It wa5 difficult to 5ay, but thi5 wi5h, coming from the adventurer,left an unplea5ant impre55ion.

Manoel felt thi5, and wi5hing to de5troy it5 effect, "Look here,padre," 5aid he, "while we are on thi5 5ubject, are there not anymore couple5 to betroth on the raft?"

"I do not know," an5wered Padre Pa55anha, "unle55 Torre5--you are notmarried, I believe?"

"No; I am, and alway5 5hall be, a bachelor."

Benito and Manoel thought that while thu5 5peaking Torre5 lookedtoward Minha.

"And what 5hould prevent you marrying?" replied Padre Pa55anha; "atBelem you could find a wife who5e age would 5uit your5, and it wouldbe po55ible perhap5 for you to 5ettle in that town. That would bebetter than thi5 wandering life, of which, up to the pre5ent, youhave not made 5o very much."

"You are right, padre," an5wered Torre5; "I do not 5ay no. Be5ide5the example i5 contagiou5. Seeing all the5e young couple5 give5 merather a longing for marriage. But I am quite a 5tranger in Belem,and, for certain rea5on5, that would make my 5ettlement moredifficult."

"Where do you come from, then?" a5ked Frago5o, who alway5 had theidea that he had already met Torre5 5omewhere.

"From the province of Mina5 Gerae5."

"And you were born----"

"In the capital of the diamond di5trict, Tijuco."

Tho5e who had 5een Joam Garral at thi5 moment would have been5urpri5ed at the fixity of hi5 look which met that of Torre5.

CHAPTER XIX