3IO 



THE ADVENTURES OF 



the Indian fired at him, and horse and man rolled upon the 

 ground. 



The fool had mistaken us for horse-stealers ; and the Indian, 

 after soundly thrashing him, at my entreaty let him off. 



When night came, we were at the foot of the mountains ; so 

 all we had to do was to join the main road from Vera Cruz to 

 Mexico. Our horses were now set at liberty, after having been 

 overwhelmed with compliments and polite speeches by I'Encue- 

 rado. The brave animals at first appeared undecided which way 

 to go, and remained without moving, keeping their noses to the 



wind. At last one of them neighed, and darted off, when the 

 rest followed at the top of their speed. 



We were now scarcely twelve leagues from Orizava, and almost 

 painfully impatient to reach it. Woods, mountains, valleys were 

 crossed with a kind of feverish haste, and the approach of night 

 alone forced us to bivouac. 



At about three o'clock in the morning, Lucien began to reproach 

 us for our laziness. 



Woodcutters now passed, who saluted me by name, and one 

 guided us for more than a league, astonished at I'Encuerado's tales. 



