78 | THE ADVENTURES OF 



ing to his own fancy, and to give a sharp rejoinder to the 

 imaginary provocations which, as he considered, were offer- 

 ed to him. Sometimes, even, he laid the blame on inani- 

 mate things, and then his conversations with them were 

 most amusing. The old hunter had no doubt contracted 

 this habit at a time when, living alone in the woods and 

 feeling the need of talking, he conversed with himself, hav- 

 ing no one else to address. However this might be, he 

 kept up conversation with either a leaf or a bird in perfect- 

 ly artless sincerity. 



For four hours we proceeded through the forest, feeling 

 almost overcome with the heat. Pines and oaks appeared, 

 one after another, in almost monotonous regularity. Grad- 

 ually the ground began to slope, and the altered pace we 

 had to adopt both rested us and also increased the speed 

 of our march. At length we emerged into a valley. The 

 vegetation was now of an altered character, the ceibas, lig- 

 num-vitoe trees, and creepers were here and there to be 

 seen. 



"Halt !" I cried out. 



I soon got rid of my travelling gear, an example my 

 companions were not slow in following. L'Encuerado and 

 Lucien immediately set to work to find some dry branches, 

 while Sumichrast and I began to cut down the grass over a 

 space of several square yards. 



" Have we finished our day's journey, then ?" asked Lu- 

 cien. 



" Yes," I replied ; " don't you feel tired ?" 

 " Not very ; I could easily go farther. Have we walked 

 very far?" ' 



" About four leagues." 



" And are we really going to rest after a trifle like that ? 

 I always thought travellers went on walking until night." 

 " Nonsense !" said I, taking hold of his ear. " What an 



