“I do not wish to disturb you!” replied the young pilot. “I have come in the first place, to ask you if you want anything from the province of Batangas, whither I am going now; and, in the second place, to give you some bad news.”
Ibarra looked inquiringly at the pilot.
“The daughter of Captain Tiago is ill,” added Elias quietly, “but the illness is not serious.”
“I had already feared it,” responded Ibarra. “Do you know what the illness is?”
“A fever. Now, if you have nothing to order——”
“Thanks, my friend. I wish you a good journey, but before you go, permit me to ask you a question. If it is indiscreet, do not answer me.”
“How were you able to quiet the mob last night?” asked Ibarra, fixing his eyes on him.
“In a very simple way,” replied Elias, with entire frankness. “At the head of it were two brothers whose father died from the effects of a whipping at the hands of the Civil Guard. One day I had the fortune to save them from the same hands into which their father fell, and for this both are under obligations to me. Last night I went to them, and requested them to dissuade the others from their purpose.”
“And those two brothers whose father died by being whipped to death?”