"Being a receiver of stolen goods," grimly.
Diniz thought suddenly of Miriam, and wondered how she would bear this blow. Her only relative and dearly-loved parent torn from her side, to linger in a damp cell. How bitterly he blamed himself for having been the cause of Phenee's capture! If he had not disclosed the secret of Phenee having bought the poignard from Jarima, no one would have suspected him.
"Poor girl! She will regret now having helped a stranger, who, in return, has brought her only grief and desolation," he murmured, sorrowfully.
Miriam passed nearly three days in sad thought, when her solitary mourning was broken by the visit of a thickly-veiled woman, whose low, sweet tones fell like softest music on Miriam's ear.
"Are you alone?" she asked, glancing questioningly round the room.
"Yes. Did you want me?"
"I do, very badly. I remembered only to-day that you once proved a true friend to Diniz Sampayo, and I came to know if you would again aid him?" throwing back her veil, and disclosing a pale, sweet face, stamped by deepest grief.
"Diniz Sampayo! But is he, then, in need of help—in danger?" a sudden fear lighting up her face.
"Yes, he is in prison," sadly.
"You are sure? How can it be possible? What has he done?" in amazed wonder.