w that God will bless you; that your victory, the same as your
death, will exalt you in the eyes of men and in the eyes of God. I know
that you deserve palms and glory and all sorts of honors; but in spite
of this, my children, my lips will not incite you to the combat. They
have never done it, and they will not do it now. Act according to the
impulse of your own noble hearts. If they bid you to remain in your
houses, remain in them; if they bid you to leave them--why, then, leave
them. I will resign myself to be a martyr and to bow my neck to the
executioner, if that vile army remains here. But if a noble and ardent
and pious impulse of the sons of Orbajosa contributes to the great
work of the extirpation of our country's ills, I shall hold myself the
happiest of men, solely in being your fellow-townsman; and all my
life of study, of penitence, of resignation, will seem to me less
meritorious, less deserving of heaven, than a single one of your heroic
days."

"Impossible to say more or to say it better!" exclaimed Dona Perfecta,
in a burst of enthusiasm.

Caballuco had leaned forward in his chair and was resting his elbows
on his knees; when the canon ended he took his hand and kissed it with
fervor.

"A better man was never born," said Uncle Licurgo, wiping, or pretending
to wipe away a tear.

"Long life to the Senor Penitentiary!" cried Frasquito Gonzalez, rising
to his feet and throwing his cap up to the ceiling.

"Silence!" said Dona Perfecta. "Sit down, Frasquito! You are one of
those with whom it is always much cry and little wool."

"Blessed be God who gave you that eloquent tongue!" exclaimed Cristobal,
inflamed with admiration. "What a pair I have before me! While these two
live what need is there of any one else? All the people in Spain ought
to be like them. But how could that be, when there is nothing in it but
roguery! In Madrid, which is the capital where the law and the mandarins
come from, every thing is robbery and cheating. Poor religion, what a
state they have brought it to! There is nothing to be seen but crimes.
Senor Don Inocencio, Senora Dona Perfecta, by my father's soul, by the
soul of my grandfather, by the salvation of my own soul, I swear that I
wish to die!"

"To die!"

"That I wish those rascally dogs may kill me, and I say that I wish they
may kill me, because I cannot cut them in quarters. I am very little."

"Ramos, you are great," said Dona Perfecta solemnly.

"Great? Grea