ches sprang at
a point no less than seven to ten feet from the ground, and I could not
make out how the boy managed to reach them. As for l'Encuerado, or
rather the _ape_ that went by that name, I knew that no obstacle could
stop _him_.

I must, however, confess that I felt all my anger melting away when I
saw the skill and coolness of the young acrobat. Certainly, Sumichrast
appealed to my own reminiscences, and offered to lay me a wager that I
had climbed many a poplar without the advantage of such superintendence
as l'Encuerado's. At last the two gymnasts reached the lowest branches,
and I breathed more freely.

"Papa," cried the child, "we climbed right to the top, and there found a
nest and a squirrel's hiding-place."

"Have you suddenly gone mad?" said I, interrupting him and addressing
the Indian.

"Mad!" repeated he, with the most sublime simplicity. "Why?"

"Couldn't you have chosen a tree that was not so tall?"

"Don't you wish Chanito to learn to climb? At all events, the senora
intrusted him to me."

"And so you risk his breaking his bones?"

"I'm not a child," replied the Indian, proudly, standing upright on a
branch.

"Enough of these gymnastics! Come down at once; although God knows how
you are going to manage it."

The words were hardly out of my mouth when Lucien reached the ground,
suspended by a _lasso_ which l'Encuerado had tied under his arms. The
Indian had pulled him up to the lowest branches in the same way.

"You have not acted sensibly," said I to the Indian; "we do not begin to
learn to ride by mounting a wild horse. Lucien doesn't know yet how to
climb high trees."

"Lucien can climb as well as I can," retorted the culprit; "he has never
eaten an orange out of your garden without clambering up to gather it
himself."

"That's something new to me," said I, looking hard at my son, who
blushed. "At any rate, orange-trees are very different in size from
cotton-woods, so you risked killing him."

"No; I kept tight hold of him. You very well know that if Chanito were
likely to come to his death by my fault, I should die first."

"That wouldn't bring the boy to life again. There will be plenty of
dangers in our excursion without seeking them out for mere pleasure. I
want to bring you all back safe and sound to Orizava; therefore, don't
let us have any more of these ascents."

Having uttered this remonstrance, I turned on my heel, for it was no use
trying to have the last word wi