me, count on me, and to the
festivities celebrating our graduation we'll invite these gentlemen,"
he said, indicating the corporal and the warrant officer.

CHAPTER XXVII

THE FRIAR AND THE FILIPINO

Vox populi, vox Dei

We left Isagani haranguing his friends. In the midst of his enthusiasm
an usher approached him to say that Padre Fernandez, one of the higher
professors, wished to talk with him.

Isagani's face fell. Padre Fernandez was a person greatly respected
by him, being the _one_ always excepted by him whenever the friars
were attacked.

"What does Padre Fernandez want?" he inquired.

The usher shrugged his shoulders and Isagani reluctantly followed him.

Padre Fernandez, the friar whom we met in Los Banos, was waiting
in his cell, grave and sad, with his brows knitted as if he were
in deep thought. He arose as Isagani entered, shook hands with him,
and closed the door. Then he began to pace from one end of the room
to the other. Isagani stood waiting for him to speak.

"Senor Isagani," he began at length with some emotion, "from the
window I've heard you speaking, for though I am a consumptive I have
good ears, and I want to talk with you. I have always liked the young
men who express themselves clearly and have their own way of thinking
and acting, no matter that their ideas may differ from mine. You
young men, from what I have heard, had a supper last night. Don't
excuse yourself--"

"I don't intend to excuse myself!" interrupted Isagani.

"So much the better--it shows that you accept the consequences of your
actions. Besides, you would do ill in retracting, and I don't blame
you, I take no notice of what may have been said there last night,
I don't accuse you, because after all you're free to say of the
Dominicans what seems best to you, you are not a pupil of ours--only
this year have we had the pleasure of having you, and we shall
probably not have you longer. Don't think that I'm going to invoke
considerations of gratitude; no, I'm not going to waste my time in
stupid vulgarisms. I've had you summoned here because I believe that
you are one of the few students who act from conviction, and, as I
like men of conviction, I'm going to explain myself to Senor Isagani."

Padre Fernandez paused, then continued his walk with bowed head,
his gaze riveted on the floor.

"You may sit down, if you wish," he remarked. "It's a habit of mine
to walk about while talking, because my ideas