driven us out of our place of shelter, and we should
certainly have been destroyed. I first returned thanks to God, and then
to l'Encuerado, who, being close to Lucien, had shielded the boy with
his own body. The child, who fully comprehended the danger, hung round
the Indian's neck.

"I shall tell mamma that you saved my life!" cried he, kissing
l'Encuerado.

The latter would have replied, but, affected by the caresses of his
young favorite, he could only press him in his arms, while two tears
trickled down his dark cheeks.

"His lordship, the wind, is very good to take so much trouble to show us
his power," exclaimed the Indian, addressing the wind, in order to hide
his emotion; "a grand miracle, indeed! to uproot a pine that was going
to die of old age, and to roll it down a mountain-side! Why, I could do
the same if I chose, with the help of my _machete_. Oh yes! blow away!
and knock down another tree on us, and then you'll thoroughly convince
us that the devil is your patron!"

In spite of the serious nature of the occurrence, Gringalet was the only
one among us who could hear this speech without a smile; and even the
dog rubbed up against the orator's legs, as if to show his approval of
all he had said.

The hurricane now subsided; but it was likely enough to redouble its
intensity at night, and reason dictated that we should take advantage of
the calm for moving onward. L'Encuerado resumed his load, and with a
watchful eye led the way up the mountain. I took Lucien by the hand; for
there was a danger that some tree which had been shaken by the storm
might suddenly fall across our path.

The heat, which continued to inconvenience us, rendered walking a very
laborious effort. The lips of our young companion were all cracked, and
he spoke with difficulty. We suffered dreadfully from thirst; but it was
necessary to bear it patiently, and to be very saving with the small
stock of water which still remained in our gourds. Soon we came upon the
spot where, an hour before, the tree had stood, the fall of which had so
nearly crushed us. A widely gaping hole exposed to our view the broken
roots of the colossus, and the earth round them was already dry. We
pushed on with much difficulty, exhausted, out of breath, and half
famished; for, since the night before, we had eaten nothing but some
morsels of maize-cake. Moreover, our eyes were so red and swollen that
we were perfectly disfigured.

"Oh, father, I am so tir