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Minha is a convict's daughter." "Minha Dacosta or Minha Garral, what matters it to me?" exclaimed Manoel, who could keep silent no longer. "Manoel!" murmured Minha. And she would certainly have fallen had not Lina's arm supported her. "Mother, if you do not wish to kill her," said Manoel, "call me your son!" "My son! my child!"
A letter from him, addressed to Judge Ribeiro, acquainted the chief justice with the secret of the existence of Joam Dacosta, with the name under which he was concealed, with the place where he lived with his family, and at the same time with his formal intention of delivering himself up to justice, and taking steps to procure the revision of the proceedings, which would either result in his rehabilitation or in the execution of the iniquitous judgment delivered at Villa Rica.
They could ascend the Rio Negro, enter the canal, and, crossing the waste land, remain concealed throughout the night under the tall vegetation on the banks. But once on board, where was Joam Dacosta to seek refuge? To return to Iquitos was to follow a road full of difficulties and peril, and a long one in any case, should the fugitive either travel across the country or by the river.
It was only too certain that for the authorities at Rio Janeiro the undeciphered document would have no value whatever, that it would be a dead letter, that the first verdict which declared Joam Dacosta the perpetrator of the crime at Tijuco would not be set aside, and that, as in such cases no commutation of the sentence was possible, the order for his execution would inevitably be received.
As to his idea of hurrying off in search of the band to which Torres had belonged, he did not think it had been worth much, and as to the name of Ortega, he did not even know its value. Gallant Fragoso! Whether he wished it or no, he had none the less saved Joam Dacosta! And herein what a strange succession of different events all tending to the same end.
Joam Dacosta reflected for a minute as if hesitating to resume the order of his thoughts, and then answered as follows: "Up to the present, sir, I have only given you moral presumptions of my innocence grounded on the dignity, propriety, and honesty of the whole of my life. I should have thought that such proofs were those most worthy of being brought forward in matters of justice."
Did the adventurer hesitate to speak? Did he suspect that Joam Garral would only reply to his demands by a scornful silence? Yes! Probably so. So Torres did not question him. At the outset of the conversation he took the affirmative, and assumed the part of an accuser. "Joam," he said, "your name is not Garral. Your name is Dacosta!"
There could be no difficulty about this, and in the center of the crowd of the entire population of Manaos, Joam Dacosta, accompanied by all his family, beheld himself conducted like a conquerer to the magistrate's residence.
In any case, the situation of Joam Dacosta was most hazardous. If the document were not deciphered, it would be just the same as if it did not exist; and if the secret of the cryptogram were not miraculously divined or revealed before the end of the three days, the supreme sentence would inevitably be suffered by the doomed man of Tijuco. And this miracle a man attempted to perform!
"You are not mistaken, Joam Dacosta, but I ought to tell you that the information is anonymous." "It matters little, for I know that it could only come from a scoundrel called Torres." "And what right have you to speak in such a way of this informer?" "A scoundrel! Yes, sir!" replied Joam quickly.
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