ear the
Sierra dos Parecis of Brazil.

CHAPTER TWENTY.

MARTIN REFLECTS MUCH, AND FORMS A FIRM RESOLVE--THE INDIAN VILLAGE.

When the mind has been overwhelmed by some sudden and terrible calamity,
it is long ere it again recovers its wonted elasticity. An aching void
seems to exist in the heart, and a dead weight appears to press upon the
brain, so that ordinary objects make but little impression, and the soul
seems to turn inwards and brood drearily upon itself. The spirit of fun
and frolic, that had filled Martin Rattler's heart ever since he landed
in Brazil, was now so thoroughly and rudely crushed, that he felt as if
it were utterly impossible that he should ever smile again.

He had no conception of the strength of his affection for the rough,
hearty sailor, who had until now been the faithful and good-humoured
companion of his wanderings. As Barney had himself said on a former
occasion, his life up till this period had been a pleasant and exciting
dream. But he was now awakened rudely to the terrible reality of his
forlorn position; and the more he thought of it the more hopeless and
terrible it appeared to be.

He knew not in what part of Brazil he was; he was being hurried
apparently deeper into these vast solitudes by savages who were
certainly not friendly, and of whose language he knew not a word; and
worst of all, he was separated perhaps for ever from the friend, on
whom, all unconsciously to himself, he had so long leaned for support in
all their difficulties and dangers. Even though he and Barney should
succeed in escaping from the Indians, he felt--and his heart was
overwhelmed at the thought--that in such a vast country there was not
the shadow of a chance that they should find each other. Under the deep
depression produced by these thoughts Martin wandered on wearily, as if
in a dream--taking no interest in anything that occurred by the way. At
length, after several days fatiguing journey over mountains and plains,
they arrived at the Indian village.

Here the warriors were received with the utmost joy by the wives and
children whom they had left behind, and for a long time Martin was left
almost entirely to do as he pleased. A few days before, his bonds had
been removed, and once or twice he thought of attempting to escape; but
whenever he wandered a little further than usual into the woods, he
found that he was watched and followed by a tall and powerful savage,
whose duty it evi