A YOUNG NATURALIST. 95 



his young favourite, he could only press him in his arms, whilst 

 two tears trickled down his dark cheeks. 



" His lordship, the wind, is very good to take so much trouble 

 to show us his power," exclaimed the Indian, addressing the 

 ■wind, in order to hide his emotion ; " a grand miracle, indeed ! 

 to uproot a pine that was going to die of old age, and to roll it 

 down a mountain-side ! Why, I could do the same if I chose, 

 with the help of my machete. Oh, yes ! blow away ! and knock 

 down another tree on us, and then you '11 thoroughly convince 

 us that the devil is your patron ! " 



In spite of the serious nature of the occurrence, Gringalet was 

 the only one amongst us who could hear this speech without a 

 smile ; and even the dog rubbed up against the orator's legs, as 

 if to show his approval of all he had said. 



The hurricane now subsided ; but it was likely enough to re- 

 double its intensity at night, and reason dictated that we should 

 take advantage of the calm for moving onwards. L'Encuerado 

 resumed his load, and, with a watchful eye, led the way up the 

 mountain. I took Lucien by the hand ; for there was a danger 

 that some tree which had been shaken by the storm might sud- 

 denly fall across our path. 



The heat, which continued to inconvenience us, rendered walk- 

 ing a very laborious effort. The lips of our young companion 

 were all cracked, and he spoke with difficulty. "We suffered 

 dreadfully from thirst ; but it was necessary to bear it patiently, 

 and to be very saving with the small stock of water which still 

 remained in our gourds. Soon we came upon the spot where, 

 an hour before, the tree had stood, the fall of which had so nearly 

 crushed us. A widely gaping hole exposed to our view the 

 broken roots of the colossus, and the earth round them was 

 already dry. We pushed on with much difficulty, exhausted, 

 out of breath, and half famished ; for, since the night before, we 

 had eaten nothing but some morsels of maize-cake. Moreover, 

 our eyes were so red and swollen that we were perfectly disfigured. 



" father ! I am so tired," said Lucien to me. 



" So we all are, my poor boy ; but we must pluck up our 

 spirits again, and keep on walking, for our lives depend on it." 



