A LABORIOUS TASK.--WILD LIME-TREES.--PIGEONS.--THE WEST INDIAN
CHERRY.--THE EARWIG.--SNAKES AND SERPENTS.--FIRST GLANCE AT THE
TERRE-CHAUDE.
"How is your arm now, l'Encuerado?" I asked, finding the Indian up when
I awoke.
"Pretty well, Tatita; but I find I mustn't move it much. If I do, it
feels as if the blackguard water-dog was still holding me."
I again dressed the wound, the Indian continuing to hurl fresh abuse at
the otter. I made him keep quiet, and prepared the coffee. Sumichrast
and Lucien then rose, and we decided to start--the rainy season, which
was approaching, rendering haste necessary.
L'Encuerado, in spite of our remonstrances, insisted on shouldering the
load; but, on raising the burden, he found he was unable, so I
shouldered the load.
At last, after no end of exertion on my part and Sumichrast's--for we
alternately bore it--three leagues were traversed. We then halted at the
foot of a hill, among ebony, mahogany, and oak trees.
L'Encuerado took charge of the camp, while I, with my friend and Lucien,
climbed a neighboring hill. The trees which crowned its summit were
limes--_Tilia sylvestris_--here the type of what bear the same name, and
which are so plentiful in Europe, where they have been so changed by
cultivation that they scarcely appear to belong to the same species as
their brethren in the virgin forests. The wood of the lime is valued by
the Indians for making various odds and ends, which are sold by
thousands in Mexico. In Europe, the bark of this tree is used for
well-ropes, and the charcoal made from its wood is preferred to any
other for the manufacture of gunpowder. Few trees are more useful, and
its beautiful green foliage makes it highly ornamental in a garden.
Our attention was attracted to a familiar noise--the cooing of doves. I
moved gently under the trees, and soon put to flight several fine
specimens, of a dark, ashy-blue color, with a black band across the
tail-feathers, which were of a pearl-gray. I killed a couple of them;
and Sumichrast, who was better placed, knocked down three others. They
were quite sufficient for our dinners. They were the first of this
family that we had killed, and Lucien in vain tried to make out what he
called their relationship.
"They are neither passerines," said he, "nor palmipedes. Climbers, too,
have differently-made feet."
"Your doubts are very natural," interposed my friend; "even
ornithologists are very undecided on this point. Nevertheless they
class pigeons among the gallinaceae, looking upon them as a link between
this order and the passerines."
"Why don't they make an order for them by themselves?"
"Bravo, Master Sunbeam! your idea is an excellent one, but it has been
already proposed; several naturalists reckon an order of _columbidae_.
But you ought to know that pigeons inhabit the whole surface of the
globe, and that they are white, blue, red, green, and brown; and
sometimes all these shades blend together, and add their brilliancy to
the pleasing shape of the bird. The pigeon or dove, which is adopted as
the emblem of mildness and innocence, is readily tamed; its flight is
rather heavy, but lasting; and, in Belgium chiefly, it is used as a
bearer of letters, by conveying the bird to a long distance from its
home, to which its instinct always leads it to return."
Lucien seemed very thoughtful.
"I wish I had known that before," he said; "we might have brought a
pigeon or two with us, and then poor mamma would have had news of us
before now."
Sumichrast, who had taken upon himself the office of head-cook, vacant
owing to l'Encuerado's wound, returned to the bivouac laden with our
game. I skirted the wood in company with Lucien, who was the first to
discover a West Indian cherry-tree--_Malpighia glabra_. The red fleshy
and acid fruit was much to our taste; so the boy climbed the tree in
order to get plenty, rejoicing in the idea of giving his friends an
agreeable surprise. When he had finished, we went to examine a dead
tree. A piece of bark, quickly pulled off, discovered a quantity of
those insects commonly called earwigs.
"Do you notice, papa, those white specks one of the earwigs is covering
with its body?"
"It is a female sitting on her eggs; but look at this!"
"Eight, ten, twelve little ones! How pretty they are! One might well
fancy that they were being led by the big earwig, which keeps turning
round to them. There! now she has stopped, and the little ones are
crawling all round her."
I could hardly get Lucien away from his interesting study; but the
hissing of a snake which I turned out from under a stone soon brought
the boy to me. I caught hold of the reptile, which rolled itself with
some force round my arm. The boy, quite speechless with surprise, looked
anxiously at me.
"Oh father!" exclaimed he in terror, running towards me.
"Don't be alarmed; this reptile has no fangs, and it is so small I can
handle it quite safely."
"But it will hurt you with its sting."
"It has no sting; there is no danger to be feared from its tongue. Here,
you take hold of it."
The boy hesitated at first, but gradually growing bolder, allowed the
snake to wind round his arm. When close by the fire, he held it out to
l'Encuerado, who shrank back; for he fully believed all reptiles to be
venomous. Lucien in vain urged him to handle it.
"I shan't mind touching it," he said, "when you have told me the words
you say to make yourself invulnerable."
"I am no more invulnerable than you are," replied Lucien, smiling. "This
snake is quite harmless, and I should never touch one without taking
papa's advice, even if it exactly resembled this."
"And you didn't repeat any words?"
"No; papa had it in his hands, and it coiled round his arm."
"I understand, then," murmured the Indian; "it is the serpent that is
charmed."
Gringalet, quite as mistrustful as l'Encuerado, ran off directly he saw
the reptile move. I told Lucien to let the snake go, and the Indian
unsheathed his cutlass; but I would not allow him to injure the poor
creature.
Our new cook was perfect master of his art. He supplied us with some
excellent maize broth, roasted pigeons, and then a rice-cake--certainly
rather shapeless, but of a delicious flavor. The cherries completed this
regal bill of fare, and the "calumet of peace" was associated with a cup
of coffee. At nightfall, Sumichrast, avoiding Lucien's questions, went
slyly to rest, an example I was not slow in following--the weight of the
basket having fatigued me more than my pride allowed me to confess.
The next day the rising sun found us already on the road. L'Encuerado's
wound was less painful, and did not prevent his using his gun. Had it
not been for my express prohibition, he would have resumed his burden.
When we reached the summit of the hill, he led us among the trees, and,
commencing a descent, our little party did not stop till we had reached
the bottom of a dark and damp glen, close to a greenish pool. After
utilizing our halt by filling our gourds and killing an armadillo, we
hurried to get away from a spot where the air seemed poisoned with
pestilential miasma. Having again ascended the slope, I advanced through
a grove of firs, encouraging my friend with the load, who was archly
challenged to a race by Lucien.
"That's not at all generous," said I to him; "if Sumichrast did not
carry the basket sometimes, what would become of us?"
"I'm only sorry that I am not strong enough to help you," replied the
boy. "I only tease M. Sumichrast because I know it amuses him, and makes
him forget his burden, then he walks more easily."
"You never were more correct!" responded my friend, "I certainly
fancied you were indulging your own humor without thinking about me."
A fresh ascent quite exhausted us, and Sumichrast vowed that he must
relinquish the basket until the next day. I then took it; but in a very
little time I was compelled to take the same resolution as my friend, so
we settled down to bivouac.
While my companions were engaged in the cooking, I walked a little way
on the plateau. I had not gone above two or three hundred yards before I
called to the others to join me; for the _Terre-Chaude_ was stretched
out at my foot.
Departing day at last cast its mysterious veil over the tracts we were
about to traverse. Just before it became quite dark, a snow-clad corner
of the volcano of Orizava was seen in the distance. I lifted up Lucien,
and, kissing him, pointed it out, thinking on the dear ones who were
behind the mountain, counting the days till we returned. Gringalet
barked, as if claiming a caress for himself, and, guided by the dog, we
reached our bivouac to enjoy a well-deserved repose.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: "The _Terre-Chaude_ was stretched out at my feet."]
[Illustration]