“When we had arrived in front of the building used for headquarters, we faced about in front thereof, and the first thing we saw in one of the windows were the sinister features of Falaris, who with a thundering brow and black look was delighting himself in the contemplation of so many priests surrounded by bayonets and filled with misery.  Any other person but Villa would have melted on seeing such a spectacle, which could but incite compassion.  The two American tourists were also looking on at this horrible scene as if stupefied, but they soon withdrew in order, perhaps, not to look upon such a painful picture.  It was, indeed, heartrending to contemplate therein old gray-haired men who had passed their lives in apostolic work side by side with young men who had just arrived in this ungrateful land, and many sick who rather than men seemed to be marble statues, who had no recourse but to stand in line, without one word of consolation; therein figured some who wore religious garb, others in secular dress limited to a pair of rumpled trousers and a cast-off coat, the lack of this luxurious garment being replaced in some instances by a native shirt.

“For two long hours we were detained in the middle of the street under the rays of a burning sun and to the scandal of the immense crowd which had been gathered together to witness the denouement of the tragedy.  The priests had hardly come into the presence of Villa when Fathers Isidro and Florentino were called out for the purpose of having heaped upon them a flood of insults and affronts.  Father Isidro was ordered by Villa to interview Sr.  Sabas Orros, who, Villa supposed, would wreak his revenge blindly upon him, but he was greatly mistaken, as said gentleman treated the priest with great respect; the tyrant remained talking to Father Florentino in the reception room of the headquarters building, and when it appeared that such talk would come to blows, the elder of the Americans left one of the rooms toward the reception room, and the scene suddenly changing, Villa arose and addressing the priest said:  ’I am pleased to introduce to you an American Brigadier-General, Mr. N.’  The latter returned a cordial greeting in Spanish to the priest who made a courteous acknowledgment; after this exchange of courtesies, Villa resumed his defamatory work, pouring out a string of absurdities and infamous insults upon the friars, going so far as to say in so many words:  ’from the bishop down you are all thieves and depraved’ he added another word which it would be shameful to write down, and so he went on from one abyss to another without regard to reputations or the respect due to venerated persons.

“The American let his disgust be seen while Villa was talking, and the latter understood these protests and ordered the priest to withdraw, the comedy coming to an end by the American shaking hands with the priest and offering him assistance.  Villa would not shake hands with him, as was natural, but the priest was able to see that he was confused when he saw the distinction and courtesy with which an American general had treated a helpless friar.  What a narrow idea did the Americans form of the government of Aguinaldo, represented by men as savage and inhuman as Villa!