Chapter 37 Chapter Seventeen The Last Night

Yaquita came to visit with her daughter, and as usual, the husband and wife stayed together for a few hours.Joam.D'Acosta's heart ached when he saw two people so dear to him.However, as a husband and father, he restrained himself.Instead, he was encouraging the two poor women, telling them that there was still a glimmer of hope, even though he himself felt the end of the rope.The two of them came to visit the prison to cheer up the prisoner.well!They themselves needed more support than he did; but seeing him so steadfast, seeing him face so many trials with his head held high, gave them confidence again.

It was that day too, Joam.D'Acosta gave them many encouraging words.He has such an indomitable will, not only because he has a clear conscience, but also because he believes in God, who has planted a part of his justice in the human heart, Joam.Da Costa will not be punished for the Tijuca case! Besides, he said almost nothing about documents.Whether the document was forged or not, whether it was written by Torres or the real murderer, whether there was any evidence in the document that people were looking for, Joam.D'Acosta doesn't want to rely on this dubious assumption to reverse the case.No!He sees himself as a powerful testimony to win this lawsuit, and he wants to use his hardworking and upright life to defend himself!

So, that night, these sonorous and powerful words deeply moved the mother and daughter to the deepest part of their hearts. When they left, they were more confident, since Joam.The two of them had never been so confident since Da Costa's imprisonment, and the prisoner embraced them with double tenderness for the last time.They seem to have a premonition that this matter will have a result, no matter what the outcome is. Joam.D'Acosta remained motionless for a long time alone.Arms resting on a small table, hands holding head. What was he thinking about?Do you deeply believe in the justice of the world, after the wrong judgment last time, will finally give him justice this time?

Yes!He is looking forward to it!He knew that the petition report written by himself with full confidence, together with the certification report on his identity written by Judge Jarry Gates, should have reached the hands of the President of the Supreme Court of Rio de Janeiro. As you know, this report describes all his experiences during the period from the time he entered the diamond office to the time when the raft stopped at the gate of Manao. Joam.Da Costa recalled his whole life at this time.He went back to the past, when he came to Tijuka alone, alone, where he worked hard, entered the office of the steward at a very young age, and rose through the ranks.He has a bright future and could have sat in a high position!However, disaster struck suddenly: the diamond escort team was robbed, the escort guards were killed, and finally he was suspected because he was the only employee who could reveal the secret of the diamond escort team's departure. Later, he was arrested and imprisoned and appeared in court; After all kinds of efforts, he was finally sentenced to death; in Vera.After spending his final hours in Rika's death-row prisoner's cell, he escaped with superhuman courage; fled toward the northern provinces and reached the Peruvian border, where he was taken in by the proprietor of the Magalaes estate, penniless and dying of starvation. Fugitives!

These past events that ruthlessly ruined his life emerged one after another before the prisoner's eyes!At this time, he was immersed in thinking and reminiscing, and he did not hear a strange noise outside the wall of the old monastery, nor did he hear the vibration of the rope hanging on the iron window grille, and the sound of the steel file filing the iron fence. Get the attention of someone who isn't so engrossed. Joam.D'Acosta heard nothing and went on reminiscing about the years since his youth in Peru.He saw himself working as a boy on the estate again, and then working with the old Portuguese man to revive the property of the Iquitos estate.

well!Why didn't he tell his benefactor everything from the start!He will not doubt himself!This is the only mistake in his life that he should blame himself for!Why did he neither confess where he came from, nor explain his parentage? Especially when Magalaes entrusted his daughter to him, she would never like to see herself the murderer of such a terrible murder! At this time, there was a loud noise outside, which attracted the attention of the prisoners. Joam.Da Costa looked up.He looked out of the window, but with a vacant look, like a man delirious, and presently buried his head in his hands again.His thoughts took him back to Iquitos again.

There, the old manor owner was dying.As he was dying, he hoped that his daughter's future would be secure, and that he would become the sole owner of the manor, which had prospered day by day under the management of his partner.At this time, Joam.Will Da Costa speak?Maybe?But he dare not!He thought back to the happy days he had lived with Yaquita, the birth of his children, all the happiness of his life, only the memory of the events in Tijuca, disturbed by the guilt for keeping this terrible secret from him. happiness. This series of past events in Joam.It reappeared in Da Costa's mind, clearly and vividly.

Now he thought of the marriage of his daughters Mina and Manoel!Could he marry Mina to Manoel under a false name and hide from the young man the secrets of his life?cannot!Therefore, according to the opinion of Judge Ribeiro, he decided to come and ask for a new trial of his case, demanding that the grievances be avenged.He set off with the whole family, but on the way a torres came out, the scoundrel offered a dirty deal, the enraged father refused to use his daughter to preserve his honor and life, then he was accused, then he was arrested ! At this time, the window was suddenly pushed open from the outside.Joam.Dacosta stood up, and the memories of the past disappeared like a shadow.

Benito has jumped into the cell and stood in front of his father.After a while, Manoel also got in through the gap sawed in the iron fence, and appeared in Joam.In front of Da Costa. Joam.Da Costa was about to scream, but Benito had no time for him. Father, he said, the window bars have been sawed!There is a rope hanging straight to the ground!A canoe is waiting for you in the canal, a hundred paces away!Aloro waits there to sail away from Manao, to the other side of the Amazon, where no one will be able to track you down!Father, you must run away now!It was the judge himself who advised us to do so!

It should be done!Manoel added. run away!I!Run away for the second time!Also run away! Joam.With his arms folded and his head held high, D'Acosta backed away slowly, all the way to the other end of the cell. no way!His voice was so firm that both Benito and Manoel froze. The two young men did not expect him to refuse.They never imagined that the obstacle to escape would come from the prisoner himself. Benito walked towards his father, fixed his eyes on him, and took his hands, not to drag him away, but to talk to him and persuade him. Do you mean never, father? no way. Father, Manoel has spoken, and I have the right to call you that too, father, listen to us!The reason why we tell you to flee without delay is because if you stay here you will be guilty of others and yourself!

To stay is to die, father!Benito said again, the execution order may arrive at any time!If you think that the laws of mankind can rehabilitate a cold case, if you think it can clear the name of a person who was sentenced twenty years ago, then you are wrong!There is no hope!Must escape!You escape! Benito grabbed his father violently and dragged him towards the window. Joam.D'Acosta broke away from his son and backed away again.He said in a determined and unshakable tone: run away!This is to embarrass me, and it will also embarrass you with me!This is tantamount to admitting my guilt!Since I voluntarily returned to China to wait for the judge, I should wait for them to make a decision. No matter what decision they make, I will wait! But your arrogance alone is not enough, continued Manoel, and to this day there is no physical evidence of your innocence!The reason we keep telling you to run away is because Judge Jarry Gates himself told us so!Now you have only one chance to escape! Then, I will die!Joam.D'Acosta calmly replied that I would die protesting my decision to impose the death penalty!The first time, hours before the execution, I escaped!right!I was young and had a long life to fight against human injustice!But run away now, continue to live the miserable life of a criminal, hide your name, use all your energy to avoid the police, continue my worry-ridden life for 23 years, let you suffer with me, wait every day It will be a matter of time before someone exposes me, and then I will be extradited from abroad!is this lifeNo!Absolutely not! Father, Benito saw that his father was so stubborn, he was going crazy, and he continued: "Flee!"I want you to escape! He grabbed Joam.Da Costa, trying to pull him to the window. No!No! So you're trying to drive me crazy! child, Joam.cried D'Acosta, let me go!I have been from Vera.I escaped from Rika Prison once, people must think that I should be sentenced to death for escaping!Yes!Others must think so!Now, in honor of your last names, I won't do it! Benito knelt before his father!reach out to him and beg him But this order, father, he repeated, this order is coming today, and there may be a death sentence at any time! Until the order arrives, my determination will not change!It won't change, boy!Guilty Joam.Da Costa may escape!Innocent Joam.Da Costa will not escape! As soon as the words came out, the scene was really heartbreaking.Benito tried desperately to convince his father.Manoel was standing at the window in bewilderment, about to forcefully take the prisoner away, when the door of the cell opened. The chief of police appeared at the door with the warden and some soldiers. The chief of police understood that there had just been a prison escape attempt, but he also immediately understood that the prisoner's attitude was that he did not want to escape!The director didn't say a word, and his face showed deep sympathy.Perhaps, does he, like Judge Jarry Gates, hope that Joam.Da Costa escaped from this prison? But it was too late! The chief of police, holding a piece of paper in his hand, approached the prisoner. First of all, Joam.Da Costa said to the director: Please let me declare to you that the escape is only about me, but I don't want to run! The Chief of Police bowed his head and paused for a moment, then tried in vain to make his voice firmer: Joam.Da Costa, the order has just come here from the Attorney General of Rio de Janeiro. ah!Father!Manoel and Benito screamed simultaneously. This order, Joam.Da Costa crossed his arms and asked: Is this order to execute the sentence? Yes! when? tomorrow! Benito threw himself on his father.Wanting to drag his father out of this cell again, the soldiers had to pull the prisoner out of Benito's arms. Benito and Manoel were then led out at the behest of the chief of police.It was time for this pathetic scene to end, it had gone on for too long. Sir, said the prisoner, may I see Father Passana before the execution tomorrow morning?Would you please inform him? Will inform him. Can I see my family and give my wife and kids one last hug? Can. Thank you, sir, Joam.Dacosta said, now, please call someone to guard this window!lest someone take me from here by force! Having said this, the police chief bowed to him, and withdrew with the warden and the soldiers. The prisoner is left alone in the cell, and now he has only a few hours left.