Two Civil Guards were walking from one side of the street to the other near the church.
“It is cold,” said one in Tagalog with a Visayan accent. “We aren’t catching any sacristans. There is nobody to clean out the alferez’s hen yard and we ought to catch some sacristan and make him do it. Since that one was killed, they have taken warning. I am getting tired of this.”
“So am I,” replied the other. “Nobody commits any robbery; no one disturbs the peace; but, thank God, they say that Elias is in town. The alferez says that the one who catches him will be free from whippings for three months.”
“Ah! Do you know his identification marks?” asked the Visayan.
“I certainly do! Stature, tall, according to the alferez’s description; ordinary, according to the description of Father Dámaso; color, brunette; eyes, black; nose, regular; mouth, regular; beard, none; hair, black.”
“Camisa, black; pantaloons, black; a wood-cutter——”
“Ah! He will not escape. I think I see him already.”
“I don’t confuse him with anybody else, although you might think so.”
Both soldiers continued their beats.