THE WOMAN OF IT.
When news of the death of Aglipay reached her, near Manila, Hilario Agonoy was awakened to sufficient interest to plan something for herself. She straightway thought that if she could appear before Judge Daft and plead against the Jesuit, even going so far as to sacrifice herself by telling the whole story of Ambrosia Lonzello, she might change the attitude of the United States and thus save the day for the insurrectionists.
Within a few days, therefore, Hilario Agonoy disappeared. Ambrosia Lonzello again appeared before her mother at the grass hut—her mother, who has mourned the mysterious disappearance of Ambrosia—and made herself known—telling the terrible story without concealment. The mother was stricken with horror, and convinced her daughter that she was in no way culpable. Woman’s garments were again donned and Ambrosia Lonzello prepared to appear, with her mother’s consent, before Governor Daft to tell her story.
It was somewhat discouraging to Ambrosia to find the Governor’s headquarters in the convento, and to be compelled to again visit the scene of her agony and ruin. But she nerved herself for the ordeal. It was her fortune to be admitted to Judge Daft’s office, to find the Jesuit with him. To her it was a surprise and shock. But perhaps it was as well. Had he been there, had he seen her before she reached the governor, she might have been locked up again, both to safeguard himself and satisfy anew his lust. And, after the first shock of it had passed, the sight of her despoiler revived all the strength within her into anger and hatred, rendering her doubly powerful. Judge Daft kindly asked:
“What can I do for you, my child?”
“Hear me,” replied the girl, trembling from the intensity of her feeling. “I come to ask for justice. That man (pointing to the Jesuit) has wronged me. I came to the church to confess, and he by force took me to the convento, where he locked and kept me all night, using me as I can not tell, and making me, who trusted him as a man of God, an outcast by his devil-deeds. I come to call justice and God’s vengeance upon him. But this is not all. He it is who persuaded drunken soldiers to bury Bishop Aglipay alive—alive, mind you; and as the poor man stifled in the sand, this fiend who poses as a representative of God, mocked him by saying the burial service over him. I come to call God’s vengeance on him, and to ask for justice, from you toward this enemy of mankind.”
The girl was half hysterical, speaking in loud, impassioned tones. Judge Daft sought to quiet her.
“Be seated, my dear young lady,” he said. “These are grave charges you make, and I shall look into them. But be calm, I fear in your excitement you are exaggerating.”
“Exaggerating! I could not if I had a thousand tongues, all eloquent, tell half the wrongs I feel. I could not, even though educated as you are and as he is, reveal a tenth of what I have suffered at his hands. I beg of you, for humanity’s sake, for the sake of your daughter, if you have one, hear me and give me vengeance.”
She fell on her knees before Judge Daft, who gently lifted her and sat her in the chair. The Jesuit stood smiling and serene. The girl, scarce knowing what she did, arose and screamed: