onger thronged to
the prison of Manaos to roar out cries of death to the prisoner. On
the contrary, the most forward of them in accusing him of being the
principal author of the crime of Tijuco now averred that he was not
guilty, and demanded his immediate restoration to liberty. Thus it
always is with the mob--from one extreme they run to the other. But the
change was intelligible.

The events which had happened during the last few days--the struggle
between Benito and Torres; the search for the corpse, which had
reappeared under such extraordinary circumstances; the finding of the
"indecipherable" document, if we can so call it; the information it
concealed, the assurance that it contained, or rather the wish that it
contained, the material proof of the guiltlessness of Joam Dacosta; and
the hope that it was written by the real culprit--all these things had
contributed to work the change in public opinion. What the people had
desired and impatiently demanded forty-eight hours before, they now
feared, and that was the arrival of the instructions due from Rio de
Janeiro.

These, however, were not likely to be delayed.

Joam Dacosta had been arrested on the 24th of August, and examined next
day. The judge's report was sent off on the 26th. It was now the 28th.
In three or four days more the minister would have come to a decision
regarding the convict, and it was only too certain that justice would
take its course.

There was no doubt that such would be the case. On the other hand, that
the assurance of Dacosta's innocence would appear from the document,
was not doubted by anybody, neither by his family nor by the fickle
population of Manaos, who excitedly followed the phases of this dramatic
affair.

But, on the other hand, in the eyes of disinterested or indifferent
persons who were not affected by the event, what value could be assigned
to this document? and how could they even declare that it referred to
the crime in the diamond arrayal? It existed, that was undeniable; it
had been found on the corpse of Torres, nothing could be more certain.
It could even be seen, by comparing it with the letter in which Torres
gave the information about Joam Dacosta, that the document was not in
the handwriting of the adventurer. But, as had been suggested by Judge
Jarriquez, why should not the scoundrel have invented it for the sake of
his bargain? And this was less unlikely to be the case, considering
that Torres had declin