But, Sire, the cleansing work is but begun. A joyful paean swells within my breast, And I must mouth it, else this heart will burst! _(Sings)_ We'll smite the grafters; smite them hip and thigh; Our motto shall be ever, "Do or die." We've got 'em on the run, And with every rising sun, We'll oil the new machine; Its blade we'll sharpen keen. Revenge shall fill the goblet to the brim, And "Pleasure saturnine" shall be our hymn. _Francos, applauding:_ 'Twere well, sweet Quezox! Thou in happy tone Hast voiced a noble sentiment in rhyme. But lurking in my mem'ry it doth seem That I recall in part those words so apt. _(Francos and Quezox embrace and retire.)_ [Illustration] * * * * * SIR WINDBAG SEEKS ADVICE OF COUNT LUIE _Scene: A room at No. ... A. Mabini._ Dramatis Personae _Sir Windbag_ ... _A high official._ _Count Luie_ ..... _Another windbag._ SIR WINDBAG, _(to Count Luie):_ "Oh that mine enemy would write a book." A wise man in the past hath shrewdly said, Knowing full well that when one's thoughts are paged They like foul spirits menace peace of mind. Alas! 'tis so, when tongue shall like a bird Take wing, soaring aloft, and as the wind Fly aimless over mountain, hill and dale, Until tired nature doth demand repose, Why did I Roosevelt as a pattern take And boast his doctrines as the wisdom's fount From which I drank as a disciple might Who worships blindly at his idol's shrine? And now these varlets point with taunting grin At what my demigod hath ordered here, And oh, ye sages, what shall I reply? For now his work I purpose to undo. When I with eloquence did picture draw Of tyranny which from above did flow, And with convincing tongue did loud proclaim That pow'r should ever from below take root; I little dreamed that subtle minds would carp And inconsistency against me charge For earnest effort which eventuates In placing pow'r within the crafty hands Of those who long have under Spanish rule Imbibed the time clad notion that the few Who by the accident of happy birth, May make a gold mine of the hapless poor. They voice in cutting words that I who late Have cast my lot in these downtrodden Isles Should study well conditions e'er I speak As cock-sure as a teacher to his class.