ed was Father Labanda. Villa had him taken to the prison
where the priest found his two faithful Filipino servants who had
been beaten cruelly and were then hanging from a beam, this having
been done in order to make them tell where his money was.

He was tied after the usual fashion and water poured down his nose
and throat. During the brief respites necessary in order to prevent
his dying outright he was cruelly beaten. They finally dragged him
out of the prison by the feet, his head leaving a bloody trail on
the stones. After he had been taken back to his companions, one of
the men who had tortured him came to beg his pardon, saying that he
had been compelled to do it by Villa.

Father Aguado was next tortured in one of the rooms of the
_convento_. Villa finished the day's work by announcing to the band
of priests that he would have them all shot the next day on the plaza,
and ordering them to get ready.

On the 29th the barbarities practised by this inhuman fiend reached
their climax in the torturing to death of Lieutenant Piera. The
following description gives some faint idea of one of the most
diabolical crimes ever committed in the Philippines:--

"Villa's cruelty and sanguinary jeering grew without let or hindrance
from day to day; it seemed that this hyena continually cudgelled his
brains to invent new kinds of torture and to jeer at the friars. On
the night of the 29th of September the diabolical idea occurred to
him of giving the _coup de grace_ to the prestige of the friars by
making them pass through the streets of Ilagan conducting and playing
a band of music. He carried out his nonsensical purpose by calling
upon Father Diograeias to play the big drum, and when this priest
had started playing Villa learned that Father Primo was a musician
and could therefore play the drum and lead the band with all skill,
so he called upon Father Primo to come forward, and with one thing
and another this ridiculous function was carried on until the late
hours of the night.

* * * * *

"While these two priests were serenading Villa and his gang, the most
dreadful shrieks were heard from the jail, accompanied by pitiful
cries that would melt the coldest heart. The priests hearing these
echoes of sorrow and pain, and who did not know for what purpose
Fathers Deogracias and Primo had been separated from them, seemed
to recognize the voices of these two priests among the groans,
believing