292 Wild Beasts 



gentle whinny. Sometimes Gato was chained to one of 

 the buttresses of a tamarind and saw him. Often Said 

 walked in on the stone floor and found him loose, as 

 was customary while his guardian remained at home. 

 At first, when actually confronted, the Arab showed a good 

 deal of uneasiness. But the puma was then only half- 

 grown, and upon being reassured, the horse concluded that 

 it was all right, and paid no further attention to him. So 

 this singular compact of neutrality was begun. On Said's 

 part, it never became anything else. He suffered Gato 

 when a mature and very large animal to walk around 

 him, without any special recognition of his presence, and 

 that was all. On the other hand, the latter respected, or 

 admired, or had some kind of a friendly feeling towards 

 the horse. 



In order that he might not remain in that benighted state 

 in which his forefathers lived among wretched Olmecs, 

 Chichemecs, and Otomies whom the Aztecs captured to 

 sacrifice to their war god, it was deemed proper to instruct 

 him in the use and effects of fire-arms. He approved of 

 cartridges as playthings, and watched them put into the 

 cylinder, but did not think for some time that they were 

 the things that went off and made a noise and flash. 

 When he saw a ball strike, he used to leap at the scar and 

 look for fragments scattered by the shot. Finally, by dint of 

 seeing ammunition exploded, and snuffing empty arms, Gato 

 got some inkling that there was a connection between a 

 pistol he saw charged, and certain effects. Still it is very 

 doubtful whether in his opinion a loaded revolver was 

 dangerous, until experience convinced him that it would 



