aise the corpse of Torres, already lightened by the
commencement of its decomposition and the distension of its cellular
system. The body of the drowned man had in the ordinary course risen to
the surface of the water.

This well-known phenomenon explains the reappearance of the corpse, but
it must be admitted that the arrival of the Santa Ana was a fortunate
coincidence.

By a shout from Manoel, repeated by all his companions, one of the
pirogues was immediately steered for the body, while the diver was at
the same time hauled up to the raft.

Great was Manoel's emotion when Benito, drawn on to the platform,
was laid there in a state of complete inertia, not a single exterior
movement betraying that he still lived.

Was not this a second corpse which the waters of the Amazon had given
up?

As quickly as possible the diving-dress was taken off him.

Benito had entirely lost consciousness beneath the violent shocks of the
gymnotus.

Manoel, distracted, called to him, breathed into him, and endeavored to
recover the heart's pulsation.

"It beats! It beats!" he exclaimed.

Yes! Benito's heart did still beat, and in a few minutes Manoel's
efforts restored him to life.

"The body! the Body!"

Such were the first words, the only ones which escaped from Benito's
lips.

"There it is!" answered Fragoso, pointing to a pirogue then coming up to
the raft with the corpse.

"But what has been the matter, Benito?" asked Manoel. "Has it been the
want of air?"

"No!" said Benito; "a puraque attacked me! But the noise? the
detonation?"

"A cannon shot!" replied Manoel. "It was the cannon shot which brought
the corpse to the surface."

At this moment the pirogue came up to the raft with the body of Torres,
which had been taken on board by the Indians. His sojourn in the water
had not disfigured him very much. He was easily recognizable, and there
was no doubt as to his identity.

Fragoso, kneeling down in the pirogue, had already begun to undo the
clothes of the drowned man, which came away in fragments.

At the moment Torres' right arm, which was now left bare, attracted
his attention. On it there appeared the distinct scar of an old wound
produced by a blow from a knife.

"That scar!" exclaimed Fragoso. "But--that is good! I remember now----"

"What?" demanded Manoel.

"A quarrel! Yes! a quarrel I witnessed in the province of Madeira three
years ago. How could I have forgotten it! This Torres was then a cap