breakfast. The lights
were put out, for the day had dawned and preparations were made for
desayuno. [9]

The entire party became jolly as they breathed in the light breeze
that had come up. Even the women, so full of presentiments a few
moments ago, were now laughing and joking among themselves.

One young man alone of all the party remained silent. He was the pilot,
an athletic-looking fellow, and interesting on account of his large,
sad eyes and the severe lines of his lips. His long, black hair fell
gracefully over his powerful neck. He wore a shirt of coarse dark
cloth, through which his powerful muscles could be plainly seen as he
manipulated with his strong arms the wide, heavy paddle as if it were
only a pen. This paddle served both to propel and to steer the bancas.

More than once he was embarrassed when he caught Maria Clara looking at
him. Then he would turn his eyes quickly to some other direction and
look far off toward the mountain, or the shore of the lake. The young
maiden pitied him in his solitude and offered him some biscuits. The
pilot looked at her with surprise, but only for a moment. He took
the biscuits, thanked her very briefly and in a voice scarcely audible.

No one else took any notice of him. The happy laughter and jolly
conversation of the young men did not cause him to relax a single
muscle of his face. Not even Sinang, with all her jollity, had any
effect on him.

"Wait a minute!" said Aunt Isabel to the boatman's son, who had made
ready his net and was just about to go up on the baklad to take out
the fish from the little enclosure at the end of the weir. "We must
have everything ready, so that the fish may pass directly from the
water to the pot."

Andeng, the pretty foster sister of Maria Clara, despite her clear
complexion and laughing face, had the reputation of being a good
cook. She prepared the rice, tomatoes, and camias, [10] while some
of the young men tried to aid or bother her, perhaps in order to win
her good will. The other girls were busy cleaning and making ready
the lettuce, cabbage and peas, and cutting up paayap in pieces about
the size of a cigarette.

Finally Andeng announced that the kettle was ready to receive its
guests--the fish.

The fisherman's son went up on top of the rack at the end of the
weir. He took a position at the narrow entrance, over which might have
been written: "All who enter here leave hope behind," if indeed the
unfortunate fish would