his clothing. How often was he tempted to throw himself
under the feet of the horses that flashed by, drawing carriages shining
with silver and varnish, thus to end his misery at once! Fortunately,
he saw Capitan Tiago, accompanied by Aunt Isabel. He had known them
since the days in San Diego, and in his joy believed that in them he
saw almost fellow-townsfolk. He followed the carriage until he lost
sight of it, and then made inquiries for the house. As it was the
very day that Maria Clara entered the nunnery and Capitan Tiago was
accordingly depressed, he was admitted as a servant, without pay,
but instead with leave to study, if he so wished, in San Juan de
Letran. [15]

Dirty, poorly dressed, with only a pair of clogs for footwear, at
the end of several months' stay in Manila, he entered the first year
of Latin. On seeing his clothes, his classmates drew away from him,
and the professor, a handsome Dominican, never asked him a question,
but frowned every time he looked at him. In the eight months that
the class continued, the only words that passed between them were
his name read from the roll and the daily _adsum_ with which the
student responded. With what bitterness he left the class each
day, and, guessing the reason for the treatment accorded him, what
tears sprang into his eyes and what complaints were stifled in his
heart! How he had wept and sobbed over the grave of his mother,
relating to her his hidden sorrows, humiliations, and affronts,
when at the approach of Christmas Capitan Tiago had taken him back
to San Diego! Yet he memorized the lessons without omitting a comma,
although he understood scarcely any part of them. But at length he
became resigned, noticing that among the three or four hundred in his
class only about forty merited the honor of being questioned, because
they attracted the professor's attention by their appearance, some
prank, comicality, or other cause. The greater part of the students
congratulated themselves that they thus escaped the work of thinking
and understanding the subject. "One goes to college, not to learn
and study, but to gain credit for the course, so if the book can be
memorized, what more can be asked--the year is thus gained." [16]

Basilio passed the examinations by answering the solitary question
asked him, like a machine, without stopping or breathing, and in the
amusement of the examiners won the passing certificate. His nine
companions--they were examined in ba