hopeful progeny. We did not halt again till we reached a rocky mound,
free from grass or shrubs, to which we had hopes the fire would not
approach.

It was now almost daylight, though the blazing dell afforded us ample
light to see our way. Ned laid Pedro down, and we anxiously examined
his wounds. His side and one of his arms, by which the jaguar had
lifted him, were dreadfully torn, but we could discover no marks of the
brute's teeth. He was senseless, but this we hoped was caused more by
terror and pain than from any mortal injury. We neither of us possessed
any knowledge of surgery, so we had only our own sense to point out what
was best to be done; and in truth we had but little time for
consideration, for the flames were already spreading beyond the glen,
and might soon approach our retreat.

"We must wash the poor fellow's hurts, and bind them up to stop the
bleeding," said Ned. "Where's the water, mate?"

We had a little left in our skin bottle, and pouring out some of it on
my handkerchief, I wiped away the blood. My shirt, I remembered, was
fortunately of linen.

"Here," I exclaimed to Gale, "just tear off the sleeves for me; they
will serve for bandages."

With a seaman's promptness he did as I proposed, and we bound up the
places where he was hurt, in a fashion which perhaps might not quite
have satisfied a surgeon, though we performed the operation as well as
time would allow. Our patient had now began to recover, and after
drinking a little water, he sat up and looked around with a gaze of
amazement on the strange scene below us. The fire in the glen was
raging furiously, and sending up dark columns of smoke to the sky.
Animals of all descriptions were rushing forth from the conflagration,
too terrified to take any notice of us. Three or four fierce jaguars,
with terrible howlings, dashed by, followed by several huge serpents,
who crawled, hissing, along over the ground, disturbed from their abodes
among the roots of the trees. A troop of monkeys ran chattering away;
and parrots and birds innumerable flew over our heads, driven from their
long accustomed homes.

"It won't do for us to remain here much longer," observed Ned. "Ask the
young Spaniard how he feels, and whether he thinks he can get along."

In reply Pedro answered me that he was able to walk, though it was not
without difficulty that he lifted himself from the ground. However, as
it was absolutely necessary for us to proc