presented themselves, and the old man purchased from them the grove,
paying in exchange some money, jewelry and clothing. A short time
afterward he disappeared, no one knew where.
His sudden disappearance made the people think for a time that he
had been spirited away, but later on a fetid odor was noticeable
near the grove, and some shepherds, upon investigation, found the
body of the old man in a badly decomposed condition hanging from the
limb of a balitî tree. When alive the old man had terrorized many by
his deep and resonant voice, his sunken eyes and his silent laugh,
but now that he was dead, and a suicide at that, the mere mention
of his name gave the town women nightmare. Some of them threw the
jewelry that they had bought from him into the river and burned all
the clothing, and, for a long time after the body had been buried
at the foot of the balitî tree, no one cared to venture near it. All
sort of stories became current about the haunted place.
A shepherd, looking for his flock, said that he had seen lights in the
grove. A party of young men, passing near the place, heard groans and
lamentations. An unfortunate lover, in order to make an impression on
the disdainful object of his affections, promised to spend a night
under the tree and to bring her a branch from its trunk, but on the
next day he was taken ill with a quick fever and died.
Before many months had passed, a youth came to the town one day. He
was apparently a Spanish mestizo, declared himself the son of the
dead stranger, and established himself in that far-off corner of the
world. He began to farm the land and devoted himself especially to
the cultivation of indigo. Don Saturnino was a taciturn young man,
violent and sometimes cruel, but very active and industrious. He
built a wall around his father's grave and, from time to time, went
all alone to visit it. A few years later he married a young girl from
Manila who bore him a son, Rafael, the father of Crisostomo.
Don Rafael, from his earliest youth, was fond of farming. Under his
care, the agriculture which had been started and fostered by his father
was rapidly developed. New inhabitants flocked to the vicinity, and
among them were a great many Chinese. The village grew very fast and
was soon supporting a native priest. After it had become a pueblo,
the native priest died and Father Dámaso took his place.
Still the grave and the adjoining lands were respected. At times,
children, armed with sticks and stones, ventured to wander about,
exploring the surrounding country and gathering guayabas, papays,
lomboy and other native fruits. Then, all of a sudden, while they were
VII. SAN DIEGO AND ITS PEOPLE
Start from the beginning
