THE ADVENTURES OF A YOUNG NATURALIST. 47 



"Oh, papa!" he said, "I ache all over; I'm sure I shall 

 never be able to walk." 



" You are quite mistaken," I replied, half supporting him. 

 " You only feel a little tired and stiff ; your limbs will very 

 soon work as freely as ever. Go and warm yourself by the 

 fire, where our kind hostess is preparing coffee." 



The little fellow did as he was told ; but he limped sadly. 



" Do your legs feel like mine ?" he asked of l'Encuerado. 



" No, Chanito ; we did not walk far enough yesterday for 

 that." 



"You can't mean that we haven't walked far? Papa 

 says that we are now seven leagues from Orizava." 



" Yes ; that may seem a great deal to you, and perhaps 

 too much ; that is why I wanted to put you up on the top 

 of my pack. Now, come, let me see where you suffer." 



" All over my limbs, but particularly inside my knees." 



" Wait a minute, and I'll soon cure you." 



L'Encuerado then laid Lucien down in front of the fire, 

 and began to rub him after the Indian method, vigorously 

 shampooing the whole of his body. Next he made him 

 walk and run with the longest strides he could take ; and, 

 after repeating this process, brought him a cup of boiling 

 coffee. Having been revived and strengthened in this way, 

 the lad quite recovered his sprightliness, and soon asked 

 when we were going to start. 



I gave a small present to the old couple who had so kind- 

 ly accommodated us, and our little party began its second 

 day's work ; Gringalet sniffing the breeze, and evidently en- 

 joying the excursion as much as any of the party. 



When the sun rose, the sky was covered with grayish 

 clouds, driven along quickly by a north wind; but the 

 weather was cool, and well adapted to walking. A lime- 

 stone mountain rose right in front of us, the slope of which 

 we had to climb ; but ere we reached the top, we halted at 



