"And what have you to say?"
"That we wish to stay here in our homes," answered Captain Cecilio.
"But that is impossible. You have been told that it cannot be. This land does not belong to you any more. The law has so decided it."
"If once it was ours, why not still? We have not sold it. We have not given it away; we have not left it. Why, then, is it not our own?"
"That has already been explained. You allowed the time to pass without presenting your claim until it was too late."
"But we did not know, and our old men did not know," cried Cecilio in a loud voice.
"The law takes no account of that."
"It is not just; we do not understand the law."
"Nor we, at all times. But it has been decided, and it cannot be changed. Think now of the outside country that you know, and make up your minds where you wish to go. The government will do what it is best for you."