urselves down flat on
the earth, dreading this unknown visitor. When I ventured to rise, it
was some distance away, and yet appeared to be motionless. Rays
incessantly quivering sprang from the centre of it; in the middle the
light was white, but at the edges it assumed first a yellowish, then a
red, and lastly a bluish hue. We were suddenly almost blinded by a flash
of intense brilliancy; a formidable explosion, repeated by the echoes,
burst upon our ears, and all became silence and obscurity.

While we were returning to our bivouac, Lucien and l'Encuerado pressed
us with questions.

"What are meteors?" asked Lucien, eagerly.

"Some scientific men," replied Sumichrast, "look upon them as fragments
of planets wandering in space. Getting entangled in our planetary
system, they yield to the attraction of our globe, and fall on to its
surface in obedience to the law of gravitation."

"But what are they composed of?"

"Generally speaking, of sulphur, chromium, and earth. The phenomenon of
'shooting stars' is connected with that of meteors, and any substance
falling on the surface of the earth receives the name of _aerolite_."

"Do you wish to persuade me that stones rain down from the sky?" cried
l'Encuerado.

"Yes, certainly; and if I am not mistaken, it was in your country that
the largest known aerolite was found, for it weighed no less than fifty
hundred-weights. To-morrow morning we will search for the one we have
seen, which must have dropped at the end of the valley."

"Are these stones luminous?" rejoined the Indian.

"No; but they take fire, owing to their rapid flight."

"And whence did the meteor come which passed so close to us?"

"Either from the moon or the stars, or perhaps from the sun."

L'Encuerado half-closed his eyes, and burst out laughing at what he
considered a joke. He laughed, indeed, so heartily, that we could not
help joining him.

"Now what do you imagine the sun and moon really are?" asked Lucien.

"God's lanterns," replied the Indian, gravely.

Our young companion was well accustomed to the artless ignorance of his
friend, but still he always endeavored to contend against it; so he set
to work to teach him something about our planetary system. The
dimensions which he attributed to the heavenly bodies seemed to afford
great amusement to the Indian. At last, just when the young orator
fancied he had convinced his disciple, the latter embraced him,
exclaiming:

"What an amusing