"He would put an end to the race of filibusterillos!"
"Don't they say there are many islands yet uninhabited?"
"Señoras," said the one-armed man, "the captain-general knows his duty. I understand he is greatly irritated, for he had loaded this Ibarra with favors."
"Loaded him with favors!" repeated the slim gentlewoman, fanning furiously. "What ingrates these Indians are! Is it possible to treat them like human beings?"
"Do you know what I've heard?" asked an officer.
"People worthy of confidence say that all this noise about building a school was a pure pretext; what he meant to make was a fort for his own defence when he had been attacked."
"What infamy! Would any one but an Indian be capable of it?"
"But they say this filibustero is the son of a Spaniard," said the one-armed man, without looking at anybody.
"There it is again," cried the portly lady; "always these creoles! No Indian understands anything about revolution. Train crows, and they'll pick your eyes out!"
"Do you know what I've heard?" asked a pretty creole, to turn the conversation. "The wife of Captain Tinong--you remember? We danced and dined at his house at the fête of Tondo--well, the wife of Captain Tinong gave the captain-general, this afternoon, a ring worth a thousand pesos. She said it was a Christmas present."
"She must have feared a downpour," said the stout lady.
"That is evident," said the one-armed man, thoughtfully. "I fear there is something back of this."
"I also," said the portly lady. "The wife of Captain Tinong is very parsimonious--she has never sent us presents, though we have been to her house. When such a person lets slip a little present of a thousand little pesos----"
"But is it certain?" demanded the one-armed man.
"Absolutely! His excellency's aide-de-camp told my cousin, to whom he is engaged. I'm tempted to believe it's a ring she wore the day of the fête. She's always covered with diamonds."
"That's one way of advertising! Instead of buying a lay-figure or renting a shop----"
The one-armed man found a pretext for leaving.
Two hours later, when all the city was asleep, certain inhabitants of Tondo received an invitation through the medium of soldiers. Authority could not permit people of position and property to sleep in houses so ill guarded. In the fortress of Santiago, and in other government buildings, their sleep would be more tranquil and refreshing. Among these people was the unfortunate Captain Tinong.