ghtly pressed between the fingers. They now became
dry and wrinkled. They had also shrunk to less than half their original
size, and changed their colour to a reddish-brown. Another delicate
touch of the oil-feather, and the vanilla was ready for the market.
Nothing remained but to pack them in small cases, which had already been
prepared from the leaf of a species of palm-tree.

In such a way did the lady Isidora and her daughter pass their time; and
before the summer was out they had added largely to the stock of wealth
of our exiles.

Although these two always remained by the house, they were not without
_their_ adventures as well, one of which I shall describe. It occurred
while they were getting in their crop of vanilla. Leona was in the
porch in front, busy among the vanilla-beans. She had a large needle
and a thread of palm-leaf fibre, with which she was stringing the long
pods, while her mother was inside the house packing some that had been
already dried.

Leona rested for a moment, and was looking over the water, when, all at
once, she exclaimed, "Maman--Maman! come out and see! oh! what a
beautiful cat!"

The exclamation caused Dona Isidora to start, and with a feeling of
uneasiness. The cause of her uneasiness was the word "cat." She feared
that what the innocent child had taken for a "beautiful cat" might prove
to be the dreaded jaguar. She ran at once out of the door, and looked
in the direction pointed out by Leona. There, sure enough, on the other
side of the water, was a spotted creature, looking in the distance, very
much like a cat; but Dona Isidora saw at a glance that it was a far
larger animal. Was it the jaguar? It was like one, in its colour and
markings. It was of a yellowish colour, and covered all over with black
spots, which gave it the semblance of the jaguar. Still Dona Isidora
thought that it was not so large as these animals usually are; and this,
to some extent, restored her confidence. When first seen, it was close
down to the water's edge, as if it had come there to drink; and Dona
Isidora was in hopes that, after satisfying its thirst, it would go away
again. What was her consternation to see it make a forward spring, and,
plunging into the water, swim directly for the house!

Terrified, she seized Leona by the hand, and retreated inside. She shut
the door, and bolted it. If it were a jaguar, what protection would
that be? Such a creature could dash itself thro