ay to the Captain-General and take him a present--a
gold ring, a chain. _Dadivae quebrantant penas_. [161] Say that it's
a Christmas gift. Close the windows, the doors, and if any one asks
for my cousin, say that he is seriously ill. Meanwhile, I'll burn all
his letters, papers, and books, so that they can't find anything,
just as Don Crisostomo did. _Scripti testes sunt! Quod medicamenta
non sanant, ferrum sanat, quod ferrum non sanat, ignis sanat._" [162]

"Yes, do so, cousin, burn everything!" said Capitana Tinchang. "Here
are the keys, here are the letters from Capitan Tiago. Burn them! Don't
leave a single European newspaper, for they're very dangerous. Here
are the copies of _The Times_ that I've kept for wrapping up soap
and old clothes. Here are the books."

"Go to the Captain-General, cousin," said Don Primitivo, "and leave
us alone. _In extremis extrema_. [163] Give me the authority of a
Roman dictator, and you'll see how soon I'll save the coun--I mean,
my cousin."

He began to give orders and more orders, to upset bookcases, to tear
up papers, books, and letters. Soon a big fire was burning in the
kitchen. Old shotguns were smashed with axes, rusty revolvers were
thrown away. The maidservant who wanted to keep the barrel of one
for a blowpipe received a reprimand:

"_Conservare etiam sperasti, perfida?_ [164] Into the fire!" So
he continued his auto da fe. Seeing an old volume in vellum,
he read the title, _Revolutions of the Celestial Globes_,
by Copernicus. Whew! "_Ite, maledicti, in ignem kalanis!_"
[165] he exclaimed, hurling it into the flames. "Revolutions and
Copernicus! Crimes on crimes! If I hadn't come in time! _Liberty in
the Philippines!_ Ta, ta, ta! What books! Into the fire!"

Harmless books, written by simple authors, were burned; not even the
most innocent work escaped. Cousin Primitivo was right: the righteous
suffer for the sinners.

Four or five hours later, at a pretentious reception in the Walled
City, current events were being commented upon. There were present
a lot of old women and maidens of marriageable age, the wives and
daughters of government employees, dressed in loose gowns, fanning
themselves and yawning. Among the men, who, like the women, showed
in their faces their education and origin, was an elderly gentleman,
small and one-armed, whom the others treated with great respect. He
himself maintained a disdainful silence.

"To tell the truth, formerly I couldn't endur