The Social Cancer 14 – Derbyshire · Library Across
Literature · Historical Fiction
The Social Cancer 14The Social Cancer (part 14)
18
Literature · Historical Fiction
The Social Cancer 14
The Social Cancer (part 14)
DerbyshireEnglish
"Since then I have wandered from province to province. My reputation and my history are in the mouths of many. They attribute great deeds to me, sometimes calumniating me, but I pay little attention to men, keeping ever on my way. Such in brief is my story, a story of one of the judgments of men."
Elias fell silent as he rowed along.
"I still believe that you are not wrong," murmured Crisostomo in a low voice, "when you say that justice should seek to do good by rewarding virtue and educating the criminals. Only, it's impossible, Utopian! And where could be secured so much money, so many new employees?"
"For what, then, are the priests who proclaim their mission of peace and charity? Is it more meritorious to moisten the head of a child with water, to give it salt to eat, than to awake in the benighted conscience of a criminal that spark which God has granted to every man to light him to his welfare? Is it more humane to accompany a criminal to the scaffold than to lead him along the difficult path from vice to virtue? Don't they also pay spies, executioners, civil-guards? These things, besides being dirty, also cost money."
"My friend, neither you nor I, although we may wish it, can accomplish this."
"Alone, it is true, we are nothing, but take up the cause of the people, unite yourself with the people, be not heedless of their cries, set an example to the rest, spread the idea of what is called a fatherland!"
"What the people ask for is impossible. We must wait."
"Wait! To wait means to suffer!"
"If I should ask for it, the powers that be would laugh at me."
"But if the people supported you?"
"Never! I will never be the one to lead the multitude to get by force what the government does not think proper to grant, no! If I should ever see that multitude armed I would place myself on the side of the government, for in such a mob I should not see my countrymen. I desire the country's welfare, therefore I would build a schoolhouse. I seek it by means of instruction, by progressive advancement; without light there is no road."
"Neither is there liberty without strife!" answered Elias.
"The fact is that I don't want that liberty!"
"The fact is that without liberty there is no light," replied the pilot with warmth. "You say that you are only slightly acquainted with your country, and I believe you. You don't see the struggle that is preparing, you don't see the cloud on the horizon. The fight is beginning in the sphere of ideas, to descend later into the arena, which will be dyed with blood. I hear the voice of God--woe unto them who would oppose it! For them History has not been written!"
Elias was transfigured; standing uncovered, with his manly face illuminated by the moon, there was something extraordinary about him. He shook his long hair, and went on:
"Don't you see how everything is awakening? The sleep has lasted for centuries, but one day the thunderbolt struck, and in striking, infused life. Since then new tendencies are stirring our spirits, and these tendencies, today scattered, will some day be united, guided by the God who has not failed other peoples and who will not fail us, for His cause is the cause of liberty!"
A solemn silence followed these words, while the banka, carried along insensibly by the waves, neared the shore.
Elias was the first to break the silence. "What shall I tell those who sent me?" he asked with a change from his former tone.
"I've already told you: I greatly deplore their condition, but they should wait. Evils are not remedied by other evils, and in our misfortunes each of us has his share of blame."
Elias did not again reply, but dropped his head and rowed along until they reached the shore, where he took leave of Ibarra: "I thank you, sir, for the condescension you have shown me. Now, for your own good, I beg of you that in the future you forget me and that you do not recognize me again, no matter in what situation you may find me."
So saying, he drew away in the banka, rowing toward a thicket on the shore. As he covered the long distance he remained silent, apparently intent upon nothing but the thousands of phosphorescent diamonds that the oar caught up and dropped back into the lake, where they disappeared mysteriously into the blue waves.
When he had reached the shadow of the thicket a man came out of it and approached the banka. "What shall I tell the capitan?" he asked.
"Tell him that Elias, if he lives, will keep his word," was the sad answer.
"When will you join us, then?"
"When your capitan thinks that the hour of danger has come."
"Very well. Good-by!"
"If I don't die first," added Elias in a low voice.
CHAPTER LI
Exchanges
The bashful Linares was anxious and ill at ease. He had just received from Doña Victorina a letter which ran thus:
DEER COZIN within 3 days i expec to here from you if the alferes has killed you or you him i dont want anuther day to pass befour that broot has his punishment if that tim passes an you havent challenjed him ill tel don santiago you was never segretary nor joked with canobas nor went on a spree with the general don arseño martinez ill tel clarita its all a humbug an ill not give you a sent more if you challenje him i promis all you want so lets see you challenje him i warn you there must be no excuses nor delays yore cozin who loves you
VICTORINA DE LOS REYES DE DE ESPADAÑA
sampaloc monday 7 in the evening
The affair was serious. He was well enough acquainted with the character of Doña Victorina to know what she was capable of. To talk to her of reason was to talk of honesty and courtesy to a revenue carbineer when he proposes to find contraband where there is none, to plead with her would be useless, to deceive her worse--there was no way out of the difficulty but to send the challenge.
"But how? Suppose he receives me with violence?" he soliloquized, as he paced to and fro. "Suppose I find him with his señora? Who will be willing to be my second? The curate? Capitan Tiago? Damn the hour in which I listened to her advice! The old toady! To oblige me to get myself tangled up, to tell lies, to make a blustering fool of myself! What will the young lady say about me? Now I'm sorry that I've been secretary to all the ministers!"
While the good Linares was in the midst of his soliloquy, Padre Salvi came in. The Franciscan was even thinner and paler than usual, but his eyes gleamed with a strange light and his lips wore a peculiar smile.
"Señor Linares, all alone?" was his greeting as he made his way to the sala, through the half-opened door of which floated the notes from a piano. Linares tried to smile.
"Where is Don Santiago?" continued the curate.
Capitan Tiago at that moment appeared, kissed the curate's hand, and relieved him of his hat and cane, smiling all the while like one of the blessed.
"Come, come!" exclaimed the curate, entering the sala, followed by Linares and Capitan Tiago, "I have good news for you all. I've just received letters from Manila which confirm the one Señor Ibarra brought me yesterday. So, Don Santiago, the objection is removed."
Maria Clara, who was seated at the piano between her two friends, partly rose, but her strength failed her, and she fell back again. Linares turned pale and looked at Capitan Tiago, who dropped his eyes.
"That young man seems to me to be very agreeable," continued the curate. "At first I misjudged him--he's a little quick-tempered--but he knows so well how to atone for his faults afterwards that one can't hold anything against him. If it were not for Padre Damaso--"
Here the curate shot a quick glance at Maria Clara, who was listening without taking her eyes off the sheet of music, in spite of the sly pinches of Sinang, who was thus expressing her joy--had she been alone she would have danced.
"Padre Damaso?" queried Linares.
"Yes, Padre Damaso has said," the curate went on, without taking his gaze from Maria Clara, "that as--being her sponsor in baptism, he can't permit--but, after all, I believe that if Señor Ibarra begs his pardon, which I don't doubt he'll do, everything will be settled."
Maria Clara rose, made some excuse, and retired to her chamber, accompanied by Victoria.
"But if Padre Damaso doesn't pardon him?" asked Capitan Tiago in a low voice.
"Then Maria Clara will decide. Padre Damaso is her father--spiritually. But I think they'll reach an understanding."
At that moment footsteps were heard and Ibarra appeared, followed by Aunt Isabel. His appearance produced varied impressions. To his affable greeting Capitan Tiago did not know whether to laugh or to cry. He acknowledged the presence of Linares with a profound bow. Fray Salvi arose and extended his hand so cordially that the youth could not restrain a look of astonishment.
"Don't be surprised," said Fray Salvi, "for I was just now praising you."
Ibarra thanked him and went up to Sinang, who began with her childish garrulity, "Where have you been all day? We were all asking, where can that soul redeemed from purgatory have gone? And we all said the same thing."
"May I know what you said?"
"No, that's a secret, but I'll tell you soon alone. Now tell me where you've been, so we can see who guessed right."
"No, that's also a secret, but I'll tell you alone, if these gentlemen will excuse us."
"Certainly, certainly, by all means!" exclaimed Padre Salvi.
Rejoicing over the prospect of learning a secret, Sinang led Crisostomo to one end of the sala.
"Tell me, little friend," he asked, "is Maria angry with me?"
"I don't know, but she says that it's better for you to forget her, then she begins to cry. Capitan Tiago wants her to marry that man. So does Padre Damaso, but she doesn't say either yes or no. This morning when we were talking about you and I said, 'Suppose he has gone to make love to some other girl?' she answered, 'Would that he had!' and began to cry."
Ibarra became grave. "Tell Maria that I want to talk with her alone."
"Alone?" asked Sinang, wrinkling her eyebrows and staring at him.
"Entirely alone, no, but not with that fellow present."
"It's rather difficult, but don't worry, I'll tell her."
"When shall I have an answer?"
"Tomorrow come to my house early. Maria doesn't want to be left alone at all, so we stay with her. Victoria sleeps with her one night and I the other, and tonight it's my turn. But listen, your secret? Are you going away without telling me?"
"That's right! I was in the town of Los Baños. I'm going to develop some coconut-groves and I'm thinking of putting up an oil-mill. Your father will be my partner."
"Nothing more than that? What a secret!" exclaimed Sinang aloud, in the tone of a cheated usurer. "I thought--"
"Be careful! I don't want you to make it known!"
"Nor do I want to do it," replied Sinang, turning up her nose. "If it were something more important, I would tell my friends. But to buy coconuts! Coconuts! Who's interested in coconuts?" And with extraordinary haste she ran to join her friends.
A few minutes later Ibarra, seeing that the interest of the party could only languish, took his leave. Capitan Tiago wore a bitter-sweet look, Linares was silent and watchful, while the curate with assumed cheerfulness talked of indifferent matters. None of the girls had reappeared.
CHAPTER LII
The Cards of the Dead and the Shadows
The moon was hidden in a cloudy sky while a cold wind, precursor of the approaching December, swept the dry leaves and dust about in the narrow pathway leading to the cemetery. Three shadowy forms were conversing in low tones under the arch of the gateway.
"Have you spoken to Elias?" asked a voice.
"No, you know how reserved and circumspect he is. But he ought to be one of us. Don Crisostomo saved his life."
"That's why I joined," said the first voice. "Don Crisostomo had my wife cured in the house of a doctor in Manila. I'll look after the convento to settle some old scores with the curate."
"And we'll take care of the barracks to show the civil-guards that our father had sons."
"How many of us will there be?"
"Five, and five will be enough. Don Crisostomo's servant, though, says there'll be twenty of us."
"What if you don't succeed?"
"Hist!" exclaimed one of the shadows, and all fell silent.
In the semi-obscurity a shadowy figure was seen to approach, sneaking along by the fence. From time to time it stopped as if to look back. Nor was reason for this movement lacking, since some twenty paces behind it came another figure, larger and apparently darker than the first, but so lightly did it touch the ground that it vanished as rapidly as though the earth had swallowed it every time the first shadow paused and turned.
"They're following me," muttered the first figure. "Can it be the civil-guards? Did the senior sacristan lie?"
"They said that they would meet here," thought the second shadow. "Some mischief must be on foot when the two brothers conceal it from me."
At length the first shadow reached the gateway of the cemetery. The three who were already there stepped forward.
"Is that you?"
"Is that you?"
"We must scatter, for they've followed me. Tomorrow you'll get the arms and tomorrow night is the time. The cry is, 'Viva Don Crisostomo!' Go!"
The three shadows disappeared behind the stone walls. The later arrival hid in the hollow of the gateway and waited silently. "Let's see who's following me," he thought.
The second shadow came up very cautiously and paused as if to look about him. "I'm late," he muttered, "but perhaps they will return."
A thin fine rain, which threatened to last, began to fall, so it occurred to him to take refuge under the gateway. Naturally, he ran against the other.
"Ah! Who are you?" asked the latest arrival in a rough tone.
"Who are you?" returned the other calmly, after which there followed a moment's pause as each tried to recognize the other's voice and to make out his features.
"What are you waiting here for?" asked he of the rough voice.
"For the clock to strike eight so that I can play cards with the dead. I want to win something tonight," answered the other in a natural tone. "And you, what have you come for?"
"For--for the same purpose."
"Abá! I'm glad of that, I'll not be alone. I've brought cards. At the first stroke of the bell I'll make the lay, at the second I'll deal. The cards that move are the cards of the dead and we'll have to cut for them. Have you brought cards?"
"No."
"Then how--"
"It's simple enough--just as you're going to deal for them, so I expect them to play for me."
"But what if the dead don't play?"
"What can we do? Gambling hasn't yet been made compulsory among the dead."
A short silence ensued.
"Are you armed? How are you going to fight with the dead?"
"With my fists," answered the larger of the two.
"Oh, the devil! Now I remember--the dead won't bet when there's more than one living person, and there are two of us."
"Is that right? Well, I don't want to leave."
"Nor I. I'm short of money," answered the smaller. "But let's do this: let's play for it, the one who loses to leave."
"All right," agreed the other, rather ungraciously. "Then let's get inside. Have you any matches?" They went in to seek in the semi-obscurity for a suitable place and soon found a niche in which they could sit. The shorter took some cards from his salakot, while the other struck a match, in the light from which they stared at each other, but, from the expressions on their faces, apparently without recognition. Nevertheless, we can recognize in the taller and deep-voiced one Elias and in the shorter one, from the scar on his cheek, Lucas.
"Cut!" called Lucas, still staring at the other. He pushed aside some bones that were in the niche and dealt an ace and a jack.
Elias lighted match after match. "On the jack!" he said, and to indicate the card placed a vertebra on top of it.
"Play!" called Lucas, as he dealt an ace with the fourth or fifth card. "You've lost," he added. "Now leave me alone so that I can try to make a raise."
Elias moved away without a word and was soon swallowed up in the darkness.
Several minutes later the church-clock struck eight and the bell announced the hour of the souls, but Lucas invited no one to play nor did he call on the dead, as the superstition directs; instead, he took off his hat and muttered a few prayers, crossing and recrossing himself with the same fervor with which, at that same moment, the leader of the Brotherhood of the Holy Rosary was going through a similar performance.
Throughout the night a drizzling rain continued to fall. By nine o'clock the streets were dark and solitary. The coconut-oil lanterns, which the inhabitants were required to hang out, scarcely illuminated a small circle around each, seeming to be lighted only to render the darkness more apparent. Two civil-guards paced back and forth in the street near the church.
"It's cold!" said one in Tagalog with a Visayan accent. "We haven't caught any sacristan, so there is no one to repair the alferez's chicken-coop. They're all scared out by the death of that other one. This makes me tired."
"Me, too," answered the other. "No one commits robbery, no one raises a disturbance, but, thank God, they say that Elias is in town. The alferez says that whoever catches him will be exempt from floggings for three months."
"Aha! Do you remember his description?" asked the Visayan.
"I should say so! Height: tall, according to the alferez, medium, according to Padre Damaso; color, brown; eyes, black; nose, ordinary; beard, none; hair, black."
"Aha! But special marks?"
"Black shirt, black pantaloons, wood-cutter."
"Aha, he won't get away from me! I think I see him now."
"I wouldn't mistake him for any one else, even though he might look like him."
Thus the two soldiers continued on their round.
By the light of the lanterns we may again see two shadowy figures moving cautiously along, one behind the other. An energetic "Quién vive?" stops both, and the first answers, "España!" in a trembling voice.
The soldiers seize him and hustle him toward a lantern to examine him. It is Lucas, but the soldiers seem to be in doubt, questioning each other with their eyes.
"The alferez didn't say that he had a scar," whispered the
Visayan. "Where you going?"
"To order a mass for tomorrow."
"Haven't you seen Elias?"
"I don't know him, sir," answered Lucas.
"I didn't ask you if you know him, you fool! Neither do we know him. I'm asking you if you've seen him."
"No, sir."
"Listen, I'll describe him: Height, sometimes tall, sometimes medium; hair and eyes, black; all the other features, ordinary," recited the Visayan. "Now do you know him?"
"No, sir," replied Lucas stupidly.
"Then get away from here! Brute! Dolt!" And they gave him a shove.
"Do you know why Elias is tall to the alferez and of medium height to the curate?" asked the Tagalog thoughtfully.
"No," answered the Visayan.
"Because the alferez was down in the mudhole when he saw him and the curate was on foot."
"That's right!" exclaimed the Visayan. "You're talented--blow is it that you're a civil-guard?"
"I wasn't always one; I was a smuggler," answered the Tagalog with a touch of pride.
But another shadowy figure diverted their attention. They challenged this one also and took the man to the light.
This time it was the real Elias.
"Where you going?"
"To look for a man, sir, who beat and threatened my brother. He has a scar on his face and is called Elias."
"Aha!" exclaimed the two guards, gazing at each other in astonishment, as they started on the run toward the church, where Lucas had disappeared a few moments before.
CHAPTER LIII
Il Buon Dí Si Conosce Da Mattina
Early the next morning the report spread through the town that many lights had been seen in the cemetery on the previous night. The leader of the Venerable Tertiary Order spoke of lighted candles, of their shape and size, and, although he could not fix the exact number, had counted more than twenty. Sister Sipa, of the Brotherhood of the Holy Rosary, could not bear the thought that a member of a rival order should alone boast of having seen this divine marvel, so she, even though she did not live near the place, had heard cries and groans, and even thought she recognized by their voices certain persons with whom she, in other times,--but out of Christian charity she not only forgave them but prayed for them and would keep their names secret, for all of which she was declared on the spot to be a saint. Sister Rufa was not so keen of hearing, but she could not suffer that Sister Sipa had heard so much and she nothing, so she related a dream in which there had appeared before her many souls--not only of the dead but even of the living--souls in torment who begged for a part of those indulgences of hers which were so carefully recorded and treasured. She could furnish names to the families interested and only asked for a few alms to succor the Pope in his needs. A little fellow, a herder, who dared to assert that he had seen nothing more than one light and two men in salakots had difficulty in escaping with mere slaps and scoldings. Vainly he swore to it; there were his carabaos with him and could verify his statement. "Do you pretend to know more than the Warden and the Sisters, paracmason, heretic?" he was asked amid angry looks. The curate went up into the pulpit and preached about purgatory so fervently that the pesos again flowed forth from their hiding-places to pay for masses.
But let us leave the suffering souls and listen to the conversation between Don Filipo and old Tasio in the lonely home of the latter. The Sage, or Lunatic, was sick, having been for days unable to leave his bed, prostrated by a malady that was rapidly growing worse.
"Really, I don't know whether to congratulate you or not that your resignation has been accepted. Formerly, when the gobernadorcillo so shamelessly disregarded the will of the majority, it was right for you to tender it, but now that you are engaged in a contest with the Civil Guard it's not quite proper. In time of war you ought to remain at your post."
"Yes, but not when the general sells himself," answered Don Filipo. "You know that on the following morning the gobernadorcillo liberated the soldiers that I had succeeded in arresting and refused to take any further action. Without the consent of my superior officer I could do nothing."
"You alone, nothing; but with the rest, much. You should have taken advantage of this opportunity to set an example to the other towns. Above the ridiculous authority of the gobernadorcillo are the rights of the people. It was the beginning of a good lesson and you have neglected it."
"But what could I have done against the representative of the interests? Here you have Señor Ibarra, he has bowed before the beliefs of the crowd. Do you think that he believes in excommunications?"
"You are not in the same fix. Señor Ibarra is trying to sow the good seed, and to do so he must bend himself and make what use he can of the material at hand. Your mission was to stir things up, and for that purpose initiative and force are required. Besides, the fight should not be considered as merely against the gobernadorcillo. The principle ought to be, against him who makes wrong use of his authority, against him who disturbs the public peace, against him who fails in his duty. You would not have been alone, for the country is not the same now that it was twenty years ago."
"Do you think so?" asked Don Filipo.
"Don't you feel it?" rejoined the old man, sitting up in his bed. "Ah, that is because you haven't seen the past, you haven't studied the effect of European immigration, of the coming of new books, and of the movement of our youth to Europe. Examine and compare these facts. It is true that the Royal and Pontifical University of Santo Tomas, with its most sapient faculty, still exists and that some intelligences are yet exercised in formulating distinctions and in penetrating the subtleties of scholasticism; but where will you now find the metaphysical youth of our days, with their archaic education, who tortured their brains and died in full pursuit of sophistries in some corner of the provinces, without ever having succeeded in understanding the attributes of being, or solving the problem of essence and existence, those lofty concepts that made us forget what was essential,--our own existence and our own individuality? Look at the youth of today! Full of enthusiasm at the view of a wider horizon, they study history, mathematics, geography, literature, physical sciences, languages--all subjects that in our times we heard mentioned with horror, as though they were heresies. The greatest free-thinker of my day declared them inferior to the classifications of Aristotle and the laws of the syllogism. Man has at last comprehended that he is man; he has given up analyzing his God and searching into the imperceptible, into what he has not seen; he has given up framing laws for the phantasms of his brain; he comprehends that his heritage is the vast world, dominion over which is within his reach; weary of his useless and presumptuous toil, he lowers his head and examines what surrounds him. See how poets are now springing up among us! The Muses of Nature are gradually opening up their treasures to us and begin to smile in encouragement on our efforts; the experimental sciences have already borne their first-fruits; time only is lacking for their development. The lawyers of today are being trained in the new forms of the philosophy of law, some of them begin to shine in the midst of the shadows which surround our courts of justice, indicating a change in the course of affairs. Hear how the youth talk, visit the centers of learning! Other names resound within the walls of the schools, there where we heard only those of St. Thomas, Suarez, Amat, Sanchez, and others who were the idols of our times. In vain do the friars cry out from the pulpits against our demoralization, as the fish-venders cry out against the cupidity of their customers, disregarding the fact that their wares are stale and unserviceable! In vain do the conventos extend their ramifications to check the new current. The gods are going! The roots of the tree may weaken the plants that support themselves under it, but they cannot take away life from those other beings, which, like birds, are soaring toward the sky."
The Sage spoke with animation, his eyes gleamed.
"Still, the new seed is small," objected Don Filipo incredulously. "If all enter upon the progress we purchase so dearly, it may be stifled."
"Stifled! Who will stifle it? Man, that weak dwarf, stifle progress, the powerful child of time and action? When has he been able to do so? Bigotry, the gibbet, the stake, by endeavoring to stifle it, have hurried it along. E pur si muove, said Galileo, when the Dominicans forced him to declare that the earth does not move, and the same statement might be applied to human progress. Some wills are broken down, some individuals sacrificed, but that is of little import; progress continues on its way, and from the blood of those who fall new and vigorous offspring is born. See, the press itself, however backward it may wish to be, is taking a step forward. The Dominicans themselves do not escape the operation of this law, but are imitating the Jesuits, their irreconcilable enemies. They hold fiestas in their cloisters, they erect little theaters, they compose poems, because, as they are not devoid of intelligence in spite of believing in the fifteenth century, they realize that the Jesuits are right, and they will still take part in the future of the younger peoples that they have reared."
"So, according to you, the Jesuits keep up with progress?" asked Don Filipo in wonder. "Why, then, are they opposed in Europe?"
"I will answer you like an old scholastic," replied the Sage, lying down again and resuming his jesting expression. "There are three ways in which one may accompany the course of progress: in front of, beside, or behind it. The first guide it, the second suffer themselves to be carried along with it, and the last are dragged after it and to these last the Jesuits belong. They would like to direct it, but as they see that it is strong and has other tendencies, they capitulate, preferring to follow rather than to be crushed or left alone among the shadows by the wayside. Well now, we in the Philippines are moving along at least three centuries behind the car of progress; we are barely beginning to emerge from the Middle Ages. Hence the Jesuits, who are reactionary in Europe, when seen from our point of view, represent progress. To them the Philippines owes her dawning system of instruction in the natural sciences, the soul of the nineteenth century, as she owed to the Dominicans scholasticism, already dead in spite of Leo XIII, for there is no Pope who can revive what common sense has judged and condemned.
"But where are we getting to?" he asked with a change of tone. "Ah, we were speaking of the present condition of the Philippines. Yes, we are now entering upon a period of strife, or rather, I should say that you are, for my generation belongs to the night, we are passing away. This strife is between the past, which seizes and strives with curses to cling to the tottering feudal castle, and the future, whose song of triumph may be heard from afar amid the splendors of the coming dawn, bringing the message of Good-News from other lands. Who will fall and be buried in the moldering ruins?"
The old man paused. Noticing that Don Filipo was gazing at him thoughtfully, he said with a smile, "I can almost guess what you are thinking."
"Really?"
"You are thinking of how easily I may be mistaken," was the answer with a sad smile. "Today I am feverish, and I am not infallible: homo sum et nihil humani a me alienum puto, said Terence, and if at any time one is allowed to dream, why not dream pleasantly in the last hours of life? And after all, I have lived only in dreams! You are right, it is a dream! Our youths think only of love affairs and dissipations; they expend more time and work harder to deceive and dishonor a maiden than in thinking about the welfare of their country; our women, in order to care for the house and family of God, neglect their own: our men are active only in vice and heroic only in shame; childhood develops amid ignorance and routine, youth lives its best years without ideals, and a sterile manhood serves only as an example for corrupting youth. Gladly do I die! Claudite iam rivos, pueri!"
"Don't you want some medicine?" asked Don Filipo in order to change the course of the conversation, which had darkened the old man's face.
"The dying need no medicines; you who remain need them. Tell Don Crisostomo to come and see me tomorrow, for I have some important things to say to him. In a few days I am going away. The Philippines is in darkness!"
After a few moments more of talk, Don Filipo left the sick man's house, grave and thoughtful.
CHAPTER LIV
Revelations
Quidquid latet, adparebit,
Nil inultum remanebit.
The vesper bells are ringing, and at the holy sound all pause, drop their tasks, and uncover. The laborer returning from the fields ceases the song with which he was pacing his carabao and murmurs a prayer, the women in the street cross themselves and move their lips affectedly so that none may doubt their piety, a man stops caressing his game-cock and recites the angelus to bring better luck, while inside the houses they pray aloud. Every sound but that of the Ave Maria dies away, becomes hushed.
Nevertheless, the curate, without his hat, rushes across the street, to the scandalizing of many old women, and, greater scandal still, directs his steps toward the house of the alferez. The devout women then think it time to cease the movement of their lips in order to kiss the curate's hand, but Padre Salvi takes no notice of them. This evening he finds no pleasure in placing his bony hand on his Christian nose that he may slip it down dissemblingly (as Doña Consolacion has observed) over the bosom of the attractive young woman who may have bent over to receive his blessing. Some important matter must be engaging his attention when he thus forgets his own interests and those of the Church!
In fact, he rushes headlong up the stairway and knocks impatiently at the alferez's door. The latter puts in his appearance, scowling, followed by his better half, who smiles like one of the damned.
"Ah, Padre, I was just going over to see you. That old goat of yours--"
"I have a very important matter--"
"I can't stand for his running about and breaking down the fence. I'll shoot him if he comes back!"
"That is, if you are alive tomorrow!" exclaimed the panting curate as he made his way toward the sala.
"What, do you think that puny doll will kill me? I'll bust him with a kick!"
Padre Salvi stepped backward with an involuntary glance toward the alferez's feet. "Whom are you talking about?" he asked tremblingly.
"About whom would I talk but that simpleton who has challenged me to a duel with revolvers at a hundred paces?"
"Ah!" sighed the curate, then he added, "I've come to talk to you about a very urgent matter."
"Enough of urgent matters! It'll be like that affair of the two boys."
Had the light been other than from coconut oil and the lamp globe not so dirty, the alferez would have noticed the curate's pallor.
"Now this is a serious matter, which concerns the lives of all of us," declared Padre Salvi in a low voice.
"A serious matter?" echoed the alferez, turning pale. "Can that boy shoot straight?"
"I'm not talking about him."
"Then, what?"
The friar made a sign toward the door, which the alferez closed in his own way--with a kick, for he had found his hands superfluous and had lost nothing by ceasing to be bimanous.
A curse and a roar sounded outside. "Brute, you've split my forehead open!" yelled his wife.
"Now, unburden yourself," he said calmly to the curate.
The latter stared at him for a space, then asked in the nasal, droning voice of the preacher, "Didn't you see me come--running?"
"Sure! I thought you'd lost something."
"Well, now," continued the curate, without heeding the alferez's rudeness, "when I fail thus in my duty, it's because there are grave reasons."
"Well, what else?" asked the other, tapping the floor with his foot.
"Be calm!"
"Then why did you come in such a hurry?"
The curate drew nearer to him and asked mysteriously,
"Haven't--you--heard--anything?"
The alferez shrugged his shoulders.
"You admit that you know absolutely nothing?"
"Do you want to talk about Elias, who put away your senior sacristan last night?" was the retort.
"No, I'm not talking about those matters," answered the curate ill-naturedly. "I'm talking about a great danger."
"Well, damn it, out with it!"
"Come," said the friar slowly and disdainfully, "you see once more how important we ecclesiastics are. The meanest lay brother is worth as much as a regiment, while a curate--"
Then he added in a low and mysterious tone, "I've discovered a big conspiracy!"
The alferez started up and gazed in astonishment at the friar.
"A terrible and well-organized plot, which will be carried out this very night."
"This very night!" exclaimed the alferez, pushing the curate aside and running to his revolver and sword hanging on the wall.
"Who'll I arrest? Who'll I arrest?" he cried.
"Calm yourself! There is still time, thanks to the promptness with which I have acted. We have till eight o'clock."
"I'll shoot all of them!"
"Listen! This afternoon a woman whose name I can't reveal (it's a secret of the confessional) came to me and told everything. At eight o'clock they will seize the barracks by surprise, plunder the convento, capture the police boat, and murder all of us Spaniards."
The alferez was stupefied.
"The woman did not tell me any more than this," added the curate.
"She didn't tell any more? Then I'll arrest her!"
"I can't consent to that. The bar of penitence is the throne of the God of mercies."
"There's neither God nor mercies that amount to anything! I'll arrest her!"
"You're losing your head! What you must do is to get yourself ready. Muster your soldiers quietly and put them in ambush, send me four guards for the convento, and notify the men in charge of the boat."
"The boat isn't here. I'll ask for help from the other sections."
"No, for then the plotters would be warned and would not carry out their plans. What we must do is to catch them alive and make them talk--I mean, you'll make them talk, since I, as a priest, must not meddle in such matters. Listen, here's where you win crosses and stars. I ask only that you make due acknowledgment that it was I who warned you."
"It'll be acknowledged, Padre, it'll be acknowledged--and perhaps you'll get a miter!" answered the glowing alferez, glancing at the cuffs of his uniform.
"So, you send me four guards in plain clothes, eh? Be discreet, and tonight at eight o'clock it'll rain stars and crosses."
While all this was taking place, a man ran along the road leading to Ibarra's house and rushed up the stairway.
"Is your master here?" the voice of Elias called to a servant.
"He's in his study at work."
Ibarra, to divert the impatience that he felt while waiting for the time when he could make his explanations to Maria Clara, had set himself to work in his laboratory.
"Ah, that you, Elias?" he exclaimed. "I was thinking about you. Yesterday I forgot to ask you the name of that Spaniard in whose house your grandfather lived."
"Let's not talk about me, sir--"
"Look," continued Ibarra, not noticing the youth's agitation, while he placed a piece of bamboo over a flame, "I've made a great discovery. This bamboo is incombustible."
"It's not a question of bamboo now, sir, it's a question of your collecting your papers and fleeing at this very moment."
Ibarra glanced at him in surprise and, on seeing the gravity of his countenance, dropped the object that he held in his hands.
"Burn everything that may compromise you and within an hour put yourself in a place of safety."
"Why?" Ibarra was at length able to ask.
"Put all your valuables in a safe place--"
"Why?"
"Burn every letter written by you or to you--the most innocent thing may be wrongly construed--"
"But why all this?"
"Why! Because I've just discovered a plot that is to be attributed to you in order to ruin you."
"A plot? Who is forming it?"
"I haven't been able to discover the author of it, but just a moment ago I talked with one of the poor dupes who are paid to carry it out, and I wasn't able to dissuade him."
"But he--didn't he tell you who is paying him?"
"Yes! Under a pledge of secrecy he said that it was you."
"My God!" exclaimed the terrified Ibarra.
"There's no doubt of it, sir. Don't lose any time, for the plot will probably be carried out this very night."
Ibarra, with his hands on his head and his eyes staring unnaturally, seemed not to hear him.
"The blow cannot be averted," continued Elias. "I've come late, I don't know who the leaders are. Save yourself, sir, save yourself for your country's sake!"
"Whither shall I flee? She expects me tonight!" exclaimed Ibarra, thinking of Maria Clara.
"To any town whatsoever, to Manila, to the house of some official, but anywhere so that they may not say that you are directing this movement."
"Suppose that I myself report the plot?"
"You an informer!" exclaimed Elias, stepping back and staring at him. "You would appear as a traitor and coward in the eyes of the plotters and faint-hearted in the eyes of others. They would say that you planned the whole thing to curry favor. They would say--"
"But what's to be done?"
"I've already told you. Destroy every document that relates to your affairs, flee, and await the outcome."
"And Maria Clara?" exclaimed the young man. "No, I'll die first!"
Elias wrung his hands, saying, "Well then, at least parry the blow. Prepare for the time when they accuse you."
Ibarra gazed about him in bewilderment. "Then help me. There in that writing-desk are all the letters of my family. Select those of my father, which are perhaps the ones that may compromise me. Read the signatures."
So the bewildered and stupefied young man opened and shut boxes, collected papers, read letters hurriedly, tearing up some and laying others aside. He took down some books and began to turn their leaves.
Elias did the same, if not so excitedly, yet with equal eagerness. But suddenly he paused, his eyes bulged, he turned the paper in his hand over and over, then asked in a trembling voice:
"Was your family acquainted with Don Pedro Eibarramendia?"
"I should say so!" answered Ibarra, as he opened a chest and took out a bundle of papers. "He was my great-grandfather."
"Your great-grandfather Don Pedro Eibarramendia?" again asked Elias with changed and livid features.
"Yes," replied Ibarra absently, "we shortened the surname; it was too long."
"Was he a Basque?" demanded Elias, approaching him.
"Yes, a Basque--but what's the matter?" asked Ibarra in surprise.
Clenching his fists and pressing them to his forehead, Elias glared at Crisostomo, who recoiled when he saw the expression on the other's face. "Do you know who Don Pedro Eibarramendia was?" he asked between his teeth. "Don Pedro Eibarramendia was the villain who falsely accused my grandfather and caused all our misfortunes. I have sought for that name and God has revealed it to me! Render me now an accounting for our misfortunes!"
Elias caught and shook the arm of Crisostomo, who gazed at him in terror. In a voice that was bitter and trembling with hate, he said, "Look at me well, look at one who has suffered and you live, you live, you have wealth, a home, reputation--you live, you live!"
Beside himself, he ran to a small collection of arms and snatched up a dagger. But scarcely had he done so when he let it fall again and stared like a madman at the motionless Ibarra.
"What was I about to do?" he muttered, fleeing from the house.
CHAPTER LV
The Catastrophe
There in the dining-room Capitan Tiago, Linares, and Aunt Isabel were at supper, so that even in the sala the rattling of plates and dishes was plainly heard. Maria Clara had said that she was not hungry and had seated herself at the piano in company with the merry Sinang, who was murmuring mysterious words into her ear. Meanwhile Padre Salvi paced nervously back and forth in the room.
It was not, indeed, that the convalescent was not hungry, no; but she was expecting the arrival of a certain person and was taking advantage of this moment when her Argus was not present, Linares' supper-hour.
"You'll see how that specter will stay till eight," murmured Sinang, indicating the curate. "And at eight he will come. The curate's in love with Linares."
Maria Clara gazed in consternation at her friend, who went on heedlessly with her terrible chatter: "Oh, I know why he doesn't go, in spite of my hints--he doesn't want to burn up oil in the convento! Don't you know that since you've been sick the two lamps that he used to keep lighted he has had put out? But look how he stares, and what a face!"
At that moment a clock in the house struck eight. The curate shuddered and sat down in a corner.
"Here he comes!" exclaimed Sinang, pinching Maria Clara. "Don't you hear him?"
The church bell boomed out the hour of eight and all rose to pray. Padre Salvi offered up a prayer in a weak and trembling voice, but as each was busy with his own thoughts no one paid any attention to the priest's agitation.
Scarcely had the prayer ceased when Ibarra appeared. The youth was in mourning not only in his attire but also in his face, to such an extent that, on seeing him, Maria Clara arose and took a step toward him to ask what the matter was. But at that instant the report of firearms was heard. Ibarra stopped, his eyes rolled, he lost the power of speech. The curate had concealed himself behind a post. More shots, more reports were heard from the direction of the convento, followed by cries and the sound of persons running. Capitan Tiago, Aunt Isabel, and Linares rushed in pell-mell, crying, "Tulisan! Tulisan!" Andeng followed, flourishing the gridiron as she ran toward her foster-sister.
Aunt Isabel fell on her knees weeping and reciting the Kyrie eleyson; Capitan Tiago, pale and trembling, carried on his fork a chicken-liver which he offered tearfully to the Virgin of Antipolo; Linares with his mouth full of food was armed with a case-knife; Sinang and Maria Clara were in each other's arms; while the only one that remained motionless, as if petrified, was Crisostomo, whose paleness was indescribable.
The cries and sound of blows continued, windows were closed noisily, the report of a gun was heard from time to time.
"Christie eleyson! Santiago, let the prophecy be fulfilled! Shut the windows!" groaned Aunt Isabel.
"Fifty big bombs and two thanksgiving masses!" responded Capitan Tiago. "Ora pro nobis!"
Gradually there prevailed a heavy silence which was soon broken by the voice of the alferez, calling as he ran: "Padre, Padre Salvi, come here!"
"Miserere! The alferez is calling for confession," cried Aunt Isabel. "The alferez is wounded?" asked Linares hastily. "Ah!!!" Only then did he notice that he had not yet swallowed what he had in his mouth.
"Padre, come here! There's nothing more to fear!" the alferez continued to call out.
The pallid Fray Salvi at last concluded to venture out from his hiding-place, and went down the stairs.
"The outlaws have killed the alferez! Maria, Sinang, go into your room and fasten the door! Kyrie eleyson!"
Ibarra also turned toward the stairway, in spite of Aunt Isabel's cries: "Don't go out, you haven't been shriven, don't go out!" The good old lady had been a particular friend of his mother's.
But Ibarra left the house. Everything seemed to reel around him, the ground was unstable. His ears buzzed, his legs moved heavily and irregularly. Waves of blood, lights and shadows chased one another before his eyes, and in spite of the bright moonlight he stumbled over the stones and blocks of wood in the vacant and deserted street.
Near the barracks he saw soldiers, with bayonets fixed, who were talking among themselves so excitedly that he passed them unnoticed. In the town hall were to be heard blows, cries, and curses, with the voice of the alferez dominating everything: "To the stocks! Handcuff them! Shoot any one who moves! Sergeant, mount the guard! Today no one shall walk about, not even God! Captain, this is no time to go to sleep!"
Ibarra hastened his steps toward home, where his servants were anxiously awaiting him. "Saddle the best horse and go to bed!" he ordered them.
Going into his study, he hastily packed a traveling-bag, opened an iron safe, took out what money he found there and put it into some sacks. Then he collected his jewels, took clown a portrait of Maria Clara, armed himself with a dagger and two revolvers, and turned toward a closet where he kept his instruments.
At that moment three heavy knocks sounded on the door. "Who's there?" asked Ibarra in a gloomy tone.
"Open, in the King's name, open at once, or we'll break the door down," answered an imperious voice in Spanish.
Ibarra looked toward the window, his eyes gleamed, and he cocked his revolver. Then changing his mind, he put the weapons down and went to open the door just as the servant appeared. Three guards instantly seized him.
"Consider yourself a prisoner in the King's name," said the sergeant.
"For what?"
"They'll tell you over there. We're forbidden to say." The youth reflected a moment and then, perhaps not wishing that the soldiers should discover his preparations for flight, picked up his hat, saying, "I'm at your service. I suppose that it will only be for a few hours."
"If you promise not to try to escape, we won't tie you the alferez grants this favor--but if you run--"
Ibarra went with them, leaving his servants in consternation.
Meanwhile, what had become of Elias? Leaving the house of Crisostomo, he had run like one crazed, without heeding where he was going. He crossed the fields in violent agitation, he reached the woods; he fled from the town, from the light--even the moon so troubled him that he plunged into the mysterious shadows of the trees. There, sometimes pausing, sometimes moving along unfrequented paths, supporting himself on the hoary trunks or being entangled in the undergrowth, he gazed toward the town, which, bathed in the light of the moon, spread out before him on the plain along the shore of the lake. Birds awakened from their sleep flew about, huge bats and owls moved from branch to branch with strident cries and gazed at him with their round eyes, but Elias neither heard nor heeded them. In his fancy he was followed by the offended shades of his family, he saw on every branch the gruesome basket containing Balat's gory head, as his father had described it to him; at every tree he seemed to stumble over the corpse of his grandmother; he imagined that he saw the rotting skeleton of his dishonored grandfather swinging among the shadows--and the skeleton and the corpse and the gory head cried after him, "Coward! Coward!"
Leaving the hill, Elias descended to the lake and ran along the shore excitedly. There at a distance in the midst of the waters, where the moonlight seemed to form a cloud, he thought he could see a specter rise and soar the shade of his sister with her breast bloody and her loose hair streaming about. He fell to his knees on the sand and extending his arms cried out, "You, too!"
Then with his gaze fixed on the cloud he arose slowly and went forward into the water as if he were following some one. He passed over the gentle slope that forms the bar and was soon far from the shore. The water rose to his waist, but he plunged on like one fascinated, following, ever following, the ghostly charmer. Now the water covered his chest--a volley of rifle-shots sounded, the vision disappeared, the youth returned to his senses. In the stillness of the night and the greater density of the air the reports reached him clearly and distinctly. He stopped to reflect and found himself in the water--over the peaceful ripples of the lake he could still make out the lights in the fishermen's huts.
He returned to the shore and started toward the town, but for what purpose he himself knew not. The streets appeared to be deserted, the houses were closed, and even the dogs that were wont to bark through the night had hidden themselves in fear. The silvery light of the moon added to the sadness and loneliness.
Fearful of meeting the civil-guards, he made his way along through yards and gardens, in one of which he thought he could discern two human figures, but he kept on his way, leaping over fences and walls, until after great labor he reached the other end of the town and went toward Crisostomo's house. In the doorway were the servants, lamenting their master's arrest.
After learning about what had occurred Elias pretended to go away, but really went around behind the house, jumped over the wall, and crawled through a window into the study where the candle that Ibarra had lighted was still burning. He saw the books and papers and found the arms, the jewels, and the sacks of money. Reconstructing in his imagination the scene that had taken place there and seeing so many papers that might be of a compromising nature, he decided to gather them up, throw them from the window, and bury them.
But, on glancing toward the street, he saw two guards approaching, their bayonets and caps gleaming in the moonlight. With them was the directorcillo. He made a sudden resolution: throwing the papers and some clothing into a heap in the center of the room, he poured over them the oil from a lamp and set fire to the whole. He was hurriedly placing the arms in his belt when he caught sight of the portrait of Maria Clara and hesitated a moment, then thrust it into one of the sacks and with them in his hands leaped from the window into the garden.
It was time that he did so, too, for the guards were forcing an entrance. "Let us in to get your master's papers!" cried the directorcillo.
"Have you permission? If you haven't, you won't get in,'" answered an old man.
But the soldiers pushed him aside with the butts of their rifles and ran up the stairway, just as a thick cloud of smoke rolled through the house and long tongues of flame shot out from the study, enveloping the doors and windows.
"Fire! Fire!" was the cry, as each rushed to save what he could. But the blaze had reached the little laboratory and caught the inflammable materials there, so the guards had to retire. The flames roared about, licking up everything in their way and cutting off the passages. Vainly was water brought from the well and cries for help raised, for the house was set apart from the rest. The fire swept through all the rooms and sent toward the sky thick spirals of smoke. Soon the whole structure was at the mercy of the flames, fanned now by the wind, which in the heat grew stronger. Some few rustics came up, but only to gaze on this great bonfire, the end of that old building which had been so long respected by the elements.
CHAPTER LVI
Rumors and Beliefs
Day dawned at last for the terrified town. The streets near the barracks and the town hail were still deserted and solitary, the houses showed no signs of life. Nevertheless, the wooden panel of a window was pushed back noisily and a child's head was stretched out and turned from side to side, gazing about in all directions. At once, however, a smack indicated the contact of tanned hide with the soft human article, so the child made a wry face, closed its eyes, and disappeared. The window slammed shut.
But an example had been set. That opening and shutting of the window had no doubt been heard on all sides, for soon another window opened slowly and there appeared cautiously the head of a wrinkled and toothless old woman: it was the same Sister Puté who had raised such a disturbance while Padre Damaso was preaching. Children and old women are the representatives of curiosity in this world: the former from a wish to know things and the latter from a desire to recollect them.
Apparently there was no one to apply a slipper to Sister Puté, for she remained gazing out into the distance with wrinkled eyebrows. Then she rinsed out her mouth, spat noisily, and crossed herself. In the house opposite, another window was now timidly opened to reveal Sister Rufa, she who did not wish to cheat or be cheated. They stared at each other for a moment, smiled, made some signs, and again crossed themselves.
"Jesús, it seemed like a thanksgiving mass, regular fireworks!" commented Sister Rufa.
"Since the town was sacked by Balat, I've never seen another night equal to it," responded Sister Puté.
"What a lot of shots! They say that it was old Pablo's band."
"Tulisanes? That can't be! They say that it was the cuadrilleros against the civil-guards. That's why Don Filipo has been arrested."
"Sanctus Deus! They say that at least fourteen were killed."
Other windows were now opened and more faces appeared to exchange greetings and make comments. In the clear light, which promised a bright day, soldiers could be seen in the distance, coming and going confusedly like gray silhouettes.
"There goes one more corpse!" was the exclamation from a window.
"One? I see two."
"And I--but really, can it be you don't know what it was?" asked a sly-featured individual.
"Oh, the cuadrilleros!"
"No, sir, it was a mutiny in the barracks!"
"What kind of mutiny? The curate against the alferez?"
"No, it was nothing of the kind," answered the man who had asked the first question. "It was the Chinamen who have rebelled." With this he shut his window.
"The Chinamen!" echoed all in great astonishment. "That's why not one of them is to be seen!" "They've probably killed them all!"
"I thought they were going to do something bad. Yesterday--"
"I saw it myself. Last night--"
"What a pity!" exclaimed Sister Rufa. "To get killed just before Christmas when they bring around their presents! They should have waited until New Year's."
Little by little the street awoke to life. Dogs, chickens, pigs, and doves began the movement, and these animals were soon followed by some ragged urchins who held fast to each other's arms as they timidly approached the barracks. Then a few old women with handkerchiefs tied about their heads and fastened under their chins appeared with thick rosaries in their hands, pretending to be at their prayers so that the soldiers would let them pass. When it was seen that one might walk about without being shot at, the men began to come out with assumed airs of indifference. First they limited their steps to the neighborhood of their houses, caressing their game-cocks, then they extended their stroll, stopping from time to time, until at last they stood in front of the town hall.
In a quarter of an hour other versions of the affair were in circulation. Ibarra with his servants had tried to kidnap Maria Clara, and Capitan Tiago had defended her, aided by the Civil Guard. The number of killed was now not fourteen but thirty. Capitan Tiago was wounded and would leave that very day with his family for Manila.
The arrival of two cuadrilleros carrying a human form on a covered stretcher and followed by a civil-guard produced a great sensation. It was conjectured that they came from the convento, and, from the shape of the feet, which were dangling over one end, some guessed who the dead man might be, some one else a little distance away told who it was; further on the corpse was multiplied and the mystery of the Holy Trinity duplicated, later the miracle of the loaves and fishes was repeated--and the dead were then thirty and eight.
By half-past seven, when other guards arrived from neighboring towns, the current version was clear and detailed. "I've just come from the town hall, where I've seen Don Filipo and Don Crisostomo prisoners," a man told Sister Puté. "I've talked with one of the cuadrilleros who are on guard. Well, Bruno, the son of that fellow who was flogged to death, confessed everything last night. As you know, Capitan Tiago is going to marry his daughter to the young Spaniard, so Don Crisostomo in his rage wanted to get revenge and tried to kill all the Spaniards, even the curate. Last night they attacked the barracks and the convento, but fortunately, by God's mercy, the curate was in Capitan Tiago's house. They say that a lot of them escaped. The civil-guards burned Don Crisostomo's house down, and if they hadn't arrested him first they would have burned him also."
"They burned the house down?"
"All the servants are under arrest. Look, you can still see the smoke from here!" answered the narrator, approaching the window. "Those who come from there tell of many sad things."
All looked toward the place indicated. A thin column of smoke was still slowly rising toward the sky. All made comments, more or less pitying, more or less accusing.
