government, which, according to you, is vacillating and weak, should
be strengthened by our confidence, that we may make it see that it is
the custodian of our hopes. Let us remind it by our conduct (should
it ever forget itself, which I do not believe can happen) that we
have faith in its good intentions and that it should be guided by no
other standard than justice and the welfare of all the governed. No,
gentlemen," he went on in a tone more and more declamatory, "we must
not admit at all in this matter the possibility of a consultation with
other more or less hostile entities, as such a supposition would imply
our resignation to the fact. Your conduct up to the present has been
frank, loyal, without vacillation, above suspicion; you have addressed
it simply and directly; the reasons you have presented could not be
more sound; your aim is to lighten the labor of the teachers in the
first years and to facilitate study among the hundreds of students
who fill the college halls and for whom one solitary professor cannot
suffice. If up to the present the petition has not been granted, it
has been for the reason, as I feel sure, that there has been a great
deal of material accumulated, but I predict that the campaign is
won, that the summons of Makaraig is to announce to us the victory,
and tomorrow we shall see our efforts crowned with the applause and
appreciation of the country, and who knows, gentlemen, but that the
government may confer upon you some handsome decoration of merit,
benefactors as you are of the fatherland!"

Enthusiastic applause resounded. All immediately believed in the
triumph, and many in the decoration.

"Let it be remembered, gentlemen," observed Juanito, "that I was one
of the first to propose it."