THROUGH THE WOODS.
WHEN Manuel and Dolores finish their siesta, it is nearly three
o'clock. Old Juana appears on the veranda with a pitcher of limeade,
made with fresh limes, and Manuel drinks glass after glass. It is very
refreshing, and he begins to feel like moving about, so he orders his
pet donkey to be brought. He says to Dolores:
"I think I will ride through the woods and around the plantation. I
will take my gun, as we may see some rabbits. Please come with me,
Dolores."
The little girl is always ready to oblige her brother, so she sends
for her own donkey, and the children start for the woods, with Ponce
following close behind.
Dear little patient, long-eared donkeys! Just as slow and stupid and
stubborn as other donkeys in other parts of the world. Manuel loves his
Pedro, as he is called. Pedro has been his friend and companion ever
since the boy was big enough to sit up straight.
Pedro is not obliged to work very hard, and is now quite willing to set
off on a gentle trot.
Dolores holds a dainty little parasol over her head, but as they reach
the deep shadow of the woods, she shuts it down; then in some magical
way changes it into a fan, with which she brushes away the mosquitoes.
What beautiful woods these are! Cocoanut, banana, sago, and palmetto
trees grow here, as well as cedar, India-rubber, guava, and many other
tall and stately trees belonging to the tropics. More than five hundred
different kinds of trees are found on the one island of Porto Rico,
every one of them growing over fifteen feet high.
Just think of it, children! Manuel can pick lemons, oranges, bananas,
limes, plantains, peaches, apricots, olives, tamarinds, and--dear me!
I can't tell you how many other fruits, without stepping off the land
owned by his father.
"Listen!" says Dolores to her brother, "don't you hear that grinding,
buzzing noise? It sounds like some one grinding a knife. I wonder what
it can be."
The children make the donkeys stop, and look all around them. No one
is to be seen. Then turning their eyes up into the branches of a tree
close by, they see a strange sight. It is a beetle at least six inches
long. He is very busy sawing off a small branch.
"Oh, I know what that is," says Manuel. "Father has told me all about
him. Some people call him a razor-grinder because he makes a noise
like the grinding of a razor. He is the largest beetle in the world. So
come along, Dolores, I want to shoot some pigeons."
"Aren't you afraid, Manuel, to go any farther into the woods?" whispers
his sister. "I just heard a queer, rustling noise. Perhaps it is a wild
dog. It may spring at us before we can get away."
The children of Porto Rico have more fear of wild dogs than of anything
else. They imagine all kinds of terrible things about them, and
whenever they come to a dark place in the woods, they begin to fear an
attack. The fact is that dogs, as well as cats, often leave their homes
and run wild on account of the good times they can have in the woods.
There are so many mice and birds to be caught that they need never go
hungry, but there is little to fear from them.
That is what Manuel thinks, sensible little fellow that he is, so he
answers:
"Oh, pshaw, Dolores, you never yet saw a wild dog in your life. So come
along; I'll take care of you. You know I have my gun."
Just at this moment Manuel spies a brown object behind a rock. Look!
now a sharp-pointed nose is thrust straight up in the air, and a pair
of bright eyes can be seen.
"That is a dear little agouti. Please don't shoot him. See how shy he
looks; he is too scared to run. Oh, what a beautiful glossy coat he
has!" says Dolores. "I wish we had one to tame for a pet. Don't you,
Manuel?"
At first thought, Manuel was going to shoot the agouti, but he quickly
thinks better of it. Any one would indeed be hard-hearted to wish to
kill such a pretty, timid little creature. The agouti is a cousin of
the hare and the rabbit, but lives in warmer lands than they.
The children ride slowly along. Manuel shoots a couple of pigeons, and
they are about to turn out of the woods when they spy a big hole in the
ground near them. The appearance of the earth shows that it must have
been freshly dug.
"I know what that means," exclaims Manuel, "an armadillo is hiding from
us. He heard us coming and at once burrowed under ground. I don't see
how they can dig so fast. Do you? Now let's make our donkeys rest, and
see if he will come out when all is quiet."
The children get off and tie their donkeys to some trees, while they
themselves sit down at quite a little distance from the hole.
It is not long before Mr. Armadillo appears, reaching his head out from
his shell as he climbs. He does not come very far, however, before
Ponce spies him. The dog begins to bark furiously, and tries to get
away from Manuel, who holds him by his collar. The armadillo flees
back into his hole "as quick as a flash," as the saying is, and does
not make his appearance again, although the children wait quite a while
longer.
What a curious looking animal it is, with its shell of horny plates,
and a white horn on its back through which it blows and makes a loud
noise! When in danger, it draws itself completely within its shell. The
flesh is a great dainty, but the little animal is hard to catch. The
negroes on some of the West Indian islands belonging to England call
the armadillo "hog-in-armour." Not a bad name, is it?
Manuel and Dolores, still mounted on their patient little donkeys,
leave the woods, and come out upon a path leading through their
father's coffee plantation.