y were urubus,
a kind of small vulture, with naked necks and long claws, and black as
crows. In South America they are known as gallinazos, and their voracity
is unparalleled. The body, torn open by their beaks, gave forth the
gases which inflated it, its density increased, it sank down little
by little, and for the last time what remained of Torres disappeared
beneath the waters of the Amazon.

Ten minutes afterward the pirogue arrived at Manaos. Benito and his
companions jumped ashore, and hurried through the streets of the town.
In a few minutes they had reached the dwelling of Judge Jarriuez, and
informed him, through one of his servants, that they wished to see him
immediately.

The judge ordered them to be shown into his study.

There Manoel recounted all that had passed, from the moment when Torres
had been killed until the moment when the case had been found on his
corpse, and taken from his breast-pocket by the foreman.

Although this recital was of a nature to corroborate all that Joam
Dacosta had said on the subject of Torres, and of the bargain which he
had endeavored to make, Judge Jarriquez could not restrain a smile of
incredulity.

"There is the case, sir," said Manoel. "For not a single instant has
it been in our hands, and the man who gives it to you is he who took it
from the body of Torres."

The magistrate took the case and examined it with care, turning it over
and over as though it were made of some precious material. Then he shook
it, and a few coins inside sounded with a metallic ring. Did not, then,
the case contain the document which had been so much sought after--the
document written in the very hand of the true author of the crime of
Tijuco, and which Torres had wished to sell at such an ignoble price
to Joam Dacosta? Was this material proof of the convict's innocence
irrevocably lost?

We can easily imagine the violent agitation which had seized upon the
spectators of this scene. Benito could scarcely utter a word, he felt
his heart ready to burst. "Open it, sir! open the case!" he at last
exclaimed, in a broken voice.

Judge Jarriquez began to unscrew the lid; then, when the cover was
removed, he turned up the case, and from it a few pieces of gold dropped
out and rolled on the table.

"But the paper! the paper!" again gasped Benito, who clutched hold of
the table to save himself from falling.

The magistrate put his fingers into the case and drew out, not without
difficulty,