"There is nothing to do but to fight until we perish," said Saguanaldo. "One should not die for a cause unless there is good cause for the sacrifice. Do you find that the people rally to you?" "No," said the insurgent bitterly. "They sympathize and see the danger, but it seems they have not the interest that dares to risk all and fight." "Even the men you can command are not disciplined or drilled or properly equipped." "No. The Americans have the equipment I had collected." "Nor would the various tribes be likely to cling together," suggested the woman. "This cursed race feeling! The only way the tribes will stay together is when they war with each other; then they are together in battling each other." There was dogged bitterness in Saguanaldo's words. "I do not see how you can win by fighting. What does a grinning skull care for vengeance? But there is a way in which you may win, General Saguanaldo." "How," asked the general, eagerly. "By yielding. It is often the surest way of winning. You have an unexpected ally." "Who can it be?" "None other than the Pope at Rome." "The Pope!" exclaimed both men in a breath. "Yes. The Pope understands that the Spanish friars are at the bottom of the long trouble in the Philippines and is glad of the war that will give him an excuse for removing them. That will be a victory for him; and, as he has already managed to get possession of the churches, it means a victory for the church as well. If you can get the friendship of America, so that the country will treat you justly, it will also be a victory for the Filipino people." "And I am to lose all that I have struggled for?" protested Saguanaldo. "And I to lose the organization which I have built up through the years?" added the Bishop. "Better to lose these things alone than to lose both them and your lives as well," suggested Mrs. Rizal. "If a common soldier might be permitted to speak"--faltered Hilario Agonoy. "Say what you wish," suggested the insurgent general. "We are all equal in our love for the cause." "I prefer to fight even though I know we must lose. There is some satisfaction in punishing those who have treated us so unjustly, and every blow we strike will cause them to have the greater respect for the Filipino people in the future. If we could punish that Jesuit"-- "And Bishop Lonzello," added Aglipay. "To my mind there is nothing left us to do but fight," added General Saguanaldo, visibly pleased. "We in the interior can conduct a guerrilla warfare that will cause the enemy to respect us, and make the new masters more inclined to do us justice. I trust, Señora Rizal, you will not desert us if we take this action."