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Later, Father Osório told what had happened. Simeão's wound healed. The blow did not inflame his brain. According to Osório, his head resisted everything. Neither dishonour nor blows with clubs changed him. Simeão became very hungry again. He ate chickens like a hungry fox. Marta had already made a gesture of acceptance. That gesture had been obtained when her father seemed to be dying. Now her father was alive. Yet Marta remained bound by that promise. Deeply dejected, she waited to be married to her uncle. Dona Teresa sometimes spoke to her about the marriage. Marta replied, 'Do whatever you want with me.' Then she asked, 'What is there for me to live for?' Those words showed despair, not desire.
Osório also thought about the future wedding night. He feared arguments, tears and regret. He even imagined a shameful separation. But he remembered a claim made by Feliciano. Feliciano said he had left the village at twelve. He also said he had returned chaste and pure. Osório could not confirm that story. Even so, he felt calmer. He thought that long chastity brought ignorance. In his view, that ignorance might prevent conflict. At times, Osório thought of warning Feliciano. He could send him to speak to the window worker. The man had only seen José leave through the window. That clue did not show everything that had happened. In the end, Osório decided to remain silent. He said that honour changed from person to person. He convinced himself that Feliciano would be happy. The narrator ended Osório's account there. He then mocked Osório's great knowledge of husbands from Minho.
Simeão also avoided speaking about his own honour. Earlier, he had suffered in silence because of Genoveva. Now he silently accepted the wound to his head. The administrator advised him to prosecute Zeferino. He said that there were indirect witnesses against him. None of them had seen Zeferino strike the blow. Simeão did not want to make a complaint. He feared that they would finish him off afterwards. The narrator thought that fear prophetic.
Meanwhile, Zeferino grew increasingly bitter. He insulted people and spoke of great violence. He also began to drink like his father. He had a strong thirst for port and gin. Drunkenness gave him some relief. He spent nights with idle men in taverns. There he played esquineta and monte. He gambled old coins with two faces. He had bought those coins during his working years. In ten years, he had saved ten thousand cruzados. Professional gamblers came from Famalicão to Landim. They used marked cards to cheat Zeferino. After his losses, he drank even more. At times, he carried a gun to Prazins. Tagarro of Monte Córdova went with him. Zeferino spoke loudly so that Marta would hear him. Feliciano and Simeão were afraid of him. After sunset, they kept the windows shut.
Meanwhile, news spread through the area. Feliciano really was going to marry his niece. Zeferino then wrote an anonymous letter. The narrator identifies Zeferino as the writer. The letter repeated the worker's account. The worker had seen José jump from the window. However, Zeferino enlarged that story. At the end, he threatened Feliciano. If he married Marta, he would not enjoy her for long. Feliciano showed the letter to his brother Simeão. Both men concluded that Zeferino had written it. The attack on his honour did not trouble Feliciano. He said, 'I know what I am doing.' But the threat to his body frightened him greatly. Feliciano imagined a blow or a shot. He also thought that Zeferino might kill him. Then he spoke to Simeão in secret. He said that Zeferino had to be killed.
Feliciano then remembered his compadre Melro. His name was Joaquim Melro. He was a tavern keeper in Pena and had crossed eyes. People called him Black Soul. Earlier, he had warned Feliciano of a political danger. Melro and Zeferino had quarrelled over stolen money. The money came from the Guimarães mailbag. Melro called Zeferino a thief. He exaggerated by comparing him to a rat. Melro had once been an accomplice in a killing. The crime had happened in his tavern. He had spent three years at the Court of Appeal over that case. He lived with little money, his wife and four children. He often asked Feliciano to lend him money. After the assault, he spoke to Simeão in secret. Melro claimed that Zeferino had struck Simeão. According to him, two men protected Zeferino from behind. But that was Melro's accusation, not proof. He added that Zeferino knew whom he could attack.
Feliciano walked to Pena to see Melro. He said that he wanted to see the Comenda estate. The estate was for sale. He asked his compadre to show it to him. On the way back, they stopped outside Cambado's house. That house was not the Comenda estate. It had three windows and a large yard. Melro stopped and said, 'It is here.' Feliciano put on his monocle and read a notice. The paper was fixed with four tacks. The house would be auctioned on Sunday. The auction would be at ten, after Mass. The highest bidder would get the house. The judicial valuation was five hundred thousand reis. Feliciano moved away quickly so that nobody would see him. He murmured some words which the narrator does not repeat. Melro replied that the house was already certain. He was as sure of the house as of Heaven.
Feliciano then returned to Prazins. Melro spoke to the tavern customers. He said that his compadre was going to buy Comenda. He also said that Feliciano had read Cambado's notice. Perhaps he would buy the house for a godchild. The customers asked if it was for Melro's son. Melro replied, 'Who else would it be for?' He then praised Feliciano greatly. A mason said that Feliciano was very rich. Giving away a house would be easy for him. It would be like paying for a little brandy. Workers were building the new Retorta palace. According to them, the building looked like a monastery. They said Feliciano would live there after the wedding. They also said that Zeferino was furious. Melro said that Zeferino had good reason. He said that Simeão had promised Marta to him. But Simeão was his compadre's brother. So he pretended that he did not want to interfere.
At eight in the evening, the customers left. Melro closed the tavern. He looked to see whether the children were asleep. Then he told his wife, 'The house is ours.' However, Zeferino had to be 'harvested'. That word meant killing him. His wife put her hands to her head. She cried, 'Mercy! May Our Lady help us!' Melro ordered her to make little noise. He placed a finger beside his nose. She called, 'Joaquim, husband of my soul!' She asked him to remember his three years in prison. She also pointed to their four children. She begged her husband not to ruin himself. Melro replied that he did not want to hear her. He gave her a threatening, cross-eyed look. He then took an old carbine from beside the bed. He sat by the hearth and asked for light.
He ordered his wife to hold the oil lamp. Melro began to unload the old gun. He first removed a wad of moss. Then he tipped the shot into his hand. His wife again begged him to be careful. She wiped her eyes with her shirt. Melro whistled the Maria da Fonte anthem. He emptied the powder and took the carbine apart. He also removed the two barrel bands. His wife wept while he sang. The song told the Portuguese to advance without fear. His wife invoked Christ's wounds. She again asked him to remember the children. Melro remained absorbed in the music. He sang about holy liberty. Then he sang, 'Triumph or suffer.' Melro blew into the barrel. He felt that dirt was still blocking the air. He asked for cotton and cleaned the small opening. He used a thick needle for that work.
Melro said that the gun was dirty. He also asked for a little brandy. His wife asked him to go to bed with her. She begged him not to bring disaster on himself again. Melro ordered her to bring the brandy and be quiet. Then he began to whistle the song 'Luisinha'. He soaked the cotton in brandy. With it, he cleaned the barrel several times. He continued until the cotton came out clean and dry. He blew again and the air passed freely. He seemed pleased with the result. He then sang the refrain, 'Now, Luisinha.' He put the carbine together again. He fastened the two barrel bands and the other parts. He tested the gun's hammer several times. He wanted to confirm that the mechanism worked properly. He also tended to the steel and flint. He sharpened the flint with a large knife. His wife continued to call on the Virgin. Melro became angry and sang about the queen. He called her a fine captain.
He ordered his wife to go to the storeroom. A packet of cartridges lay behind the figs. There was also a small gourd of powder. His wife gave him the objects with trembling hands. She asked the Good Jesus and the holy souls for help. Melro gave her a sideways look. Then he growled, 'Enough! Enough!' Melro loaded the gun with powder. He tapped the stock so that the powder would settle. He made two wads from the cartridge paper. He placed one over the powder. He placed the other over the bullet. As he worked, he sang 'Luisinha' again. Then he picked up the gun and took aim. He closed one eye to test the sight.
His wife sat beside three crying children. The youngest kicked his legs in the bed. He cried and reached for his mother. Melro went to drink more brandy. He returned wearing a military cape. The cape came from the Maria da Fonte fighting. He then gave his wife instructions. The kitchen door had to remain open. The garden gate also had to remain open. Melro planned to return through the pinewood. His wife said, 'Go with Our Lady.' Then she knelt before a picture of the Good Jesus. She began to say many Our Fathers in succession.
That February night, there was a thick fog. The sky was black like powdered coal, without a single star. The trees and grass were still. Small animals fled across the wet leaves. Melro trembled and kept his finger on the trigger. A wildcat or an owl frightened him. Even so, he meant to kill a man. He planned to call Zeferino to the window. Then he would shoot him treacherously.
In the darkness, Melro struck the thorns and cursed. The narrator compares that night to the empty universe before creation. A traveller felt the trees and stones with his body. Ironically, the narrator says that the earth was well made. The trees seemed like one of God's patrols against thieves and killers. The narrator says that Mephistopheles protected some of them. In his satire, they had sold their consciences cheaply at elections. Melro passed among pines and oaks like a boar and a wolf. He found his way by the cocks and the dogs. He heard the River Pele, but the high water kept him from using the small bridges. So he went by way of Landim. There, respectable families played sueca with beans.
Melro heard voices in Chasco's tavern. Inside, they were playing monte for money. He thought he heard Zeferino's name. He approached quietly and recognised the mason. Zeferino called for a stake of one quartinho. The banker swept the coin away with the others. Zeferino shouted, 'Do not rob me!' The banker replied that everyone there was an honest man. Zeferino said that he wanted his stake, not honest men. He added that thieves went to Terra Negra. The insult struck former men of the Faísca gang. A fight began with fists, sticks and knives. Tagarro gave the banker a huge punch. The banker fell face first onto the cards. The tavern keeper opened the door, and the crowd rushed outside. One man remained inside, with his hands over his lower belly. He cried that they had killed him. The tavern keeper and Tagarro supported him. The wounded man fell face down on the floor. It was Zeferino. No one knew who had stabbed him. Melro did not join the fight or fire his gun.
At midnight, Melro entered the house through the yard. His wife was still kneeling before Bom Jesus with two daughters. The girls shivered under a torn blanket. Melro sent them to bed and told his wife that Zeferino was dead. He added that he had done nothing to him. His wife clasped her hands and called it a miracle from Bom Jesus. She said that she had prayed for three hours. Melro lamented that he would not get the house and had not brought in the harvest. His wife said that the devil could take the house. They would live in a rented house, and Bom Jesus would help them.
The next day, Melro told Feliciano everything. Feliciano said, 'Well, you get the house, compadre.' 'You get it because you would have killed Zeferino if the others had not killed him first, eh?'