128 CENTRAL AMERICA. 



there was only a single hut about half a mile 

 off, and no other for many miles, I stopped 

 them, and asked them where they came from, 

 and who sent them. They replied they came 

 from the said rancho, and that their aunt had 

 sent them for water. Passing on, and think- 

 ing how negligent it was to send such mere 

 infants through such a wild forest, where 

 even a wild cuyote or a tiger-cat might have 

 destroyed them, I determined to go to the 

 hut and acquaint their father with it, for I 

 knew, as a woodsman, he would be aware of 

 the danger, which the aunt was not, and I 

 had a regard for the man ; but scarcely had 

 I made up my mind when my horse came to * 

 a sudden stop, as he always did on viewing a 

 stag or any large game. I looked towards 

 the spot where his ears were pointed to, but 

 was certain, from his low snorting and hard 

 breathing, it was not a stag ; but it turned 

 out to be a very large puma-lion laying upon 

 a great branch some twelve feet from the 

 ground, that actually spread over the path 

 these two children had passed by. My horse 

 was so steady that I almost used to believe 

 that he held his breath when he heard the 

 click of the rifle-lock, and the leoKi was 

 knocked off the branch, but where he was 



