The Inhabitants of the PhilippinesSawyer, Frederic H.
History
The Inhabitants of the Philippines
Sawyer, Frederic H.
Ethnology -- Philippines; Philippines -- Social life and customs
Meanwhile, a new coxswain had been found for the launch, and as the
old patron had left his vessel illegally, there was ground for his
arrest on that score, so orders were given to the new patron and
to the engine-driver to give him into custody if he came to claim
his kit. Next time the launch arrived in Manila, sure enough the
old patron appeared to fetch his belongings, and was taken to the
calaboose of the captain of the port. The resident engineer called on
that official, and, as a result of their conversation, the prisoner
was put on board the launch to be conveyed to Cavite.
With all the stoicism of the Malay, he sat quite still and silent;
his impassive features betrayed no sign of anxiety or remorse.
But if the principal actor in this bloody tragedy could thus compose
his mind, it was not so with others who knew more or less what had
happened, but whose dread and hatred of the law and its myrmidons
had kept their tongues quiet.
When the launch approached the Varadero near enough for the prisoner
to be recognised, an unusual commotion occurred amongst the swarm of
native workmen. A mysterious magnetism, an inexplicable vibration,
pervaded the crowd. Unfelt by the senses, it acted on the mind, and
seemed simultaneously to convey to each individual an identical idea.
The patron was a prisoner, therefore his crime was known; no good
could be done by keeping silent. Before this nobody knew anything
about the disappearance of the two men. Now it leaked out, but only in
confidence to Gustav Brown, whom they trusted. The native divers had
seen the bodies when at their work on the foundations, and had moved
them farther off out of their way. Men working at the jetties had seen
them when they floated, but had looked in another direction. In fact,
the corpses had been recognised, and the crime was known to scores
of native and Chinese workmen, but no word or hint ever reached the
foreman or the engineer till the culprit was arrested.
Now there were sufficient details to reconstitute the tragic scene.
The amour of the brothers with the San Roque girl was known, and also
the well-founded jealousy of the patron, who at first endeavoured
to obtain the engine-driver's discharge by the means already
mentioned. This not succeeding, he determined to kill both of them,
and without showing a sign of the deadly hatred that possessed him,
calmly awaited his opportunity.
On the Monday night, 7th June, after the incident of the safety-valve,
the launch was moored alongside the Varadero jetty, and the two
brothers lay fast asleep on the flat top of the cabin skylight,
each wrapped in his blanket.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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