CHAPTER XXX
JULI
The death of Capitan Tiago and Basilio's imprisonment were soonreported in the province, and to the honor of the simple inhabitantsof San Diego, let it be recorded that the latter was the incident moreregretted and almost the only one discussed. As was to be expected,the report took on different forms, sad and startling details weregiven, what could not be understood was explained, the gaps beingfilled by conjectures, which soon passed for accomplished facts,and the phantoms thus created terrified their own creators.
In the town of Tiani it was reported that at least, at the veryleast, the young man was going to be deported and would veryprobably be murdered on the journey. The timorous and pessimisticwere not satisfied with this but even talked about executions andcourts-martial--January was a fatal month; in January the Cavite affairhad occurred, and _they_ [65] even though curates, had been garroted,so a poor Basilio without protectors or friends--
"I told him so!" sighed the Justice of the Peace, as if he had atsome time given advice to Basilio. "I told him so."
"It was to be expected," commented Sister Penchang. "He would gointo the church and when he saw that the holy water was somewhatdirty he wouldn't cross himself with it. He talked about germs anddisease, _aba_, it's the chastisement of God! He deserved it, and hegot it! As though the holy water could transmit diseases! Quite thecontrary, _aba!_"
She then related how she had cured herself of indigestion by moisteningher stomach with holy water, at the same time reciting the _SanctusDeus_, and she recommended the remedy to those present when they shouldsuffer from dysentery, or an epidemic occurred, only that then theymust pray in Spanish:
Santo Dios, Santo fuerte, Santo inmortal, iLibranos, Senor, de la peste Y de todo mal! [66]
"It's an infallible remedy, but you must apply the holy water to thepart affected," she concluded.
But there were many persons who did not believe in these things,nor did they attribute Basilio's imprisonment to the chastisement ofGod. Nor did they take any stock in insurrections and pasquinades,knowing the prudent and ultra-pacific character of the boy, butpreferred to ascribe it to revenge on the part of the friars, becauseof his having rescued from servitude Juli, the daughter of a tulisanwho was the mortal enemy of a certain powerful corporation. As theyhad quite a poor idea of the morality of that same corporation andcould recall cases of petty revenge, their conjecture was believedto have more probability and justification.
"What a good thing I did when I drove her from my house!" said SisterPenchang. "I don't want to have any trouble with the friars, so Iurged her to find the money."
The truth was, however, that she regretted Juli's liberty, for Juliprayed and fasted for her, and if she had stayed a longer time, wouldalso have done penance. Why, if the curates pray for us and Christdied for our sins, couldn't Juli do the same for Sister Penchang?
When the news reached the hut where the poor Juli and her grandfatherlived, the girl had to have it repeated to her. She stared at SisterBali, who was telling it, as though without comprehension, withoutability to collect her thoughts. Her ears buzzed, she felt a sinkingat the heart and had a vague presentiment that this event would havea disastrous influence on her own future. Yet she tried to seize upona ray of hope, she smiled, thinking that Sister Bali was joking withher, a rather strong joke, to be sure, but she forgave her beforehandif she would acknowledge that it was such. But Sister Bali made across with one of her thumbs and a forefinger, and kissed it, to provethat she was telling the truth. Then the smile faded forever from thegirl's lips, she turned pale, frightfully pale, she felt her strengthleave her and for the first time in her life she lost consciousness,falling into a swoon.
When by dint of blows, pinches, dashes of water, crosses, and theapplication of sacred palms, the girl recovered and remembered thesituation, silent tears sprang from her eyes, drop by drop, withoutsobs, without laments, without complaints! She thought about Basilio,who had had no other protector than Capitan Tiago, and who now, withthe Capitan dead, was left completely unprotected and in prison. Inthe Philippines it is a well-known fact that patrons are needed foreverything, from the time one is christened until one dies, in orderto get justice, to secure a passport, or to develop an industry. Asit was said that his imprisonment was due to revenge on account ofherself and her father, the girl's sorrow turned to desperation. Nowit was her duty to liberate him, as he had done in rescuing her fromservitude, and the inner voice which suggested the idea offered toher imagination a horrible means.
"Padre Camorra, the curate," whispered the voice. Juli gnawed at herlips and became lost in gloomy meditation.
As a result of her father's crime, her grandfather had been arrested inthe hope that by such means the son could be made to appear. The onlyone who could get him his liberty was Padre Camorra, and Padre Camorrahad shown himself to be poorly satisfied with her words of gratitude,having with his usual frankness asked for some sacrifices--since whichtime Juli had tried to avoid meeting him. But the curate made her kisshis hand, he twitched her nose and patted her cheeks, he joked withher, winking and laughing, and laughing he pinched her. Juli was alsothe cause of the beating the good curate had administered to some youngmen who were going about the village serenading the girls. Maliciousones, seeing her pass sad and dejected, would remark so that shemight hear: "If she only wished it, Cabesang Tales would be pardoned."
Juli reached her home, gloomy and with wandering looks. She hadchanged greatly, having lost her merriment, and no one ever saw hersmile again. She scarcely spoke and seemed to be afraid to look ather own face. One day she was seen in the town with a big spot ofsoot on her forehead, she who used to go so trim and neat. Once sheasked Sister Bali if the people who committed suicide went to hell.
"Surely!" replied that woman, and proceeded to describe the place asthough she had been there.
Upon Basilio's imprisonment, the simple and grateful relatives hadplanned to make all kinds of sacrifices to save the young man, butas they could collect among themselves no more than thirty pesos,Sister Bali, as usual, thought of a better plan.
"What we must do is to get some advice from the town clerk," shesaid. To these poor people, the town clerk was what the Delphic oraclewas to the ancient Greeks.
"By giving him a real and a cigar," she continued, "he'll tell youall the laws so that your head bursts listening to him. If you havea peso, he'll save you, even though you may be at the foot of thescaffold. When my friend Simon was put in jail and flogged for notbeing able to give evidence about a robbery perpetrated near hishouse, _aba_, for two reales and a half and a string of garlics,the town clerk got him out. And I saw Simon myself when he couldscarcely walk and he had to stay in bed at least a month. Ay, hisflesh rotted as a result and he died!"
Sister Bali's advice was accepted and she herself volunteered tointerview the town clerk. Juli gave her four reales and added somestrips of jerked venison her grand-father had got, for Tandang Selohad again devoted himself to hunting.
But the town clerk could do nothing--the prisoner was in Manila,and his power did not extend that far. "If at least he were at thecapital, then--" he ventured, to make a show of his authority, whichhe knew very well did not extend beyond the boundaries of Tiani, buthe had to maintain his prestige and keep the jerked venison. "But Ican give you a good piece of advice, and it is that you go with Julito see the Justice of the Peace. But it's very necessary that Juli go."
The Justice of the Peace was a very rough fellow, but if he shouldsee Juli he might conduct himself less rudely--this is wherein laythe wisdom of the advice.
With great gravity the honorable Justice listened to Sister Bali,who did the talking, but not without staring from time to time atthe girl, who hung her head with shame. People would say that shewas greatly interested in Basilio, people who did not remember herdebt of gratitude, nor that his imprisonment, according to report,was on her account.
After belching three or four times, for his Honor had t
hat ugly habit,he said that the only person who could save Basilio was Padre Camorra,_in case he should care to do so_. Here he stared meaningly at thegirl and advised her to deal with the curate in person.
"You know what influence he has,--he got your grand-father out ofjail. A report from him is enough to deport a new-born babe or savefrom death a man with the noose about his neck."
Juli said nothing, but Sister Bali took this advice as though shehad read it in a novena, and was ready to accompany the girl to theconvento. It so happened that she was just going there to get as almsa scapulary in exchange for four full reales.
But Juli shook her head and was unwilling to go to the convento. SisterBali thought she could guess the reason--Padre Camorra was reputedto be very fond of the women and was very frolicsome--so she triedto reassure her. "You've nothing to fear if I go with you. Haven'tyou read in the booklet _Tandang Basio_, given you by the curate,that the girls should go to the convento, even without the knowledgeof their elders, to relate what is going on at home? _Aba_, that bookis printed with the permission of the Archbishop!"
Juli became impatient and wished to cut short such talk, so she beggedthe pious woman to go if she wished, but his Honor observed with abelch that the supplications of a youthful face were more moving thanthose of an old one, the sky poured its dew over the fresh flowersin greater abundance than over the withered ones. The metaphor wasfiendishly beautiful.
Juli did not reply and the two left the house. In the street thegirl firmly refused to go to the convento and they returned to theirvillage. Sister Bali, who felt offended at this lack of confidencein herself, on the way home relieved her feelings by administeringa long preachment to the girl.
The truth was that the girl could not take that step without damningherself in her own eyes, besides being cursed of men and cursedof God! It had been intimated to her several times, whether withreason or not, that if she would make that sacrifice her father wouldbe pardoned, and yet she had refused, in spite of the cries of herconscience reminding her of her filial duty. Now must she make it forBasilio, her sweetheart? That would be to fall to the sound of mockeryand laughter from all creation. Basilio himself would despise her! No,never! She would first hang herself or leap from some precipice. Atany rate, she was already damned for being a wicked daughter.
The poor girl had besides to endure all the reproaches of herrelatives, who, knowing nothing of what had passed between her andPadre Camovra, laughed at her fears. Would Padre Camorra fix hisattention upon a country girl when there were so many others in thetown? Hero the good women cited names of unmarried girls, rich andbeautiful, who had been more or less unfortunate. Meanwhile, if theyshould shoot Basilio?
Juli covered her ears and stared wildly about, as if seeking a voicethat might plead for her, but she saw only her grandfather, who wasdumb and had his gaze fixed on his hunting-spear.
That night she scarcely slept at all. Dreams and nightmares, somefunereal, some bloody, danced before her sight and woke her often,bathed in cold perspiration. She fancied that she heard shots, sheimagined that she saw her father, that father who had done so muchfor her, fighting in the forests, hunted like a wild beast becauseshe had refused to save him. The figure of her father was transformedand she recognized Basilio, dying, with looks of reproach at her. Thewretched girl arose, prayed, wept, called upon her mother, upon death,and there was even a moment when, overcome with terror, if it hadnot been night-time, she would have run straight to the convento,let happen what would.
With the coming of day the sad presentiments and the terrors ofdarkness were partly dissipated. The light inspired hopes in her. Butthe news of the afternoon was terrible, for there was talk of personsshot, so the next night was for the girl frightful. In her desperationshe decided to give herself up as soon as day dawned and then killherself afterwards--anything, rather than enditre such tortures! Butthe dawn brought new hope and she would not go to church or evenleave the house. She was afraid she would yield.
So passed several days in praying and cursing, in calling upon Godand wishing for death. The day gave her a slight respite and shetrusted in some miracle. The reports that came from Manila, althoughthey reached there magnified, said that of the prisoners some hadsecured their liberty, thanks to patrons and influence. Some onehad to be sacrificed--who would it be? Juli shuddered and returnedhome biting her finger-nails. Then came the night with its terrors,which took on double proportions and seemed to be converted intorealities. Juli feared to fall asleep, for her slumbers were acontinuous nightmare. Looks of reproach would flash across her eyelidsjust as soon as they were closed, complaints and laments piercedher ears. She saw her father wandering about hungry, without rest orrepose; she saw Basilio dying in the road, pierced by two bullets,just as she had seen the corpse of that neighbor who had been killedwhile in the charge of the Civil Guard. She saw the bonds that cutinto the flesh, she saw the blood pouring from the mouth, she heardBasilio calling to her, "Save me! Save me! You alone can save me!" Thena burst of laughter would resound and she would turn her eyes to seeher father gazing at her with eyes full of reproach. Juli would wakeup, sit up on her _petate_, and draw her hands across her foreheadto arrange her hair--cold sweat, like the sweat of death, moistened it!
"Mother, mother!" she sobbed.
Meanwhile, they who were so carelessly disposing of people's fates,he who commanded the legal murders, he who violated justice and madeuse of the law to maintain himself by force, slept in peace.
At last a traveler arrived from Manila and reported that allthe prisoners had been set free, all except Basilio, who had noprotector. It was reported in Manila, added the traveler, that theyoung man would be deported to the Carolines, having been forced tosign a petition beforehand, in which he declared that he asked itvoluntarily. [67] The traveler had seen the very steamer that wasgoing to take him away.
This report put an end to all the girl's hesitation. Besides, her mindwas already quite weak from so many nights of watching and horribledreams. Pale and with unsteady eyes, she sought out Sister Bali and,in a voice that was cause for alarm, told her that she was ready,asking her to accompany her. Sister Bali thereupon rejoiced and triedto soothe her, but Juli paid no attention to her, apparently intentonly upon hurrying to the convento. She had decked herself out in herfinest clothes, and even pretended to be quite gay, talking a greatdeal, although in a rather incoherent way.
So they set out. Juli went ahead, becoming impatient that her companionlagged behind. But as they neared the town, her nervous energy begangradually to abate, she fell silent and wavered in her resolution,lessened her pace and soon dropped behind, so that Sister Bali hadto encourage her.
"We'll get there late," she remonstrated.
Juli now followed, pale, with downcast eyes, which she was afraid toraise. She felt that the whole world was staring at her and pointingits finger at her. A vile name whistled in her ears, but still shedisregarded it and continued on her way. Nevertheless, when they camein sight of the convento, she stopped and began to tremble.
"Let's go home, let's go home," she begged, holding her companion back.
Sister Bali had to take her by the arm and half drag her along,reassuring her and telling her about the books of the friars. Shewould not desert her, so there was nothing to fear. Padre Camorrahad other things in mind--Juli was only a poor country girl.
But upon arriving at the door of the convento, Juli firmly refusedto go in, catching hold of the wall.
"No, no," she pleaded in terror. "No, no, no! Have pity!"
"But what a fool--"
Sister Bali pushed her gently along, Juli, pallid and with wildfeatures, offering resistance. The expression of her face said thatshe saw death before her.
"All right, let's go back, if you don't want to!" at length the goodwoman exclaimed in irritation, as she did not believe there was anyreal danger. Padre Camorra, in spite of all his reputation, woulddare do nothing before her.
"Let them carry poor Basilio into exile, let t
hem shoot him on theway, saying that he tried to escape," she added. "When he's dead,then remorse will come. But as for myself, I owe him no favors,so he can't reproach me!"
That was the decisive stroke. In the face of that reproach, with wrathand desperation mingled, like one who rushes to suicide, Juli closedher eyes in order not to see the abyss into which she was hurlingherself and resolutely entered the convento. A sigh that soundedlike the rattle of death escaped from her lips. Sister Bali followed,telling her how to act.
That night comments were mysteriously whispered about certain eventswhich had occurred that afternoon. A girl had leaped from a windowof the convento, falling upon some stones and killing herself. Almostat the same time another woman had rushed out of the convento to runthrough the streets shouting and screaming like a lunatic. The prudenttownsfolk dared not utter any names and many mothers pinched theirdaughters for letting slip expressions that might compromise them.
Later, very much later, at twilight, an old man came from a villageand stood calling at the door of the convento, which was closed andguarded by sacristans. The old man beat the door with his fists andwith his head, while he littered cries stifled and inarticulate, likethose of a dumb person, until he was at length driven away by blows andshoves. Then he made his way to the gobernadorcillo's house, but wastold that the gobernadorcillo was not there, he was at the convento;he went to the Justice of the Peace, but neither was the Justice ofthe Peace at home--he had been summoned to the convento; he went tothe teniente-mayor, but he too was at the convento; he directed hissteps to the barracks, but the lieutenant of the Civil Guard was atthe convento. The old man then returned to his village, weeping like achild. His wails were heard in the middle of the night, causing men tobite their lips and women to clasp their hands, while the dogs slunkfearfully back into the houses with their tails between their legs.
"Ah, God, God!" said a poor woman, lean from fasting, "in Thy presencethere is no rich, no poor, no white, no black--Thou wilt grant usjustice!"
"Yes," rejoined her husband, "just so that God they preach is not apure invention, a fraud! They themselves are the first not to believein Him."
At eight o'clock in the evening it was rumored that more thanseven friars, proceeding from neighboring towns, were assembled inthe convento to hold a conference. On the following day, TandangSelo disappeared forever from the village, carrying with him hishunting-spear.