But let us continue our interrupted narrative:—­

“The presence of the Americans in Ilagan soon freed us from certain forms of savagery and barbarous intentions on the part of Villa.  There can be no doubt that the tyrant was constantly cudgelling his brains to invent new methods of showing his contempt for the friars; at the unlucky time we write of he conceived the infamous plan of ordering a circular enclosure of cane to be made, put a pig into it—­we trust the reader will pardon the details—­with a bell hung to his neck, blindfolded the priests and compelled them to enter the enclosure with sticks in their hands, and in this ridiculous attitude, obliged them to strike about when the sound of the bell appraised them of the animal’s proximity; it is obvious that the principal purpose of the fiendish Villa was to have the priests lay about them in such a way as to deal each other the blows instead of the pig.  The tyrant also had the idea of making us and the other priests in Ilagan parade the streets of that town dancing and playing the band.  The wish to consummate his plan was not lacking but he was deterred by the presence of the Americans and the arguments of Sr.  Sabas Orros to whom we also owed the signal favour that Villa did not take us to our prisons at Tumauini and Gamut on foot and with our clothing in a bundle at our backs.”

On October 2 a banquet was given in Villa’s honour at Ilagan and the pleasant idea occurred to him to have four of the friars dance at it for his amusement.  The people of the town put their handkerchiefs before their faces to shut out the sight, and some wept.  Father Campo, one of the priests who was obliged to dance, had great ulcers on his legs from the wounds caused by the cords with which he had been bound when he was tortured with water, and was at first unable to raise his feet from the floor; but Villa threatened him with a rattan until he finally did so.  This caused the sores on his legs to burst open so that the bones showed.

On the 3d of October a number of the friars were compelled to get up a band and go out and meet Leyba with music on his arrival.  The people of the towns closed their windows in disgust at the sight.  A great crowd had gathered to receive Leyba, and the priests were compelled to dance in the middle of the street, but this again only caused disgust.  A couple of priests were then beaten in the usual fashion in a private house.  This caused murmuring even among those of the soldiers who were natives of the Cagayan valley.  At the same time two other priests were horribly whipped in the prison.

This has been a long story, but the half has not been told.  Those who escaped torture had their feelings harrowed by the sight of the sufferings of their fellows.  They were constantly and grossly insulted; were often confined in the most unsanitary quarters; given poor and insufficient food and bad water, or none at all; robbed of their clothing; compelled to march long distances under a tropical sun when sick, wounded and suffering; obliged to do servants’ work publicly; forced to make a ridiculous spectacle of themselves in the public streets; ordered to recant, and heaven knows what not!