ges me to go there."

"Fate?"

"Yes; on my way here, I met the alferez. He insisted upon accompanying
me. I thought about you, and knew that he would recognize you, and, in
order to get rid of him, I told him that I was going to that town. Now
I will have to remain there all day to-morrow, for the man whom I am
going to see will not look for me till to-morrow afternoon."

"I am obliged to you for your thoughtfulness, but you might have
simply told him to accompany you," replied Elias with naturalness.

"How's that? And what about you?"

"He would never have recognized me. The only time that he ever saw me,
I don't believe that he thought to take down a description of me."

"I am in hard luck!" sighed Ibarra, thinking of Maria Clara. "What
have you to say to me?"

Elias looked around him. They were far from the shore. The sun
had already sunk below the horizon, and, as the twilight in these
latitudes is very short, the darkness was falling over the earth,
and the disk of the full moon was already shining.

"Senor," replied Elias, in a grave voice, "I am the spokesman of many
unfortunate people."

"Unfortunate people. What do you mean?"

In a few words, Elias referred to the conversation which he had had
with the chief of the tulisanes, but omitted saying anything about the
doubts which the chief entertained, or the threats. Ibarra listened
attentively, and, when Elias concluded his story, a long silence
reigned. Ibarra was the first to break the spell.

"So that they desire----?"

"Radical reforms in the armed forces, in the religious matters,
and in the administration of justice. That is to say, they ask for
paternal care on the part of the Government."

"Reforms? In what sense?"

"For example: more respect for human dignity; more security for the
individual; less power in the hands of the forces already armed;
fewer privileges for that body which easily abuses them."

"Elias," replied the young man, "I don't know who you are, but
I believe that you are not an ordinary man. You think and work
differently from the others. You will understand me if I say to
you that, even if it is true that the present state of affairs is
defective, there will be a worse state if there is a change. I could
arrange to get the assistance of my friends in Madrid, by paying
them. I could speak to the Governor General, but all of that would
accomplish nothing. He has not enough power to introduce reforms,
nor would I ever t