
+"Call it Bernardo or whatever you please," said the alferez, decided
+not to bother more about it.
+
+"What family name?"
+
+The man looked at him frightened.
+
+"What's your name? What do you add to the name Andong?"
+
+"Ah, Señor! Andong Medio-tonto (half-fool), Señor."
+
+Those standing around could not resist a laugh. The alferez himself
+stopped short.
+
+"What is your business?"
+
+"Cocoanut tree pruner, Señor, and servant for my mother-in-law."
+
+"Who ordered you to attack the cuartel?"
+
+"Nobody, Señor."
+
+"What's that; nobody? Don't you lie or we will put you in the well. Who
+ordered you to do it? Speak the truth."
+
+"That's the truth, Señor."
+
+"Who?"
+
+"Who?"
+
+"I ask you who ordered you to revolt."
+
+"What revolt, Señor?"
+
+"That one last night, when you were in the tribunal yard."
+
+"Ah, Señor!" exclaimed Andong, blushing.
+
+"Who was to blame for that?"
+
+"My mother-in-law, Señor."
+
+A laugh of surprise followed this reply. The alferez stopped and
+looked sharply at the simple peasant, who believed that his words had
+produced a good effect. More animated, he was about to continue when
+the crack of a whip cut him short.
+
+"To the jail!" ordered the alferez. "This afternoon, send him to
+the capital."
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVIII
+
+THE ACCURSED.
+
+
+The news that the prisoners were going to depart spread quickly through
+the town. At first, the news was heard with terror; afterward, came
+tears and lamentations.
+
+The members of the families of the prisoners were running about
+madly. They would go from the convent to the cuartel from the cuartel
+to the tribunal, and not finding consolation anywhere, they filled the
+air with cries and moans. The curate had shut himself up because he was
+ill. The alferez had increased his guards, who received the supplicants
+with the butts of their guns. The gobernadorcillo, a useless being,
+anyway, seemed more stupid and useless than ever.
+
+The sun was burning hot, but none of the unhappy women who were
+gathered in front of the cuartel thought of that. Doray, the gay
+and happy wife of Don Filipo, wandered about, with her tender little
+child in her arms. Both were crying.
+
+"Get out of the sun," they said to her. "Your son will catch a fever."
+
+"What is the use of his living if he has no father to educate
+him?" replied the dispirited woman.
+
+"Your husband is innocent. Perhaps he will return."
+
+"Yes, when we are in our graves."
+
+Capitana Tinay wept and cried for her son, Antonio. The courageous
+Capitana Maria gazed toward the small grate, behind which were her
+twins, her only sons.
+
+There, too, was the mother-in-law of the cocoanut tree pruner. She
+was not crying; she was walking to and fro, gesticulating, with shirt
+sleeves rolled up, and haranguing the public.
+
+"Have you ever seen anything equal to it?" said she. "They arrest my
+Andong, wound him, put him in the stocks, and take him to the capital,
+all because he happened to be in the cuartel yard."
+
+But few people had any sympathy for the Mussulman mother-in-law.
+
+"Don Crisostomo is to blame for all of this," sighed a woman.
+
+The school teacher also was wandering about in the crowd. Ñor Juan
+was no longer rubbing his hands, nor was he carrying his yard stick
+and plumb line. He had heard the bad news and, faithful to his custom
+of seeing the future as a thing that had already happened, he was
+dressed in mourning, mourning for the death of Ibarra.
+
+At two o'clock in the afternoon, an uncovered cart, drawn by two oxen,
+stopped in front of the tribunal.
+
+The cart was surrounded by the crowd. They wanted to destroy it.
+
+"Don't do that!" said Capitana Maria. "Do you want them to walk?"
+
+This remark stopped the relatives of the prisoners. Twenty soldiers
+came out and surrounded the cart. Then came the prisoners.
+
+The first was Don Filipo; he was tied. He greeted his wife with a
+smile. Doray broke into a bitter lamentation and two soldiers had to
+work hard to keep her from embracing her husband. Antonio, the son of
+Captain Tinay, next appeared, crying like a child--a fact which made
+the family cry all the more. The imbecile, Andong, broke out in a wail
+when he saw his mother-in-law, the cause of his misfortune. Albino,
+the former seminary student, came out with his hands tied, as did
+also the twin sons of Capitana Maria. These three youths were serious
+and grave. The last who came was Ibarra. The young man was pale. He
+looked about for the face of Maria Clara.
+
+"That is the one who is to blame!" cried many voices. "He is to blame
+and he will go free."
+
+"My son-in-law has done nothing and he is handcuffed."
+
+Ibarra turned to the guards.
+
+"Tie me, and tie me well, elbow to elbow," said he.
+
+"We have no orders."
+
+"Tie me!"
+
+The soldiers obeyed.
+
+The alferez appeared on horse-back, armed to the teeth. Ten or fifteen
+more soldiers followed him.
+
+Each of the prisoners had there in the crowd his family praying
+for him, weeping for him, and calling him by the most affectionate
+names. Ibarra was the only exception. Even Ñor Juan himself and the
+school-teacher had disappeared.
+
+"What have you done to my husband and my son?" said Doray to Ibarra,
+crying. "See my poor boy! You have deprived him of a father!"
+
+The grief of the people was changed to wrath against the young man,
+accused of having provoked the riot. The alferez gave orders to depart.
+
+"You are a coward!" cried the mother-in-law of Andong to Ibarra. "While
+the others were fighting for you, you were hiding. Coward!"
+
+"Curses upon you!" shouted an old man following him. "Cursed be the
+gold hoarded up by your family to disturb our peace! Curse him! Curse
+him!"
+
+"May they hang you, heretic!" cried one of Albino's relatives. And
+unable to restrain himself, he picked up a stone and threw it at
+Ibarra.
+
+The example was quickly imitated, and a shower of dust and stones
+fell on the unfortunate youth.
+
+Ibarra suffered it all, impassive, without wrath, without a
+complaint--the unjust vengeance of suffering hearts. This was the
+leave-taking, the "adios" tendered to him by his town, the center
+of all his affections. He bowed his head. Perhaps he was thinking of
+another man, whipped through the streets of Manila, of an old woman
+falling dead at the sight of the head of her son. Perhaps the history
+of Elias was passing before his eyes.
+
+The cortége moved slowly on and away.
+
+Of the persons who appeared in a few opened windows, those who
+showed the most compassion for the unfortunate young man were the
+indifferent and the curious. All his friends had hidden themselves;
+yes, even Captain Basilio, who forbade his daughter Sinang to weep.
+
+Ibarra saw the smouldering ruins of his house, of the house of his
+fathers where he had been born, where he had lived the sweetest days
+of his infancy and childhood. Tears, for a long time suppressed,
+burst from his eyes. He bowed his head and wept, wept without the
+consolation of being able to hide his weeping, tied as he was by the
+elbows. Nor did that grief awaken compassion in anybody. Now he had
+neither fatherland, home, love, friends or future.
+
+From a height a man contemplated the funeral-like caravan. He was old,
+pale, thin, wrapped in a woollen blanket and was leaning with fatigue
+on a cane. It was old Tasio, who as soon as he heard of what had
+happened wanted to leave his bed and attend, but his strength would
+not permit it. The old man followed with his eyes the cart until it
+disappeared in the distance. He stood for some time, pensive and his
+head bowed down; then he arose, and laboriously started on the road
+to his house, resting at every step.
+
+The following day, shepherds found him dead on the very threshold of
+his solitary retreat.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIX
+
+MARIA CLARA IS MARRIED.
+
+
+Captain Tiago was very happy. During all this terrible time nobody
+had busied himself with him. They had not arrested him, nor had they
+submitted him to excommunications, court trials, electrical machines,
+continual hot foot baths in subterranean places, or to any of the
+other punishments which are well known to certain people who call
+themselves civilized. He had returned to his Manila house. Those who
+had been the Captain's friends--for he had renounced all his Filipino
+friends from the moment that they were suspected by the Government--had
+also returned to their homes after some days of vacation spent in
+the Government buildings. The Governor General had himself ordered
+these people to leave their possessions, for he had not thought it
+fitting that they should remain in them during the great danger.
+
+Captain Tiago was overflowing with gratitude, but he did not know
+exactly to whom he was indebted for such signal favors. Aunt Isabel
+attributed the miracle to the Virgin of Antipolo, to the Virgin of the
+Rosary, or at least to the Virgin of Carmen. The least that she would
+concede was that it was due to Our Lady of Corea. According to the
+Aunt, the miracle was certainly due to one of these Virgins. Captain
+Tiago did not deny that it was a miracle, but he added:
+
+"I do not believe, Isabel, that the Virgin of Antipolo could have
+done it alone. My friends have aided in it; my future son-in-law,
+Señor Linares has, as you know, joked with Señor Antonio Canovas
+himself, whose portrait we saw in 'Illustracion.'"
+
+And the good man could not suppress a smile every time that he heard
+any important news about the event. And there was good reason for
+it. It was whispered about that Ibarra was going to be hanged; that,
+even if many proofs had been lacking, at last one had appeared which
+could confirm the accusation; and that skilled workmen had declared
+that, as a matter of fact, the work for the school-house could pass
+for a fort or a fortification. Even if defective in some parts, that
+was as much as could be expected from ignorant Indians. These rumors
+quieted the Captain and made him smile.
+
+Just as the Captain and his cousin, Aunt Isabel, were of different
+opinions about the miracle, so, too, the other friends of the family
+were divided into different parties--those who followed the miracle
+monger, and those who followed the Government. The latter party,
+however, was quite insignificant. The miracle mongers were sub-divided
+into other factions: the Sacristan Mayor of Binondo, the woman who
+sold the wax candles, and the chief of one of the brotherhoods,
+all saw the hand of God in the miracle, moved by the Virgin of the
+Rosary. The Chinese candle maker, who provided the Captain whenever
+he went on a pilgrimage to Antipolo, was saying as he sat fanning
+himself and wiggling his foot:
+
+"What for you b'long foolish? Thisee belong Mergin Antipolo. She can
+do muchy more: others, no can do. No b'long plopper say pidgin b'long
+other man."
+
+Captain Tiago held the Chinaman in great estimation and made him pass
+for a prophet and doctor. Examining the hand of his deceased wife in
+the sixth month of her pregnancy, he had prophesied:
+
+"If thisee one no b'long man, and no go dead side, will b'long bery
+good woman."
+
+And so it was that Maria Clara came to this earth and fulfilled the
+Chinaman's prophecy.
+
+Captain Tiago, being a prudent and timid person, could not decide the
+question of the miracle as easily as the Trojan Paris. He could not
+give preference to one of the Virgins for fear of offending some other
+of them, a thing which might bring about grave results. "Prudence,"
+he said to himself. "Be prudent! Let us not lose all now."
+
+He was in the midst of these doubts when the party in favor of the
+Government, or the Governmental party, arrived, viz., Doña Victorina,
+Don Tiburcio, and Linares.
+
+Doña Victorina did all the talking for the three men and for herself
+also. She mentioned the visits which Linares had made to the Governor
+General, and repeatedly brought out the benefits derived from having
+a relative of categoría.
+
+For some days past, she had been trying to be Andalusian by suppressing
+the d in all words and in changing the s to z. No one could get the
+idea out of her head; she would prefer to lose her front curls first.
+
+"Yes," she said, in speaking of Ibarra. "That fellow merits very well
+all that he is going to get. I told you so when I saw him for the first
+time. I told you he was a filibustero. What did the General tell you,
+cousin? What did he say? What news did you give him about Ibarra?"
+
+Seeing that the cousin hesitated in his reply, she went on, directing
+her words to Captain Tiago.
+
+"Believe me, if they convict him, as is to be hoped, it will be
+through my cousin."
+
+"Señora, Señora!" protested Linares.
+
+But she did not give him any time.
+
+"Oh, what a diplomat you have turned out to be! But we all know that
+you are the adviser of the Governor General, that he could not live
+without you. Ah! What a pleasure to see you, Clarita."
+
+Maria Clara seemed paler than ever, although she was now quite
+recovered from her illness. Sadly smiling, she approached and greeted
+Doña Victorina with a formal kiss.
+
+After the customary words had been exchanged, Doña went on with her
+false Andalusian.
+
+"We came to visit you. You have been saved by the efforts of your
+friends,"--looking significantly at Linares.
+
+"God has protected my father," said the girl, in a low voice.
+
+"Yes, Clarita, but the time for miracles has passed long ago. As
+we Spaniards say: 'Have no trust in the Virgin and save yourself
+by running.'"
+
+"The--th--the ot--ot--other way," said the doctor, correcting her
+proverbial quotation.
+
+Captain Tiago, who had not yet found opportunity to say a word,
+ventured to ask her, giving much attention to her reply: "So you,
+Doña Victorina, believe that the Virgin...?"
+
+"That is precisely what we came for, to speak to you about the Virgin,"
+replied she, indicating Maria Clara. "We have a matter to talk over."
+
+The maiden understood that she ought to retire. She sought an excuse
+and went away, supporting herself on the furniture as she walked along.
+
+What was said in the conference which followed was so low and mean
+that we prefer to omit it. It is sufficient for us to say that when
+they took their leave all were happy, and that Captain Tiago afterward
+said to his cousin:
+
+"Isabel, send word to the restaurant that we are going to give a
+fiesta to-morrow. You get Maria ready to be married in a short time."
+
+Aunt Isabel looked at him, surprised.
+
+"You will see! When Señor Linares is our son-in-law all the palaces
+will be open to us. They will be envying us; they will all die
+with envy."
+
+And thus it was that at eight o'clock on the following evening,
+Captain Tiago's house was again full of guests, only that this time
+the men whom he had invited were either Spaniards or Chinamen, while
+the fair sex was represented by Spaniards born in the Peninsula or
+in the Philippines.
+
+The larger part of our acquaintances was there: Father Sibyla,
+Father Salví and several other Franciscans and Dominicans, the old
+lieutenant of the Civil Guard, Señor Guevara, more melancholy than
+ever; the alferez, who related his battle for the thousandth time,
+feeling himself head and shoulders above everybody and a veritable
+Don Juan de Austria, now a lieutenant with the rank of commander; De
+Espadaña, who looked at the former with respect and fear and avoided
+his glance; and the indignant Doña Victorina. Linares was not yet
+present, for, being a very important personage, it was fitting that
+he should arrive later than the others.
+
+Maria Clara, the subject of all the gossip, was the center of a
+group of women. She had greeted and received them ceremoniously,
+but did not throw off her air of sadness.
+
+"Psh!" said one of the girls. "A little stuck-up!"
+
+"A cute little thing," replied another, "but he might have selected
+some one of a more intelligent appearance."
+
+"It's the money; he's a good-looking fellow and sells himself for a
+good price."
+
+In another part of the room they were talking like this:
+
+"Marry, when her former betrothed is about to be hanged!"
+
+"I call that prudence; to have one on hand as a substitute."
+
+Possibly the young maiden heard these remarks as she sat in a chair
+near by, arranging a tray of flowers, for her hand was seen to tremble,
+she turned pale and bit her lips a number of times.
+
+The conversation among the men was in a loud tone. Naturally, they
+were conversant with the recent happenings. All were talking, even
+Don Tiburcio, with the exception of Father Sibyla, who maintained a
+disdainful silence.
+
+"I have heard that Your Reverence leaves the town, Father Salví?" asked
+the newly made lieutenant, now made more amiable by the star on
+his sleeve.
+
+"I have nothing more to do now in San Diego. I am permanently settled
+in Manila now ... and you?"
+
+"I also leave the town," replied the former alferez, straightening
+up. "The Government needs me to take command of a flying column to
+clear the provinces of filibusteros."
+
+Friar Salví looked him over from head to foot, and turned his back
+to him completely.
+
+"Is it yet known for a certainty what is to become of the leader of
+the revolutionists?" asked a Government employee.
+
+"Are you referring to Crisostomo Ibarra?" asked another. "What is most
+probable and most just is that he be hanged, as those were in '72."
+
+"He will be exiled," said the old lieutenant, dryly.
+
+"Exiled! Nothing more than exiled! But it will be a perpetual
+exile!" exclaimed several at the same time.
+
+"If that young fellow," Lieutenant Guevara went on to say in a loud
+voice, "had been more cautious; if he had trusted certain people less
+with whom he had correspondence; and if the officers had not made
+a subtle interpretation of what was written--if it had not been for
+all of this, that young man would surely have gone free."
+
+This statement by the old lieutenant and the tone of his voice produced
+a great surprise in the room. Those who heard it did not know what
+to say. Father Salví looked in another direction, perhaps so as not
+to meet the dark look which the old man directed toward him. Maria
+Clara dropped her flowers and sat motionless. Father Sibyla, the one
+who knew how to keep silent, appeared to be the only one who knew
+how to ask questions.
+
+"Are you referring to the letters, Señor Guevara?"
+
+"I am telling what the defendant's attorney told me. He has taken up
+the case with zeal and interest. Aside from some ambiguous lines which
+this young man wrote to a young woman before departing for Europe,
+they have found no proof to sustain the accusation. In these few lines,
+the officers saw a plan and threat against the Government."
+
+"And what about the declaration made by the bandit before he died?"
+
+"That statement has proved of no account, since, according to the
+bandit himself, the conspirators never had communicated with the young
+man, but only with one, Lucas, who was Ibarra's enemy, as they have
+been able to prove, and who committed suicide, perhaps from remorse. It
+has been proved that the papers found in the possession of the dead
+man were forged, since the handwriting was like that of Ibarra seven
+years ago, but not like that of to-day--a fact which shows that it
+was copied from the letter used as evidence against him. Besides,
+his attorney says that if Ibarra had not admitted the genuineness of
+the letter, he would have been able to do much for him; but, at the
+sight of it, the young man turned pale, lost heart and acknowledged
+that he had written it."
+
+"Do you say," asked a Franciscan, "that the letter was directed to
+a young woman? How did it get into the hands of the officers?"
+
+The lieutenant did not reply. He looked for a moment at Friar Salví
+and then walked off, twisting nervously the end of his grey beard. In
+the meantime, others were commenting something like this:
+
+"There you see the hand of God!" said one. "Even the women hate him."
+
+"He had his house burned, thinking that he could thus save himself. But
+he did not reckon with his host--that is, with his querida, [23] with
+his babai," [23] added another, smiling. "That is God's work. Santiago
+protects Spain!"
+
+The old army officer stopped and approached Maria Clara. She was
+listening to the conversation, immovable in her seat. The flowers
+were at her feet.
+
+"You are a very prudent young woman," said the old lieutenant to her
+in a low voice. "You have done well to hand over the letter.... In
+this way you will assure yourself of a peaceful future."
+
+With dull eyes, and biting her lips, she looked at him as he walked
+away. Luckily, Aunt Isabel passed her at this moment. Maria Clara
+summoned enough strength to catch hold of her aunt's dress.
+
+"Aunt," she murmured.
+
+"What is the matter with you?" asked the latter, frightened, as she
+saw the young woman's face.
+
+"Take me to my room!" she begged, clinging to the arm of the old
+woman in order to raise herself to her feet.
+
+"Are you sick, my child? You seem to have lost all your strength. What
+is the matter with you?"
+
+"A little sick to my stomach ... the crowd in the sala ... so much
+light ... I need to rest. Tell father that I am going to sleep."
+
+"You are cold! Do you want some tea?"
+
+Maria Clara shook her head negatively. She closed the door of her room
+and locked it, and, her strength failing her, she fell to the floor,
+at the feet of an image, weeping and sobbing:
+
+"Mother, mother, my mother!"
+
+The moonlight was shining through the open window and door which led
+out upon the azotea.
+
+The orchestra continued playing gay waltzes. The laughter and the hum
+of conversation could be heard in her bedroom. A number of times her
+family, Aunt Isabel, Doña Victorina, and even Linares, knocked at her
+door, but Maria Clara did not move. There was a rattle in her throat.
+
+Hours passed. The pleasures of the table ended, and dancing
+followed. Her little candle burned out, but the maiden lay quietly
+on the floor, the rays of moonlight shining upon her at the foot of
+an image of the Mother of Jesus.
+
+Gradually the noises in the house died away, the lights were put out,
+and Aunt Isabel again knocked at the door of her room.
+
+"Let us leave her; she is sleeping," said her aunt. "At her age,
+with nothing to trouble her, she sleeps like a corpse."
+
+When all was again silent, Maria arose slowly and glanced around
+her. She saw the azotea and the small climbing plants bathed in the
+melancholy light of the moon.
+
+"A peaceful future! Sleeping like a corpse!" she murmured in a low
+voice, and turned toward the azotea.
+
+The city was quiet. Only the noise of an occasional carriage passing
+over the wooden bridge could be heard in the stillness of the night,
+while the tranquil waters of the river were reflecting the moonlight.
+
+The maiden raised her eyes to the pure, sapphire-colored sky. Slowly
+she took off her rings, her hair-combs, her earrings, and her
+breast-pin, and placing them upon the balustrade of the azotea she
+looked out toward the river.
+
+A banca, loaded with rice grass, stopped at the foot of the landing on
+the bank of the river at the rear of the house. One of the two men who
+were propelling the boat went up the stone steps, leaped over the wall,
+and a few seconds afterward, steps were heard coming up the azotea.
+
+Maria Clara saw him stop on discovering her, but it was for only a
+moment. The man advanced slowly and at about three steps from the
+maiden, stopped again. Maria Clara stepped back.
+
+"Crisostomo!" she gasped, full of terror.
+
+"Yes, I am Crisostomo!" replied the young man, in a grave voice. "An
+enemy, a man who has good reason to hate me, Elias, has helped me
+out of the prison into which my friends had thrown me."
+
+Silence followed these words. Maria Clara bowed her head and allowed
+both her hands to drop at her side.
+
+Ibarra continued:
+
+"Beside the dead body of my mother, I swore to make you happy,
+whatever might be my destiny. You can break your oath; she was not
+your mother. But I, who am her son, I hold her memory sacred, and,
+running great risk, I have come here to fulfill my oath. Fortune
+permits me to speak with you personally. Maria, we shall not see each
+other again. You are young and perhaps some day your conscience may
+accuse you.... I come to tell you, before leaving, that I forgive
+you. Now, may you be happy, and good-bye!"
+
+Ibarra tried to leave, but the maiden stopped him.
+
+"Crisostomo!" she said. "God has sent you to save me from
+desperation.... Hear me and judge me!"
+
+Ibarra wished to withdraw gently from her.
+
+"I have not come," said he, "to call you to account.... I have come
+to give you peace."
+
+"I do not want the peace which you give me. I will give myself
+peace. You despise me, and your contempt will make my life bitter
+till death."
+
+Ibarra saw the poor girl's desperation, and asked her what she desired.
+
+"That you may believe that I have always loved you."
+
+Crisostomo smiled bitterly.
+
+"Ah! You doubt me, you doubt the friend of your infancy, who has
+never hidden a single thought from you," exclaimed she in grief. "I
+understand you. When you know my history, the history which they
+revealed to me during my illness, you will pity me and you will no
+longer answer my grief with that bitter smile. Why did you not let
+me die in the hands of my ignorant doctor? You and I would have been
+happier then."
+
+Maria Clara rested a moment and then continued:
+
+"You have doubted me; you have wished my mother to pardon me. During
+one of those nights of suffering, a man revealed to me the name of
+my true father, and forbade me to love you ... unless my true father
+should pardon you for the offense you committed against him."
+
+Ibarra recoiled and looked in terror at the maiden.
+
+"Yes," she continued. "This man told me that he could not permit our
+marriage, since his conscience would not allow it, and he would find
+himself compelled to publish the truth at the risk of causing a great
+scandal, because my father is ..."
+
+And she whispered a name in the young man's ear in a scarcely audible
+voice.
+
+"What was I to do? Ought I to sacrifice to my love the memory of
+my mother, the honor of the man who innocently supposes himself my
+father, and the good name of my real father? Could I do that without
+you despising me for it?"
+
+"But the proof? Have you proof? You need proof!" exclaimed Crisostomo,
+deeply agitated.
+
+The maiden drew two letters from her bosom.
+
+"Two of my mother's letters: two letters written in remorse before
+I was born. Take them, read them and you will see how she cursed
+me and desired my death, which my father in vain tried to cause by
+drugs. These letters were forgotten in the house where he lived;
+a man found them and kept them. They would only give them to me in
+exchange for your letter ... to make certain, as they said, that I
+would not marry you without the consent of my father. From the time
+that I began to carry them in my bosom instead of your letter, my
+heart was chilled. I sacrificed you, I sacrificed my love.... What
+would not a person do for a dead mother and two living fathers? Did
+I suspect the use to which they were going to put your letter?"
+
+Ibarra was prostrated. Maria Clara went on:
+
+"What was there left for me? Could I tell you who was my father? Could
+I ask you to seek the pardon of him who had so much desired my death,
+and who made your father suffer? There was nothing left for me but to
+keep the secret to myself, and to die suffering.... Now, my friend,
+you know the sad history of your poor Maria. Will you still have that
+contemptuous smile for her?"
+
+"Maria, you are a saint."
+
+"I am happy now that you believe me."
+
+"However," added the young man, changing his tone. "I have heard that
+you are about to marry."
+
+"Yes," sobbed the maiden. "My father asked this sacrifice of me. He
+has fed me and loved me, and it was not his duty. I pay him this debt
+of gratitude which I owe him by assuring him peace through this new
+relative, but ..."
+
+"But?"
+
+"I shall not forget the oaths of fidelity which I made to you."
+
+"What do you think of doing?" asked Ibarra, trying to read her eyes.
+
+"The future is obscure and Destiny is hidden in darkness. I do not
+know what I am to do; but I know that I can love only once, and that
+without love I never will belong to any one. And you, what is to
+become of you?"
+
+"I am nothing but a fugitive.... I am fleeing. In a very short time,
+they will discover my escape, Maria...."
+
+Maria Clara clasped her arms about her lover's neck, kissed his lips
+repeatedly, hugged him, and then, abruptly breaking away from him,
+said:
+
+"Flee! flee! Adios!"
+
+Ibarra looked at her, his eyes sparkling, but she motioned and he
+went away, staggering like a drunken man. Again he leaped over the
+wall and entered the banca. Maria Clara, leaning on the door casing,
+watched him depart.
+
+Elias took off his hat and bowed profoundly.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XL
+
+THE PURSUIT ON THE LAKE.
+
+
+"Listen, Señor, to my plan," said Elias, as they directed the banca
+toward San Miguel. "I will for the present hide you in the house of
+my friend in Mandaluyong. I will bring you all your money, which I
+have saved and kept for you at the foot of the old balitî tree, in
+the mysterious tomb of your grandfather. You shall leave the country."
+
+"To go to a strange land?" interrupted Ibarra.
+
+"To live in peace the remaining days of your life. You have friends
+in Spain, you are rich, you can get yourself pardoned. By all means,
+a foreign land is better for you than your own country."
+
+Crisostomo did not reply. He meditated in silence.
+
+Just then they reached the Pasig and the banca was headed up the
+stream. Over the Bridge of Spain a horse-man was galloping at high
+speed, and a prolonged, sharp whistle was heard.
+
+"Elias," replied Ibarra, "you owe your misfortunes to my family;
+you have saved my life twice; I owe you not only gratitude, but also
+restitution of your fortune. You advise me to go to a foreign land
+and live; then come with me and we will live like brothers. Here,
+you, too, are miserable."
+
+Elias sadly replied:
+
+"Impossible! It is true that I can neither love nor be happy in
+my country; but I can suffer and die in it, and perhaps die for
+it; that would be something. Let my country's misfortune be my own
+misfortune. Since no noble thought unites us, and since our hearts do
+not beat in harmony at the mention of a single word, at least, let a
+common misery unite me to my fellow countrymen; at least, let me weep
+with them over our grief; let the same misery oppress all our hearts."
+
+"Then why do you advise me to leave?"
+
+"Because in other lands you can be happy, and I cannot; because you
+are not made to suffer, and because you would hate your country,
+if some day you should see the cause of your misfortune: and to hate
+one's own country is the greatest misery."
+
+"You are unjust to me," exclaimed Ibarra, with bitter reproach. "You
+forget that I have scarcely arrived here, and that I have already
+sought its welfare."
+
+"Do not be offended, Señor. I am not reproaching you. Would to God
+that all might imitate you. But I do not ask for the impossible and
+you should not be offended if I tell you that your heart deceives
+you. You love your country because your father has taught you to
+love it; you love it because you had in it your love, your fortune,
+your youth; because it smiled on you, and because it has not until now
+done you an injustice. You love your country as we all love that which
+makes us happy. But, on that day when you see yourself poor, ragged,
+hungry, persecuted, denounced and betrayed by your very countrymen,
+on that day you will curse yourself, your country and all."
+
+"Your words grieve me," said Ibarra, resentfully.
+
+Elias bowed his head, meditated and replied:
+
+"I wish to set you right, Señor, and to avoid a miserable future for
+you. You remember the time when I was talking to you in this same
+banca and under the light of the same moon. It was a month ago, a few
+days more or less. Then you were happy. The plea of the unfortunates
+did not reach you. You disdained their complaints because they were
+complaints from criminals. You gave ear to their enemies, and, in
+spite of my reasons and pleas, you put yourself on the side of their
+oppressors. On you depended at that time whether I should turn criminal
+or allow my life to be taken in fulfillment of my sacred pledge. God
+has not permitted it, because the old chief of the bandits has been
+killed. A month has passed and now you think differently."
+
+"You are right, Elias, but man is influenced by changes in
+circumstances. Then I was blind, and obstinate. What did I know? Now
+misfortune has torn the veil from my eyes. The solitude and misery of
+my prison life have taught me; now I see the horrible cancer which
+is sapping the life of society, which hangs to its flesh and which
+requires violent extirpation. They have opened my eyes; they have
+made me see the ulcer; they force me to become a criminal. I will
+be a filibustero, but a true filibustero. I will call upon all the
+unfortunates, on all who have beating hearts within their breasts, on
+all who sent you to me.... No, no! I will not be criminal! It is never
+a crime to fight for one's country! We for three centuries have given
+them our hand, we have asked them for their love, we have anxiously
+wished to call them our brothers. How have they replied? With insults
+and jests, denying us even the quality of being human beings. There
+is no God, there is no hope, there is no humanity. There is nothing
+but the right of force."
+
+Ibarra was excited. His whole body was trembling.
+
+They passed by the Governor General's palace, and believed they saw
+agitation and movement among the guards.
+
+"Have they discovered our flight?" murmured Elias. "Lie down, Señor,
+so that I can cover you up with the grass, for, when we cross over
+to the side of the river near the powder house, the sentry may be
+surprised at seeing two of us in this small banca."
+
+As Elias had foreseen, the sentry stopped him and asked him where he
+came from.
+
+"From Manila, with grass for the magistrates and curates," replied he,
+imitating the accent of one from Pandakan.
+
+A sergeant came out and was informed what was going on.
+
+"Sulung!" (Go on!) said he. "I warn you not to receive any one in
+your banca. A prisoner has just escaped. If you capture him and hand
+him over to me I will give you a good reward."
+
+"All right, Señor. What is his description?"
+
+"He wears a frock coat and speaks Spanish. With that much, be on
+the watch!"
+
+The banca went on. Elias turned his face and saw the shadow of the
+sentry, still standing on the bank of the river.
+
+"We will lose several minutes," said he, in a low voice. "We will
+have to go up the Beata river in order to carry out my pretense of
+being from Peña Francia."
+
+The town was sleeping in the light of the moon. Crisostomo arose to
+admire the sepulchral peace of Nature. The river was narrow and its
+banks formed a plain planted with rice.
+
+Elias threw the load on the bank, picked up a piece of bamboo and
+drew out from under the grass in the banca some empty sacks. They
+went on rowing.
+
+"You are master of your own will, Señor, and of your own future,"
+said he to Crisostomo, who kept silent. "But if you will permit
+me to offer a suggestion, I say to you: Look well at what you are
+going to do. You are about to start a war, for you have money,
+talent, and you will quickly find aid, for, unfortunately, many
+are discontented. Furthermore, in this fight, which you are to
+begin, those who are going to suffer most are the defenseless, the
+innocent. The same sentiments which a month ago prompted me to come
+to you and ask for reforms, are those which now move me to ask you to
+reflect. The country, Señor, is not thinking of separating itself from
+the mother country. It asks only a little liberty, a little justice,
+a little love. The discontented will assist you, the criminals and the
+desperate, but the people will hold aloof. You are mistaken if, seeing
+everything dark, you believe that the country is desperate. The country
+suffers, yes, but it still hopes, believe me, and will only rise in
+revolt when it has lost patience; that is, when those who govern wish
+it--which is still far off. I myself would not follow you. I shall
+never take recourse to these extreme remedies while I see hope in men."
+
+"Then I will go without you!" replied Crisostomo, resolutely.
+
+"Is it your firm decision?"
+
+"Yes, my firm and only decision: I call to witness the memory of my
+father! I cannot allow them to deprive me of peace and happiness with
+impunity, I who have desired only my country's welfare, I who have
+respected all and have suffered on account of a hypocritical religion,
+on account of love for my country. How have they responded to me? By
+burying me in an infamous prison and by prostituting my fiancée. No,
+not to avenge myself would be a crime. It would be encouraging
+them to commit new injustices. No! it would be cowardice, it would
+be pusillanimity to weep and groan while there is life and vigor,
+when to insult and challenge are added scoffery and contemptuous
+ridicule! I will arouse this ignorant people, I will make them see
+their misery--this people who do not think of each other as brothers,
+who are mere wolves devouring each other. I will tell them to rise
+against this oppression and appeal to the eternal right of mankind
+to conquer their liberty!"
+
+"Innocent people will suffer."
+
+"All the better! Can you lead me to the mountain?"
+
+"Till you are safe!" replied Elias.
+
+They again went up the Pasig. They spoke from time to time of
+indifferent things.
+
+"Santa Aña!" murmured Ibarra. "Do you recognize that house?"
+
+They passed by the country house of the Jesuits.
+
+"There I passed many happy and joyful years!" sighed Elias. "In my time
+we used to come here every month ... then I was like the others. I had
+fortune, family; I was dreaming and planning a future for myself. In
+those days I used to visit my sister in the neighboring convent. She
+made me a present of a piece of her own handiwork. A girl friend used
+to accompany her, a beautiful girl. All has passed like a dream."
+
+They remained silent till they arrived at Malapad-na-bató. Those who
+have glided over the bosom of the Pasig on one of those magical nights
+when the moon pours forth its melancholy poetry from the pure blue of
+the sky, when the darkness hides the misery of men and silence drowns
+the harsh accents of their voices, when Nature alone speaks--those
+who have seen such nights on the Pasig will understand the feelings
+which filled the hearts of both young men.
+
+In Malapad-na-bató the carbineer was half asleep, and, seeing that the
+banca was empty and offered no booty for him to seize, according to
+the traditional custom of his corps and the use made of that position,
+he readily let them pass on.
+
+Nor did the Civil Guard at Pasig suspect anything, and they were
+not molested.
+
+It was just beginning to dawn when they reached the lake, calm and
+smooth as a gigantic mirror. The moon was growing dim and the Orient
+was rosy with the tints of morning. At a distance, a mass of grey
+could be discerned advancing toward the banca.
+
+"The falúa (or Government steamboat) is coming," murmured Elias. "Lie
+down and I will cover you with these sacks."
+
+The outline of the vessel became more clear and perceptible.
+
+"She is putting in between the beach and us," observed Elias uneasily.
+
+And then he changed the course of the banca a little, rowing toward
+Binangonan. To his great surprise he noticed that the falúa was also
+changing its course, while a voice cried out to him.
+
+Elias stopped and meditated. The shore of the lake was very far off,
+and they would soon be in the range of the rifles on the falúa. He
+thought of returning to the Pasig. His banca was swifter than the
+falúa. But fate was against him! Another boat was coming up the
+Pasig, and they could see the helmets and shining bayonets of the
+Civil Guards.
+
+"We are caught!" he murmured, turning pale.
+
+He looked at his robust arms and taking the only course which remained
+to him, he began to row with all his strength toward the Island of
+Talim. In the meantime, the sun had risen.
+
+The banca glided along rapidly. Elias saw some men standing up on
+the falúa, making signals to him.
+
+"Do you know how to manage a banca?" he asked Ibarra.
+
+"Yes; why?"
+
+"Because we are lost if I do not leap into the water and make them
+lose the trail. They will follow me. I swim and dive well.... I will
+take them away from you, and then you can save yourself."
+
+"No; you remain and we will sell our lives dearly."
+
+"Useless! We have no arms, and with those rifles they will kill us
+like birds."
+
+At that moment a chiss was heard in the water like the fall of a hot
+body, and was followed immediately by a report.
+
+"Do you see?" said Elias, putting his paddle in the banca. "We will
+see each other again at the tomb of your grandfather on Nochebeuna
+(Christmas eve.) Save yourself."
+
+"And you?"
+
+"God has taken me through greater dangers."
+
+Elias took off his camisa. A ball grazed his hands and the report
+sounded out. Without being disturbed, he stretched out his hand to
+Ibarra, who was still in the bottom of the boat. Then he arose and
+leaped into the water, pushing away the small craft with his foot.
+
+A number of cries were heard. Soon at some distance the head of the
+young man appeared above the water as if to get breath, dropping out
+of sight at the next instant.
+
+"There, there he is!" cried a number of voices, and the balls from
+their rifles whistled again.
+
+The falúa and the other banca took up the chase. A light track of foam
+marked his course, every moment leading farther and farther away from
+Ibarra's banca, which drifted along as if abandoned. Every time that
+the swimmer raised his head to breathe the Civil Guards and the men
+on board the falúa discharged their guns at him.
+
+The pursuit continued. Ibarra's little banca was already far off. The
+swimmer was approaching the shore of the lake and was now some fifty
+yards distant from it. The rowers were already tired, but Elias was
+not, for his head often appeared above the water and each time in a
+different direction so as to disconcert his pursuers. No longer was
+there a light trail to betray the course of the diver. For the last
+time they saw him near the shore, some ten yards off, and they opened
+fire.... Then minutes and minutes passed. Nothing appeared again on
+the tranquil surface of the lake.
+
+Half an hour afterward one of the rowers pretended to have discovered
+signs of blood in the water near the shore, but his companions shook
+their heads in a manner which might mean either yes or no.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLI
+
+FATHER DÁMASO EXPLAINS.
+
+
+In vain the costly wedding gifts were heaped upon the table. Neither
+the diamonds in their blue velvet caskets, nor the embroidered piña,
+nor the pieces of silk had any attractions for Maria Clara. The
+maiden looked at the paper which gave the account of Ibarra's death,
+drowned in the lake, but she neither saw nor read it.
+
+Of a sudden, she felt two hands over her eyes. They held her fast
+while a joyous voice, Father Dámaso's, said to her:
+
+"Who am I? Who am I?"
+
+Maria Clara jumped from her seat and looked at him with terror in
+her eyes.
+
+"You little goose, were you frightened, eh? You were not expecting
+me? Well, I have come from the provinces to attend your wedding."
+
+And coming up to her again with a smile of satisfaction, he stretched
+out his hand to her. Maria Clara approached timidly and, raising it
+to her lips, kissed it.
+
+"What is the matter with you, Maria?" asked the Franciscan, losing
+his gay smile, and becoming very uneasy. "Your hand is cold, you are
+pale.... Are you ill, my little girl?"
+
+And Father Dámaso drew her up to him with a fondness of which no one
+would have thought him capable. He grasped both the maiden's hands
+and gave her a questioning look.
+
+"Haven't you any confidence in your godfather?" he asked in a
+reproachful tone. "Come, sit down here and tell me your little
+troubles, just as you used to do when you were a child, when you
+wanted wax-candles to make wax figures. You surely know that I have
+always loved you.... I have never scolded you...."
+
+Father Dámaso's voice ceased to be brusque; its modulations were even
+caressing. Maria Clara began to weep.
+
+"Are you weeping, my child? Why are you weeping? Have you quarrelled
+with Linares?"
+
+Maria Clara covered her eyes with her hands.
+
+"No! It is not he now!" cried the maiden.
+
+Father Dámaso looked at her full of surprise.
+
+"Do you not want to entrust your secrets to me? Have I not always
+managed to satisfy your smallest caprices?"
+
+The young woman raised her eyes full of tears toward him. She looked
+at him for some time, and then began to weep bitterly.
+
+"Do not cry so, my child, for your tears pain me! Tell me your
+troubles. You will see how your godfather loves you."
+
+Maria Clara approached him slowly and fell on her knees at his
+feet. Then raising her face, bathed in tears, she said to him in a
+low voice, scarcely audible:
+
+"Do you still love me?"
+
+"Child!"
+
+"Then ... protect my father, and break off the marriage!"
+
+Then she related her last interview with Ibarra, omitting the reference
+to her birth.
+
+Father Dámaso could scarcely believe what he heard.
+
+"While he lived," continued the maiden, "I intended to fight, to wait,
+to trust. I wanted to live to hear him spoken of ... but now that they
+have killed him, now there is no reason for my living and suffering."
+
+She said this slowly, in a low voice, calmly and without a tear.
+
+"But, you goose; isn't Linares a thousand times better than....?"
+
+"When he was living, I could have married ... I was thinking of fleeing
+afterward ... my father wanted nothing more than the relative. Now that
+he is dead, no other man will call me his wife.... While he lived,
+I could have debased myself and still had the consolation of knowing
+that he existed and perhaps was thinking of me. Now that he is dead
+... the convent or the tomb."
+
+Her voice had a firmness in its accent which took away Father Dámaso's
+joy and set him to thinking.
+
+"Did you love him so much as that?" he asked, stammering.
+
+Maria Clara did not reply. Father Dámaso bowed his head upon his
+breast and remained silent.
+
+"My child!" he exclaimed, his voice breaking. "Forgive me for making
+you unhappy without knowing it. I was thinking of your future; I
+wanted you to be happy. How could I permit you to marry a native;
+how could I see you an unhappy wife and a miserable mother? I could
+not get your love out of your head, and I opposed it with all my
+strength. All that I have done has been for you, for you alone. If
+you had become his wife, you would have wept afterward on account
+of the condition of your husband, exposed to all kinds of vengeance,
+without any means of defense. As a mother, you would have wept over
+the fortune of your sons; if you educated them, you would prepare a
+sad future for them, you would have made them enemies of the Church
+and would have seen them hanged or exiled; if you left them ignorant,
+you would have seen them oppressed and degraded. I could not consent
+to it! This is why I sought as a husband for you one who might
+make you the happy mother of sons born not to obey but to command,
+not to suffer but to punish. I knew that your friend was good from
+infancy. I liked him as I had liked his father, but I hated them both
+when I saw that they were going to make you unhappy, because I love
+you, I idolize you, I love you as my daughter. I have nothing dearer
+than you. I have seen you grow. No hour passes but I think of you;
+I dream of you; you are my only joy."
+
+And Father Dámaso began to weep like a child.
+
+"Well, then, if you love me do not make me eternally unhappy. He no
+longer lives; I want to be a nun."
+
+The old man rested his head on his hand.
+
+"To be a nun, to be a nun!" he repeated. "You do not know, my child,
+the life, the misery, which is hidden behind the walls of the
+convent. You do not know it! I prefer a thousand times to see you
+unhappy in the world than to see you unhappy in the cloister. Here
+your complaints can be heard, there you will have only the walls. You
+are beautiful, very beautiful, and you were not born for it, you were
+not born to be the bride of Christ! Believe me, my child, time will
+blot it all out. Later you will forget, you will love your husband
+... Linares."
+
+"Either the convent or ... death!" repeated Maria Clara.
+
+"The convent, the convent or death!" exclaimed Father Dámaso. "Maria,
+I am already old, I will not be able to watch you or your happiness
+much longer.... Choose another course, seek another love, another
+young man, whoever he may be, but not the convent."
+
+"The convent or death!"
+
+"My God, my God!" cried the priest, covering his head with his
+hands. "Thou punisheth me. So be it! But watch over my child."
+
+And turning to the young woman: "You want to be a nun? You shall be
+one. I do not want you to die."
+
+Maria Clara took his two hands, clasped them in her own and kissed
+them as she knelt.
+
+"Godfather, my godfather!" she repeated.
+
+Immediately, Father Dámaso went out, sad, with drooping head and
+sighing.
+
+"God, O God! Thou existeth, for Thou punisheth. But avenge Thyself
+on me and do not harm the innocent. Save my child!"
+
+
+
+
+
+
+NOTES
+
+
+[1] Street in Manila.
+
+[2] Archbishop and author of theological works.
+
+[3] Roof of the first story used as a veranda.
+
+[4] Petty governor, the highest local official.
+
+[5] Trellis work made of reeds.
+
+[6] Local commander of the Civil Guard.
+
+[7] A narrow canoe.
+
+[8] A drink made of honey and ginger.
+
+[9] A light, early breakfast.
+
+[10] A native fruit.
+
+[11] A Chinese gambling game.
+
+[12] A little white, pearl-like substance sometimes found in the
+cacao tree, which is supposed to be a lucky omen.
+
+[13] Little mestizos or half breeds. Used in contempt.
+
+[14] A reply which accords with the Spanish idea of politeness but
+rather ludicrously used in this instance.
+
+[15] A popular Spanish song handed down from the time of Riego's
+uprising in Spain.
+
+[16] Volunteer police.
+
+[17] A wrong pronunciation of the Spanish Peninsula meaning Spain.
+
+[18] A costly and rich wood like ebony.
+
+[19] Certificate of identification required of all Filipinos under
+Spanish domination.
+
+[20] Warning cry of a coachman, meaning "turn."
+
+[21] Author here shows difficulty in establishing American sovereignty
+over islands by military forces.
+
+[22] A plant (Desmodium caresceus), the dry seeds of which cling to
+the clothing.
+
+[23] Both words mean mistress.
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 30278 ***