"What, does the prudent Basilio possess secrets?"

"I should say so!" replied Tadeo. "Of the most important kind. There
are some enigmas to which he alone has the key: the boy who
disappeared, the nun--"

"Gentlemen, the _pansit lang-lang_ is the soup _par excellence_!" cried
Makaraig. "As you will observe, Sandoval, it is composed of vermicelli,
crabs or shrimps, egg paste, scraps of chicken, and I don't know
what else. As first-fruits, let us offer the bones to Don Custodio,
to see if he will project something with them."

A burst of merry laughter greeted this sally.

"If he should learn--"

"He'd come a-running!" concluded Sandoval. "This is excellent
soup--what is it called?"

"_Pansit lang-lang_, that is, Chinese _pansit_, to distinguish it
from that which is peculiar to this country."

"Bah! That's a hard name to remember. In honor of Don Custodio,
I christen it the _soup project_!"

"Gentlemen," said Makaraig, who had prepared the menu, "there are
three courses yet. Chinese stew made of pork--"

"Which should be dedicated to Padre Irene."

"Get out! Padre Irene doesn't eat pork, unless he turns his nose away,"
whispered a young man from Iloilo to his neighbor.

"Let him turn his nose away!"

"Down with Padre Irene's nose," cried several at once.

"Respect, gentlemen, more respect!" demanded Pecson with comic gravity.

"The third course is a lobster pie--"

"Which should be dedicated to the friars," suggested he of the Visayas.

"For the lobsters' sake," added Sandoval.

"Right, and call it friar pie!"

The whole crowd took this up, repeating in concert, "Friar pie!"

"I protest in the name of one of them," said Isagani.

"And I, in the name of the lobsters," added Tadeo.

"Respect, gentlemen, more respect!" again demanded Pecson with a
full mouth.

"The fourth is stewed _pansit_, which is dedicated--to the government
and the country!"

All turned toward Makaraig, who went on: "Until recently, gentlemen,
the _pansit_ was believed to be Chinese or Japanese, but the
fact is that, being unknown in China or Japan, it would seem to be
Filipino, yet those who prepare it and get the benefit from it are the
Chinese--the same, the very, very same that happens to the government
and to the Philippines: they seem to be Chinese, but whether they
are or not, the Holy Mother has her doctors--all eat and enjoy it,
yet characterize it as disagreeable and loathsome, the same as with
the country, t