leave and returned happy to his town. On arrival in the town
he assembled all the compromised persons and informed them of the
brilliant result of his efforts. Continuing, he told them that then was
the opportune moment for rising in arms against the Spaniards. To this
they unanimously replied by saying it was terrible, because no arms
were available, and that for this reason it would certainly prove to
be a disaster for them.

"But Aguinaldo, in company with his godfather, the lamented Candido
Tirona, insisted on convincing them with their strong arguments. They
made them understand that Spanish cruelty would annihilate them
without fail, and for no other reason than that they were members of
the Katipunan.

"As it happened, at that very time there were two 'Guardia Civil'
soldiers in the court-house. So at about 2 o'clock in the morning,
Aguinaldo and Tirona went directly to the court-house. Arriving there,
these two determined insurgent chiefs intimated to the guards that
they should surrender their equipments. These replied that it was
impossible, and said they would die first. Instantly a struggle ensued
between the four men, which lasted nearly an hour. But it resulted in
favor of the insurgent chiefs who succeeded in taking the guns and
cartridges. Once in possession of these armaments, the two chiefs,
accompanied by a number of the town people, directed themselves to
the convent in order to capture the curate. Very unfortunately for
them, the curate was no longer there when they arrived; he had made
his escape. While the struggle was going on with the guards in the
court-house, he received the news and fled at once by embarking in
a native boat.

"The insurgent chiefs then returned to the court-house and immediately
prepared a communication to all the municipal captains in the provinces
of Cavite, Batangas and Laguna, inviting them to at once rise against
Spain, and stating that their own town of Cavite Viejo was already
freed from slavery.

"Each one of these communications was sent out by a mounted courier,
so that before the expiration of many hours all the towns in Cavite
Province were informed of what had taken place in Cavite Viejo.

"On the following day some of the towns took up arms. At the same
time Aguinaldo, in company with many people from his town, marched on
Imus in order to attack the Spanish troops who were there. When he
arrived in Imus the people of this town at once joined him and they