money, he thought, could pray for him. For masses
and prayers, God had created powerful and lofty priests; for special
religious functions and rosaries, God, in His infinite goodness, for
the benefit of the rich, had created poor people--poor people who for
a peso would make half a dozen prayers, and would read all the Holy
Books, even to the Hebrew Bible, if the pay were large enough. If
at any time he found himself in hard straits and needed heavenly
aid and was out of red Chinese candles, he applied to the saints,
making them great promises in order to win their favor and convince
them of his good intentions.

Captain Tiago was therefore beloved by the priests, respected by the
sacristans, fondled by the Chinese candle-makers and fire-cracker
merchants, and thoroughly happy in the religion of the world. Some
even attributed to him great influence in the ecclesiastical court.

That the Captain was at peace with the Government must not be doubted
simply because such a thing seems impossible. Incapable of conceiving a
new idea and content with the modus vivendi, he was always willing to
obey the latest official recruit in any of the Government offices and
even ready to give him at all times of the year such presents as hams,
capons, turkeys, and Chinese fruit. He was the first to applaud any
tax imposed by the Government, especially when he scented behind it
a chance of securing the contract for its collection. He always kept
orchestras on hand to serenade Government officials of all grades
from governor to the lowest Government agent, on their birthdays,
saint's days, or when any occasion, such as the death of any of
their relatives, or a birth in the family connection should afford
a pretext. He even went so far as to dedicate laudatory verses to
his royal patrons on these occasions, thus honoring the "suave and
loving governor" or the "valiant and mighty alcalde."

The Captain was a petty governor or gobernadorcillo of a rich colony
of mestizos, in spite of the protests of many who considered him
unfit for the position. He held the office for two years, but during
this time he wore out ten frock coats, about the same number of high
hats, and lost more than a half dozen of gobernadorcillo canes. His
high hat and frock coat were always in evidence in the city hall, at
the Government palace in Melacanan [1] and at the army headquarters,
and they always appeared, too, in the cock-pit, in the market, in all
procession