or breakfasting, we will sketch
the portrait of Captain Tiago. We have no reason to ignore him,
never having been among his guests. Short, less dark than most of
his compatriots, of full face and slightly corpulent, Captain Tiago
seemed younger than his age. His rounded cranium, very small and
elongated behind, was covered with hair black as ebony. His eyes,
small and straight set, kept always the same expression. His nose
was straight and finely cut, and if his mouth had not been deformed
by the use of tobacco and buyo, he had not been wrong in thinking
himself a handsome man.

He was reputed the richest resident of Binondo, and had large estates
in La Pampanga, on the Laguna de Bay, and at San Diego. From its
baths, its famous gallera, and his recollections of the place,
San Diego was his favorite pueblo, and here he passed two months
every year. He had also properties at Santo Cristo, in the Calle de
Anloague, and in the Calle Rosario; the exploitation of the opium
traffic was shared between him and a Chinese, and, needless to say,
brought him great gains. He was purveyor to the prisoners at Bilibid,
and furnished zacate to many Manila houses. On good terms with all
authority, shrewd, pliant, daring in speculation, he was the sole
rival of a certain Perez in the awards of divers contracts which
the Philippine Government always places in privileged hands. From
all of which it resulted that Captain Tiago was as happy as can be
a man whose small head announces his native origin. He was rich,
and at peace with God, with the Government, and with men.

That he was at peace with God could not be doubted. One has no
motive for being at enmity with Him when one is well in the land,
and has never had to ask Him for anything. From the grand salon
of the Manila home, a little door, hid behind a silken curtain,
led to a chapel--something obligatory in a Filipino house. There
were Santiago's Lares, and if we use this word, it is because the
master of the house was rather a poly- than a monotheist. Here, in
sculpture and oils, were saints, martyrdoms, and miracles; a chapter
could scarcely enumerate them all. Before these images Santiago burned
his candles and made his requests known.

That he was at peace with the Government, however difficult the
problem, could not be doubted either. Incapable of a new idea, and
contented with his lot, he was disposed to obey even to the lowest
functionary, and to offer him capons, hams, and