In the town of Tiani it was reported that at least, at the very least, the young man was going to be deported and would very probably be murdered on the journey. The timorous and pessimistic were not satisfied with this but even talked about executions and courts-martial—January was a fatal month; in January the Cavite affair had occurred, and they[1] even though curates, had been garroted, so a poor Basilio without protectors or friends—
“I told him so!” sighed the Justice of the Peace, as if he had at some time given advice to Basilio. “I told him so.”
“It was to be expected,” commented Sister Penchang. “He would go into the church and when he saw that the holy water was somewhat dirty he wouldn’t cross himself with it. He talked about germs and disease, abá, it’s the chastisement of God! He deserved it, and he got it! As [[289]]though the holy water could transmit diseases! Quite the contrary, abá!”
She then related how she had cured herself of indigestion by moistening her stomach with holy water, at the same time reciting the Sanctus Deus, and she recommended the remedy to those present when they should suffer from dysentery, or an epidemic occurred, only that then they must pray in Spanish:
Santo Diós,
Santo fuerte,
Santo inmortal,
¡Libranos, Señor, de la peste
Y de todo mal![2]
“It’s an infallible remedy, but you must apply the holy water to the part affected,” she concluded.