The sister startled by what her brother related, questioned him closely, as only a woman can question when she wishes to get to the bottom of anything. Having been a pupil of the Augustinian Nuns for a considerable time and preserving in her heart sentiments of gratitude little known among the peoples of the Archipelago, she was much hurt to hear of the plans mapped out by the Katipunan for the brutal destruction of those who had always been so good and kind to her and her brother. And before Patiño could tell all his tale, his sister had bidden him good-bye and gone off in search of the Mother Superior of the College, to whom she immediately told all she knew of the affair. The two women trembling with fear for the safety of the lives of so many hundreds of innocent victims, hurriedly sought the presence of the Rev. Padre Mariano Gil, Augustinian, and parish priest of Tondo. This Rev. Father, realizing the enormity of the Katipunan plot, advised them to send Patiño to him without delay.
Patiño presented himself at the convento and underwent a close examination at the hands of Padre Mariano. At first little progress was made, as Patiño feared both the anger of the authorities and that of his fellow katipuneros, who would doubtless take revenge upon him according to the laws of the society, for his tale-telling. And in spite of the fact that he tried at every turn to avoid telling the naked truth, and to escape here and there by professions of ignorance, he eventually manifested to P. Mariano Gil all he knew of the society, of its plans and of its resources. After a long and tedious conversation, the patriotic Augustinian was gratified with the knowledge of where to lay his hands upon hidden documents etc., which would throw much light upon the purposes of the society of cut-throats. P. Gil immediately set to work to disclose the hidden secrets.
“Without losing a moment,” writes P. Mariano Gil, to a friend who had asked of him the true story of what took place on that memorable occasion, “I sent notice to the Lieut. of the Veterana of this sub-division, D. José Cortés, to whom in the presence of the denouncer, Patiño, I communicated the most necessary data, giving him at the same time the names of all those persons in the printing establishment who were compromised, commencing with the two who signed the receipts, Policarpo Tarla and Braulio Rivera, indicating to him the manner of procedure for the detention of all those complicated.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
... “I decided, confiding in God, to go alone to the printing establishment, at a time when none of the workmen should be present.”
The writer goes on to explain how he made known his mission to D. Ramón Montes and two other Spaniards who, astonished at the news, aided in the search for the documents, stones etc. After a half hour’s search the lithographic stone was discovered, and like a tiger springing upon its prey, the zealous son of St. Augustine pounced upon it, as though he feared that the very roof of the building should fall in upon it and bury it beneath its rubbish out of reach of his hands. A proof was taken from the said stone, of the Katipunero receipts, and P. Gil immediately set off in the direction of the Veterana of Tondo where he met Patiño, who recognized the receipt as authentic, and two hours later the Patriotic Augustinian saw his efforts crowned with the confession of guilt of the delinquents, the two previously named, figuring at the head of the list. Having performed this, P. Gil humbly wended his way back to his parochial dwelling, satisfied to have been an instrument of divine Providence for the unravelling of one of the most bloodthirsty plots ever invented by the perverse mind of embruted mankind.
At midnight was discovered in the locker of Policarpo Tarla, in the same place, a dagger, the regulations of the Katipunan and several documents having connection with the said society, all of which, together with the famous lithographic stone, were handed over by Sr. Montes to the Veterana.
On the following day P. Gil discovered in the house of one of his parishioners a dagger identical to the one mentioned, also several receipts in Tagalog with the key of the symbolic language in which they were printed.
“This”, affirms P. Gil, “is the truth of the discovery.”
There can be little doubt that Patiño was directly inspired more by the thrashing he received than by providence, although it is not possible to deny that the thrashing and the consequent divulging of the secrets of the Katipunan were providential. And as regards to his repentance, I doubt judging from the character of the average indian, whether he really felt repentant till the enormity of the crime to which he was an abettor was brought home to him by P. Mariano Gil. Be that as it may. The ways of Providence are hidden from us and we can seldom see, with our human eyes, more than the actions of the human reason. Yet the truth remains, that whether directly or indirectly inspired by providence it was Patiño’s action which saved Spain “from an unending series of bitter experiences.”