Torres continued chatting with Fragoso, and the young man then asked,
"What! You were born in Tiruka, the land of diamonds?"
"Yes!" said Torres, "are you from this place, too?"
"No! I'm from a province in the north of Brazil, on the Atlantic coast," Fragoso said.
"Mr. Manoel, you don't know this land of diamonds?" Torres asked.
The young man shook his head, expressing his ignorance.
"And you, Mr. Benito?" Torres asked the young Galar, evidently trying to draw him into the conversation. "Have you never thought of going to see the land of diamonds?"
"Never thought of it." Benito replied bluntly.
"Ah! I'd like to go there and have a look!" said Fragoso, unknowingly bringing up Torres. "I think I'll find some priceless diamonds there!"
"What are you doing with these precious diamonds, Fragoso?" Lina asked.
"I can sell them!"
"Then you will be rich?"
"Very rich!"
"Then, if you had made your fortune three months ago, you probably would have never thought of... this Sibo vine, would you?"
"If I hadn't thought about it," exclaimed Fragoso, "there would be a lovely girl... Well, apparently, it's all Providence!"
"And you know that it was Providence, Fragoso," said Mina, "that it made you marry my little Lina! Diamonds for diamonds, you have nothing to lose!"
"Oh, Miss Mina," said Fragoso gallantly, "I've earned it!"
It appears Torres didn't want to let the subject go, as he added:
"Tijuca does have a lot of windfalls, and many people are confused and at a loss! Haven't you heard of the famous Arbaite diamond, which is worth two trillion reis! It is buried in Brazil. In the deposit, there are two ounces! It is three prisoners - yes! Three prisoners sentenced to life in exile - by chance in the Abite River, ninety miles from Cerro do Freeu found!"
"So, are they rich?" Fragoso asked.
"No, no!" Torres said, "the diamond was handed over to the mine manager. The King of Portugal asked the VI to have it valued and carved. During the grand ceremony, he wore it around his neck, and the three prisoners got Amnesty, for nothing else, would have paid off if they had been more clever."
"Perhaps you are clever?" said Benito Baba.
"Yes . . . me! . . . why not?" said Torres. "Have you ever been to the Land of Diamonds?" This time he asked Joam Galar.
"Never," said Joam, staring at Torres.
"It's a pity," said Torres, "that you should take a trip there sometime. It will be very interesting! In the vastness of the Brazilian Empire, the Land of Diamonds is a tiny piece of land, like a park twelve kilometers in diameter, Due to the nature of the soil, its vegetation and the circular sandy land surrounded by high mountains is very different from the neighboring provinces. But, as I have just heard, it is the richest place in the world, from 1807 to 1817, the annual production of diamonds About 18,000, ah! Whether it is a person who climbs to the top of the mountain to look for diamonds, or a smuggler who smuggles diamonds, he can make a lot of money there! Nowadays, mining diamond mines is not so easy. The government hired The two thousand Negroes who worked the mines had to divert the river to extract the corundum. It was so much easier in the past!"
"Indeed," said Fragoso, "the good times are gone!"
"However, it is still quite easy to obtain diamonds by illegal means, I mean theft. Listen to me, around 1826 - when I was eight years old - there was a tragic incident in Tijuca, which shows that criminals want to When it comes to getting riches, you are bold and unscrupulous! But maybe you are not interested in this..."
"On the contrary, Torres, go on," said Joam, surprisingly calmly.
"Well," Torres went on, "it's a diamond heist, grab a handful of diamonds, and get a million, sometimes two!"
Torres showed an extremely greedy look, and his hands opened and closed subconsciously.
"The way it happened," he said, "is that in Tijuca, as a rule, diamonds are shipped only once a year. The diamonds are first divided into two parts by size using twelve sieves of various sizes. Then, They were sent in bags to Rio de Janeiro. However, since they were worth millions, they were closely escorted. The escort consisted of a clerk chosen by the governor, four cavalrymen and ten porters from the Provincial Legion. They first reached Vila Rica, the commander of the city defense stamped the pocket, and then marched towards Rio de Janeiro. I also forgot that, just in case, the time of each departure was kept secret. However, in 1826, there was a man named Da Costa's staff, at most twenty-two or three years old, had worked under the governor of Tijuca for many years, but secretly planned a conspiracy. He revealed the departure time of the convoy to a group of smugglers. The group was large , the well-armed outlaws were ready and ready for battle. After passing Villa Rica, on the night of January 22, the robbers unexpectedly attacked the convoy soldiers. Although the soldiers carried out a heroic resisted, but all were killed, only one survived with serious injuries, and reported to the government about the situation of this terrible battle. The staff member who was traveling with them was not spared either, maybe he fell into the wrong hands He was dragged to a cliff somewhere and thrown because his body was never found."
"And what about D'Acosta?" asked Joam Galar.
"His crime did him no favors. From all indications he was soon brought under suspicion. He was charged with the plot. He claimed his innocence, however to no avail. His position enabled him to know the escort He was the only one who could disclose it to the criminals. He was prosecuted, arrested, tried, and finally sentenced to death. However, the sentence was to be carried out after twenty-four hours."
"Has the poor wretch been put to death?" asked Fragoso.
"No," said Torres, "he was in the prison at Villa Rica, and at night, just hours before his execution, he escaped, either alone or with the help of his accomplices."
"Has there been no news of him since?" asked Joam Galald.
"Never!" said Torres. "He may have left Brazil, and is probably now enjoying his stolen diamonds in some distant country!"
"Perhaps on the contrary, he lived in poverty!" said Joam.
"May God allow him to find his conscience and repent of his crime!" said Father Passana.
At this time, everyone stood up from the table, dinner was over, and everyone went outside to breathe the fresh night air.The sun had already dipped below the horizon, but there was still an hour before nightfall would fully fall.
"These stories are sad," Fragoso said. "Our engagement dinner started off better."
"It's all your fault, Fragoso," Lina said.
"What, blame me?"
"Yes! You've been babbling on about Diamond Land and those diamonds, and we'll have to listen!"
"That's true!" said Fragoso, "but I didn't expect it to end like this!"
"You are the first offender!"
"It's also the first person to be punished, Miss Lina, because I didn't hear your laughter while eating dessert!"
The whole family went to the bow.Manoel and Benito walked side by side in silence.Yaquita and Mina followed without saying a word, and everyone felt a kind of unresolved sadness, as if they had a premonition of some potential seriousness contained in the story.
Joam lowered his head, lost in deep thought.Torres stood beside him, putting his hands on his shoulders.
"Joam Galar," he said, "may I speak to you a little while?"
Joam Galar looked at Torres.
"Is it here?" he asked.
"No! Talk alone!"
"Come with me!"
The two turned and walked towards the house, entered the house, and closed the door.
It's hard to describe how everyone felt when they saw Joam Gallard and Torres go.What could there be in common between this vagabond and the righteous Iquitos manor?Everyone felt that a terrible misfortune was creeping in, but no one dared to ask.
"Manoel," said Benito, grabbing his friend's arm, "at any rate, when we get to Manao tomorrow, throw this fellow away!"
"Yes! . . . it must be so! . . . " said Manoel.
"If it's because of him... yes! If he brings misfortune to my father... I'll kill him!"
Notes:
Notes: