"Don't be such a puritan," Juanito Pelaez said to him. "The end
justifies the means! I know the seamstress, Matea, for she has a shop
where a lot of girls work."

"No, gentlemen," declared Isagani, "let's first employ decent
methods. I'll go to Señor Pasta and, if I don't accomplish anything,
then you can do what you wish with the dancing girls and seamstresses."

They had to accept this proposition, agreeing that Isagani should
talk to Señor Pasta that very day, and in the afternoon report to
his associates at the University the result of the interview.





CHAPTER XV

SEÑOR PASTA


Isagani presented himself in the house of the lawyer, one of the
most talented minds in Manila, whom the friars consulted in their
great difficulties. The youth had to wait some time on account of the
numerous clients, but at last his turn came and he entered the office,
or _bufete_, as it is generally called in the Philippines. The lawyer
received him with a slight cough, looking down furtively at his feet,
but he did not rise or offer a seat, as he went on writing. This gave
Isagani an opportunity for observation and careful study of the lawyer,