his eyes; they were in a dreadful
state. The sight of one was not only destroyed, but threatened the
life of the sufferer. A cancer had formed, and the enormous size it
had attained rendered the result of an operation doubtful. The left
eye contained many fibres, but there was hope of saving it. I frankly
acquainted Don Juan with my fears and hopes, and insisted upon the
entire removal of the right eye. The Captain, at first astonished,
decided courageously upon submitting to the operation, which I
accomplished on the following day with complete success. Shortly
afterwards the inflammatory symptoms disappeared, and I could assure
my host of a safe recovery. I then bestowed all my attention upon
the left eye. I desired the more ardently to restore to Don Juan his
vision, from the good effect I was convinced his case would produce
at Manilla. For me it would be fortune and reputation. Besides, I had
already acquired, in the few days, some slight patronage, and was in a
position to pay for my board and lodging at the end of the month. After
six weeks' careful treatment Don Juan was perfectly cured, and could
use his eye as well as he did previous to his accident. Nevertheless,
to my great regret, the Captain still continued to immure himself;
his re-appearance in society, which he had forsaken for more than
a year, would have produced an immense sensation, and I should have
been considered the first doctor in the Philippines. One day I touched
upon this delicate topic.

"Senor Captain," said I, "what are you thinking about, to remain
thus shut up between four walls, and why do you not resume your old
habits? You must go and visit your friends, your acquaintances."

"Doctor," interrupted Don Juan, "how can I show myself in public with
an eye the less? When I pass along the street all the women would say:
'There goes Don Juan the One-eyed!' No, no; before I leave the house
you must get me an artificial eye from Paris."

"You don't mean that? It would be eighteen months before the eye
arrived."

"Then here goes for eighteen months' seclusion," said Don Juan.

I persisted for upwards of an hour, but the Captain would not listen
to reason. He carried his coquetry so far that, although I had
covered the empty orbit with black silk, he had his shutters closed
whenever visitors came; so that, as they always found him in the dark,
none would credit his cure. I was very anxious to thwart Don Juan's
obstinacy, as may well be i