Leyba now went to Bayombong to carry out the established programme with the priests.  There he found Governor Perez of Isabela, who had taken with him certain government moneys and employed them to pay salaries of soldiers and other employees.  He insisted on the return of the total amount and threatened to shoot Perez if it was not forthcoming.  The Spaniards of the vicinity subscribed $700 which they themselves badly needed and saved him from being shot.  The priests of the place were then summoned to Leyba’s quarters and were beaten and tortured.  One of them was thrown on the floor and beaten nearly to death, Leyba standing meanwhile with his foot on the unfortunate man’s neck.  Another was given six hundred lashes and countless blows and kicks.  Leyba stood on this man’s neck also.  When the victim’s back ceased to have any feeling, his legs were beaten.  Leyba terminated this period of diversion by kicking Father Diez in the solar plexus and then mocking him as he lay gasping on the floor.  That afternoon one of the priests, so badly injured that he could not rise unaided, was put on a horse and compelled to ride in the hot sun to Solano.

Villa and Leyba had their able imitators, as is shown by the following description of the torturing of Father Ceferino by Major Delfin at Solano, Nueva Vizcaya, on September 27:—­

“They wished to give brave evidence of their hate for the friar before Leyba left, and show him that they were as brave as he when it came to oppressing and torturing the friar.  This tragedy began by Jimenez again asking Father Ceferino for the money.  The priest answered as he had done before.  Then Jimenez started to talk in Tagalog to the commanding officer and surely it was nothing good that he told him, for suddenly Delfin left the bench and darting fire from his eyes, fell in blind fury upon the defenceless priest; what harsh words he uttered in Tagalog while he vented his fury on his victim, striking him with his clenched fist, slapping him and kicking him, I do not know, but the religious man fell at the feet of his furious executioner who, being now the prey of the most stupendous rage, could scarcely get his tongue to stutter and continued to kick the priest, without seeing where he kicked him.  Getting deeper and deeper in the abyss and perhaps not knowing what he was about, this petty chief made straight for a sabre lying on a table to continue his bloody work.  In the meantime the priest had risen to his feet and awaited with resignation new torments which certainly were even worse than the first, for he gave him so many and such hard blows with the sabre that the blade was broken close to the hilt.  This accident so infuriated Delfin that he again threw himself upon the priest, kicking him furiously and striking him repeatedly until he again threw him to the ground, and not yet satisfied, his vengefulness led him to throw himself upon his victim with the fury of a tiger after his prey, beating him on the head with the hilt