swear to take her for his wife.

"You have made my fortune," he said, "and I shall not die in peace
unless by this union I know that the fortune of my daughter is
assured."

"I can continue her devoted servant, her brother, her protector,
without being her husband," Joam Garral had at first replied. "I owe
you all, Magalhaës. I will never forget it, but the price you would
pay for my endeavors is out of all proportion to what they are
worth."

The old man insisted. Death would not allow him to wait; he demanded
the promise, and it was made to him.

Yaquita was then twenty-two years old, Joam was twenty-six. They
loved each other and they were married some hours before the death of
Magalhaës, who had just strength left to bless their union.

It was under these circumstances that in 1830 Joam Garral became the
new fazender of Iquitos, to the immense satisfaction of all those
who composed the staff of the farm.

The prosperity of the settlement could not do otherwise than grow
when these two minds were thus united.

A year after her marriage Yaquita presented her husband with a son,
and, two years after, a daughter. Benito and Minha, the grandchildren
of the old Portuguese, became worthy of their grandfather, children
worthy of Joam and Yaquita.