"The Case of the Stick" (Portuguese: O caso da vara) is an 1891 short story by Brazilian writer Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis, published first in the Gazeta de Notícias and republished in the book Páginas Recolhidas.
Seeing this, Rita threatens to beat Lucrécia with a stick, the usual punishment, if she does not finish her work.
Feeling sympathy for the small scared black girl Damião decides that if Lucrécia does not finish the work, he will try to protect her, but says nothing.
After the women leave later in the day, Damião becomes increasingly nervous and, certain that if he remains at Rita's house, his father will find him and send him back to the seminary, he decides to try to escape.
She takes a pen and paper and writes a note to João telling him that if he cannot convince the father, they will never see each other again.