th
with its front paws, furnished with formidable claws, and now and then
poked its pointed nose into the hole it had dug. I had crossed the
stream, and was advancing cautiously towards the animal, when I saw it
leave off its work, and, bending down its head uneasily, as quick as
lightning it rolled itself up into a ball and glided down the slope.
Just at my feet it stopped, and I only had to stoop down in order to
pick it up. Gringalet, who then appeared at the top of the slope, was
evidently the cause of its sudden flight.

I rejoined my companions, carrying my prisoner, who tried neither to
defend itself nor to escape. Lucien examined with curiosity the scales
which crossed the back of the armadillo, and its pink transparent skin.
I told him that this inoffensive animal, which feeds on insects and
roots, belonged to the order Edentata--mammals in which the system of
teeth is incomplete.

"But," said he, "I have seen pictures in which armadillos are
represented with armor formed of small squares."

"That is another species, which also lives in Mexico," replied
Sumichrast.

When we talked about killing the animal, Lucien opposed the idea with
great vehemence. He wanted either to carry it away alive or to let it
go--both being plans which could not be allowed. Gringalet, however, cut
short the discussion by strangling it, l'Encuerado's carelessness having
left it in his way. The boy, both angry and distressed, was astonished
at the cruelty of his dog, and was going to beat him.

"He has only yielded to instinct," said Sumichrast.

"A fine instinct, truly," replied Lucien, in tears, "to kill a poor
beast that never did him any harm!"

"He has saved us the trouble of killing it. Men, and all carnivorous
animals, can not live except on the condition of sacrificing other
creatures. Didn't you shoot a squirrel yesterday? And you did not refuse
your share of those beautiful birds, the plumage of which so delighted
you."

"Yes, but I did not strangle the squirrel with my teeth. It's a very
different thing."

"For you, very probably; but it was much the same to the squirrel.
However, if there's another chance, you shall lend your gun to
Gringalet."

Lucien smiled through his tears, and his indignation gradually calmed
down. Certainly the result is the same, whether you wring a fowl's neck
or shoot it; yet I could never make up my mind to the former operation.
Lucien, who was endowed with almost feminine sensibilit