replied Pecson, again breaking out into a laugh, as though he were
dealing with an insignificant matter, he cited names and dates,
and promised documents that would prove how justice was dispensed.

"But, on what ground, tell me this, on what ground can they refuse
permission for what plainly appears to be extremely useful and
necessary?" asked Sandoval.

Pecson shrugged his shoulders. "It's that it endangers the integrity
of the fatherland," he replied in the tone of a notary reading an
allegation.

"That's pretty good! What has the integrity of the fatherland to do
with the rules of syntax?"

"The Holy Mother Church has learned doctors--what do I know? Perhaps
it is feared that we may come to understand the laws so that we can
obey them. What will become of the Philippines on the day when we
understand one another?"

Sandoval did not relish the dialectic and jesting turn of the
conversation; along that path could rise no speech worth the
while. "Don't make a joke of things!" he exclaimed. "This is a
serious matter."

"The Lord deliver me from joking when there are friars concerned!"

"But, on what do you base--"

"On the fact that, the hours for the classes having to come at