layey soil, told what
kind of animal had made the tracks. It was the fierce jaguar--the tiger
(_tigre_) of the Spanish-Americans.

"It's not half an hour since they have been here," continued the Indian.
"_Mira_!" exclaimed he, pointing to a little eddy on the edge of the
stream, "they have been drinking there not ten minutes ago: the water is
yet muddy!"

"Let us get away," suggested the negro, whose black face was now pale
with fear. "I see no use in our remaining here. See! there are many
tracks, and of different sizes, too. Lord bless me! a whole procession
of tigers must have passed here."

"Oh! you are exaggerating," rejoined the Indian, with a sneering laugh.
"Let us count them," he continued, bending down over the foot-prints,
"one--two--three--four: a male, a female, and her two _cachorros_
(cubs). That is all. _Carrambo_! what a sight for a _tigrero_
(tiger-hunter)."

"Ah! indeed!" assented the negro, in a hesitating way.

"Yes," rejoined the other; "but we shan't go after them to-day. We have
more important business on our hands."

"Would it not be better to defer the business you were speaking of till
to-morrow, and now return to the hacienda? However curious I am to see
the wonderful things you promised, still--"

"What!" exclaimed the Indian, interrupting his companion's speech,
"defer that business till another day? Impossible. The opportunity
would not come round for another month, and then we shall be far from
this place. No, no, Clara," continued he, addressing the black by this
_very_ odd cognomen, "no, no; we must about it to-day and at this very
moment. Sit down, then."

Suiting the action to the word, the Indian squatted himself on the
grass; and the negro, willing or unwilling, was forced to follow his
example.

CHAPTER SIX.

THE TIGER-HUNTER.

Notwithstanding the change of attitude, the negro still continued the
victim of his fears. Instead of paying proper attention to what his
companion was saying, his eyes wandered abroad, searching the horizon on
every side of him, as if at every moment he expected to see the jaguars
returning to attack them.

Noticing his uneasiness, the Indian made an attempt to reassure him.

"You have nothing to fear, comrade," said he. "The tigers have the
whole river to drink out of; and it is not likely they will come back
here."

"They may be hungry," rejoined Clara, "and I have heard say that they
prefer a black man, like me, to