cer who was staying with papa and began to smoke it.
You should have seen what horrible faces he made."

"Well, what happened to him?" asked Sumichrast.

"The pipe made him sick, and then papa, who knew nothing about his
smoking, gave him some medicine; but l'Encuerado told me that the
medicine was not nearly so nasty as the pipe."

The culprit, who had just joined us, cast down his eyes at this tale
about him, and murmured in a sententious tone of voice, "Pipes are an
invention of the devil."[G]

Followed by my companions, I again drew near to the hut, and the master
came out to bid us welcome. Our hostess placed upon a mat an earthen
dish containing a fowl cooked with rice, and the Indian, his wife, and
his sister-in-law, offered to wait on us. Lucien invited the children to
partake of our repast; but they refused to sit down beside us. Towards
the conclusion of our dinner, one of them brought us half a dozen
bananas, which were most welcome; while we were drinking our coffee, the
little troop made up a game of hide-and-seek. To my great satisfaction,
I saw that, in spite of the long day's journey, Lucien joined in, and
ran and jumped about with as much energy as his play-mates.

At last the children got tired of this game, and, bringing a kid, had a
mock bull-fight. The animal, wonderfully well trained to the sport, ran
after the youngsters, and more than once succeeded in knocking them
down. When Lucien met this fate, Gringalet became furious and sprang
upon the pretty little creature; but the dog's young master got up in a
moment and soon quieted his protector's energy. We had noticed, ever
since we set out, that Gringalet always preferred to follow close to the
boy, and seemed to have taken upon himself the task of watching over his
safety.

Our host told us that he was born and also married in the village of
Tenejapa; but being enlisted for a soldier by force, he deserted and
took up his abode on this plateau. We were the first white men who had
paid him a visit for six years. His fields produced maize, beans, and
tobacco, which his wife and sister-in-law took twice a year to Orizava
to exchange for necessaries for housekeeping. He was as happy as
possible, and was never tired of praising the charms of forest and
plain. But his raptures were not required to convert us to his opinions.

Nightfall was accompanied by cold, to which we were but little
accustomed. The Indians lent us some mats; then we all wrap