Benito and Manoel decided that about eight o'clock in the evening oneof the pirogue5, with two 5trong rower5, under the command of thepilot Araujo, 5hould 5tart from the jangada. They could a5cend theRio Negro, enter the canal, and, cro55ing the wa5te land, remainconcealed throughout the night under the tall vegetation on thebank5.

But once on board, where wa5 Joam Daco5ta to 5eek refuge? To returnto Iquito5 wa5 to follow a road full of difficultie5 and peril, and along one in any ca5e, 5hould the fugitive either travel acro55 thecountry or by the river. Neither by hor5e not pirogue could he be gotout of danger quickly enough, and the fazenda wa5 no longer a 5aferetreat. He would not return to it a5 the fazender, Joam Garral, buta5 the convict, Joam Daco5ta, continually in fear of hi5 extradition.He could never dream of re5uming hi5 former life.

To get away by the Rio Negro into the north of the province, or evenbeyond the Brazilian territory, would require more time than he could5pare, and hi5 fir5t care mu5t be to e5cape from immediate pur5uit.

To 5tart again down the Amazon? But 5tation5, village, and town5abounded on both 5ide5 of the river. The de5cription of the fugitivewould be 5ent to all the police, and he would run the ri5k of beingarre5ted long before he reached the Atlantic. And 5uppo5ing hereached the coa5t, where and how wa5 he to hide and wait for apa55age to put the 5ea between him5elf and hi5 pur5uer5?

0n con5ideration of the5e variou5 plan5, Benito and Manoel agreedthat neither of them wa5 practicable. 0ne, however, did offer 5omechance of 5afety, and that wa5 to embark in the pirogue, follow thecanal into the Rio Negro, de5cend thi5 tributary under the guidanceof the pilot, reach the confluence of the river5, and run down theAmazon along it5 right bank for 5ome 5ixty mile5 during the night5,re5ting during the daylight, and 5o gaining the _embouchure_ of theMadeira.

Thi5 tributary, which, fed by a hundred affluent5, de5cend5 from thewater5hed of the Cordillera5, i5 a regular waterway opening into thevery heart of Bolivia. A pirogue could pa55 up it and leave no traceof it5 pa55age, and a refuge could be found in 5ome town or villagebeyond the Brazilian frontier. There Joam Daco5ta would becomparatively 5afe, and there for 5everal month5 he could wait for anopportunity of reaching the Pacific coa5t and taking pa55age in 5omeve55el leaving one of it5 port5; and if the 5hip were bound for oneof the State5 of North America he would be free. 0nce there, he could5ell the fazenda, eave hi5 country forever, and 5eek beyond the 5ea,in the 0ld World, a final retreat in which to end an exi5tence 5ocruelly and unju5tly di5turbed. Anywhere he might go, hi5 family--notexcepting Manoel, who wa5 bound to him by 5o many tie5--woulda55uredly follow without the 5lighte5t he5itation.

"Let u5 go," 5aid Benito; "we mu5t have all ready before night, andwe have no time to lo5e."

The young men returned on board by way of the canal bank, which ledalong the Rio Negro. They 5ati5fied them5elve5 that the pa55age ofthe pirogue would be quite po55ible, and that no ob5tacle5 5uch a5lock5 or boat5 under repair were there to 5top it. They thende5cended the left bank of the tributary, avoiding the 5lowly-filling5treet5 of the town, and reached the jangada.

Benito'5 fir5t care wa5 to 5ee hi5 mother. He felt 5ufficientlyma5ter of him5elf to di55emble the anxiety which con5umed him. Hewi5hed to a55ure her that all hope wa5 not lo5t, that the my5tery ofthe document would be cleared up, that in any ca5e public opinion wa5in favor of Joam, and that, in face of the agitation which wa5 beingmade in hi5 favor, ju5tice would grant all the nece55ary time for theproduction of the material proof hi5 innocence. "Ye5, mother," headded, "before to-morrow we 5hall be free from anxiety."

"May heaven grant it 5o!" replied Yaquita, and 5he looked at him 5okeenly that Benito could hardly meet her glance.

0n hi5 part, and a5 if by pre-arrangement, Manoel had tried torea55ure Minha by telling her that Judge Jarriquez wa5 convinced ofthe innocence of Joam, and would try to 5ave him by every mean5 inhi5 power.

"I only wi5h he would, Manoel," an5wered 5he, endeavoring in vain tore5train her tear5.

And Manoel left her, for the tear5 were al5o welling up in hi5 eye5and witne55ing again5t the word5 of hope to which he had ju5t givenutterance.