child or a weakling to the earth, It was a
veritable godsend; we caught the beautiful cool water in our hands and
drank our fill.

In less than an hour not a trace of the fire could be seen--nor anything
else. The darkness had become so dense that we feared to move lest we
might perchance step into one of the boiling springs, fall into the jaws
of a jaguar, or set foot on a poisonous snake. So we stayed where we were,
whiles lying on the flooded ground, whiles standing up or walking a few
paces in the rain, which continued to fall until the rising of the sun,
when it ceased as suddenly as it had begun.

The moor had been turned into a smoking swamp, with a blackened forest on
one side and a wall of living green on the other. The wild animals had
vanished.

"Let us go!" said Carmen.

When we reached the trees we took off our clothes a second time, hung them
on a branch, and sat in the sun till they dried.

"I suppose it is no use thinking about breakfast till we get to a house or
the camp, wherever that may be?" I observed, as we resumed our journey.

"Well, I don't know. What do you say about a cup of milk to begin with?"

"There is nothing I should like better--to begin with--but where is the
cow?"

"There!" pointing to a fine tree with oblong leaves.

"That!"

"Yes, that is the _palo de vaca_ (cow-tree), and as you shall presently
see, it will give us a very good breakfast, though we may get nothing
else. But we shall want cups. Ah, there is a calabash-tree! Lend me your
knife a minute. _Gracias!_"

And with that Carmen went to the tree, from which he cut a large
pear-shaped fruit. This, by slicing off the top and scooping out the pulp
he converted into a large bowl. The next thing was to make a gash in the
_palo de vaca_, whereupon there flowed from the wound a thick milky fluid
which we caught in the bowl and drank. The taste was agreeable and the
result satisfactory, for, though a beefsteak would have been more
acceptable, the drink stayed our hunger for the time and helped us on our
way.

The trail was easily found. For a considerable distance it ran between a
double row of magnificent mimosa-trees which met overhead at a height of
fully one hundred and fifty feet, making a glorious canopy of green leaves
and rustling branches. The rain had cooled the air and laid the dust, and
but for the danger we were in (greater than we suspected) and the
necessity we were under of being continually on the alert