has fed me and loved me, and it was not his duty. I pay him this debt
of gratitude which I owe him by assuring him peace through this new
relative, but ..."

"But?"

"I shall not forget the oaths of fidelity which I made to you."

"What do you think of doing?" asked Ibarra, trying to read her eyes.

"The future is obscure and Destiny is hidden in darkness. I do not
know what I am to do; but I know that I can love only once, and that
without love I never will belong to any one. And you, what is to
become of you?"

"I am nothing but a fugitive.... I am fleeing. In a very short time,
they will discover my escape, Maria...."

Maria Clara clasped her arms about her lover's neck, kissed his lips
repeatedly, hugged him, and then, abruptly breaking away from him,
said:

"Flee! flee! Adios!"

Ibarra looked at her, his eyes sparkling, but she motioned and he
went away, staggering like a drunken man. Again he leaped over the
wall and entered the banca. Maria Clara, leaning on the door casing,
watched him depart.

Elias took off his hat and bowed profoundly.

CHAPTER XL

THE PURSUIT ON THE LAKE.

"Listen, Senor, to my plan," said Elias, as they directed the banca
toward San Miguel. "I will for the present hide you in the house of
my friend in Mandaluyong. I will bring you all your money, which I
have saved and kept for you at the foot of the old baliti tree, in
the mysterious tomb of your grandfather. You shall leave the country."

"To go to a strange land?" interrupted Ibarra.

"To live in peace the remaining days of your life. You have friends
in Spain, you are rich, you can get yourself pardoned. By all means,
a foreign land is better for you than your own country."

Crisostomo did not reply. He meditated in silence.

Just then they reached the Pasig and the banca was headed up the
stream. Over the Bridge of Spain a horse-man was galloping at high
speed, and a prolonged, sharp whistle was heard.

"Elias," replied Ibarra, "you owe your misfortunes to my family;
you have saved my life twice; I owe you not only gratitude, but also
restitution of your fortune. You advise me to go to a foreign land
and live; then come with me and we will live like brothers. Here,
you, too, are miserable."

Elias sadly replied:

"Impossible! It is true that I can neither love nor be happy in
my country; but I can suffer and die in it, and perhaps die for
it; that would be something. Let my country's misfortune b