“This is the gentleman,” the latter said, motioning to Stephen.
“I have to ask you for your papers?” he said politely.
“I have none, señor,” Stephen replied. “I have just arrived from Peru, having come down by the river Madeira into the Amazon.”
“But how did you pass the frontier without papers?” the official said in an altogether changed manner.
“Simply because there is no frontier line on the Madeira, and so far as I know no Portuguese official or soldier within at least fifteen hundred miles. At any rate, I have never been asked for papers until now.”
“But how is it that you started without papers?” the official said sternly.
“It was a matter that I never even thought of, señor. I had been engaged in a quarrel, and the authorities wanted me to leave. My friends furnished me with money, and I left at an hour’s notice. I have gone through several perils by the way, was captured by Indians, who took all that I possessed, and would certainly have taken the papers had I had them about me. I was nearly killed and eaten, and was only saved by the courage and fidelity of two native guides who accompanied me.”
“Well, señor, this is not a time when strangers can travel about Brazil without papers. You may be an emissary of the usurper Dom Pedro.”
“If I had been,” Stephen said quietly, “I should have come up the coast, and should hardly have gone round by Peru and returned here after a journey that has occupied me some eighteen months. It was only after I arrived at Barra that I learned that King John had left the country, and that his son Dom Pedro had been appointed regent.”
The officer looked doubtful. “Your story may be a true [pg 356]one,” he said. “I shall lay it before the authorities. Until you hear their decision you will remain here in the hotel.”