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.

What were the feelings which agitated the heart of the worthy
magistrate? We can easily divine them. It was no longer to the advocate
that the accused applied; it was to the chief justice of the province
that the convict appealed. Joam Dacosta gave himself over to him
entirely, and did not even ask him to keep the secret.

Judge Ribeiro was at first troubled about this unexpected revelation,
but he soon recovered himself, and scrupulously considered the duties
which the position imposed on him. It was his place to pursue criminals,
and here was one who delivered himself into his hands. This criminal,
it was true, he had defended; he had never doubted but that he had been
unjustly condemned; his joy had been extreme when he saw him escape by
flight from the last penalty; he had even instigated and facilitated his
flight! But what the advocate had done in the past could the magistrate
do in the present?

"Well, yes!" had the judge said, "my conscience tells me not to abandon
this just man. The step he is taking is a fresh proof of his innocence,
a moral proof, even if he brings me others, which may be the most
convincing of all! No! I will not abandon him!"

From this day forward a secret correspondence took place between the
magistrate and Joam Dacosta. Ribeiro at the outset cautioned his client
against compromising himself by any imprudence. He had again to work
up the matter, again to read over the papers, again to look through the
inquiries. He had to find out if any new facts had come to light in
the diamond province referring to so serious a case. Had any of the
accomplices of the crime, of the smugglers who had attacked the convoy,
been arrested since the attempt? Had any confessions or half-confessions
been brought forward? Joam Dacosta had done nothing but protest his
innocence from the very first. But that was not enough, and Judge
Ribeiro was desirous of finding in the case itself the clue to the real
culprit.

Joam Dacosta had accordingly been prudent. He had promised to be so. But
in all his trials it was an immense cons