sorted
in a dozen sieves with holes of different dimensions. These lots are put
into sacks and forwarded to Rio de Janeiro; but as they are worth many
millions you may imagine they are heavily escorted. A workman chosen by
the superintendent, four cavalrymen from the district regiment, and ten
men on foot, complete the convoy. They first make for Villa Rica, where
the commandant puts his seal on the sacks, and then the convoy continues
its journey to Rio de Janeiro. I should add that, for the sake of
precaution, the start is always kept secret. Well, in 1826, a young
fellow named Dacosta, who was about twenty-two or twenty-three years of
age, and who for some years had been employed at Tijuco in the offices
of the governor-general, devised the following scheme. He leagued
himself with a band of smugglers, and informed them of the date of the
departure of the convoy. The scoundrels took their measures accordingly.
They were numerous and well armed. Close to Villa Rica, during the night
of the 22d of January, the gang suddenly attacked the diamond escort,
who defended themselves bravely, but were all massacred, with the
exception of one man, who, seriously wounded, managed to escape and
bring the news of the horrible deed. The workman was not spared any
more than the soldiers. He fell beneath he blows of the thieves, and was
doubtless dragged away and thrown over some precipice, for his body was
never found."

"And this Dacosta?" asked Joam Garral.

"Well, his crime did not do him much good, for suspicion soon pointed
toward him. He was accused of having got up the affair. In vain he
protested that he was innocent. Thanks to the situation he held, he was
in a position to know the date on which the convoy's departure was to
take place. He alone could have informed the smugglers. He was charged,
arrested, tried, and sentenced to death. Such a sentence required his
execution in twenty-four hours."

"Was the fellow executed?" asked Fragoso.

"No," replied Torres; "they shut him up in the prison at Villa Rica, and
during the night, a few hours only before his execution, whether alone
or helped by others, he managed to escape."

"Has this young man been heard of since?" asked Joam Garral.

"Never," replied Torres. "He probably left Brazil, and now, in some
distant land, lives a cheerful life with the proceeds of the robbery
which he is sure to have realized."

"Perhaps, on the other hand, he died miserably!" answered Jo