wns
fall into this pass. It is convenient for him, because he is in the track
of merchants going either north or south."

No stay was made on the top of the pass, for the wind was strong and
piercing. There were snow-covered peaks on either hand, and so they
hurried onwards, although they had already done a long morning's march.
Five miles farther they halted in a wood, and although they had already
made a descent of some thousand feet they were glad to light a fire. On
the following day they halted early at a solitary hut standing at the
junction of two roads.

"Bravo!" the muleteer said as the door opened and a man came out at the
sound of the mules' feet, "here is Pita himself. I thought we should find
him, for, since the war began, trade has gone off greatly, and he was
likely to be out of employment. Well met, Pita; I was in hopes that I
should find you here, for the senor has need of the services of a bold
fellow like yourself."

"Enter, senor," the Indian said gravely, lifting his sombrero, for he was
dressed in Peruvian fashion. "It is long since I have seen you, Gomez."

"Yes, a full year," the muleteer replied; "it was at Cuzco, and you were
just starting with a party of traders."

The hut contained little furniture, but there was a pile of skins, the
proceeds of the Indian's hunting since his return from his last
expedition. He took off three or four of them, threw them on the ground,
and motioned Stephen to take a seat while he busied himself in preparing a
meal. Nothing was said of business until this was served. When it was
finished the Indian rolled three cigars, and when these were lighted, and
three cups of excellent coffee made, Pita said:

"Now, senor, in what way can I serve you?"

"I want to go down the Amazon to the coast."

"It is a long journey, long and difficult; I have never been so far. The
farthest point that I have reached has been Barra, where the Madeira falls
into the Solimoes."

"That is the Amazon," Gomez explained. "It is called the Maranon here in
Peru, but from the frontier it is known as the Solimoes."

"As far as the frontier," Pita went on, "there are no great difficulties,
and there are many towns on the banks; beyond that to Barra there are but
one or two villages. The Mozon begins at Llata, some two hundred miles
north of this. The road is a good one, for we pass through Pasco and
Huanuco; there you can take boat, which will carry you as far as the
frontier, and be