d hold me until
his baying brings the overseers to the spot. Have you never encountered
any of these fiends of dogs?"

"Never," answered George, his heart sinking at the startling news.
"This is the first I have heard of them. Then is it quite impossible to
walk about the estate at night without being pounced upon by a
bloodhound?"

"Oh, dear no," was the reply. "They are so trained that they will not
molest you so long as you keep within the boundaries of the estate; but
they will watch and follow you until you return to your cabin. And, of
course, as there is only a dozen of the dogs in all, you _may_ perchance
get away without encountering one of them. But if you do, your
prospects of escape are still small, for you would be missed in the
morning, the dogs would at once be put upon your track, and a regular
slave-hunt would then begin. A slave-hunt is rare sport, I promise
you--for everybody but the slave."

"Then it seems," remarked George, "that, even in the event of your
getting clear of the estate, you have very little hope of escape, after
all?"

"None," was the reply, "none whatever--unless you happen to possess a
certain secret, the secret of _hiding the scent_, so that the dogs
cannot follow your trail. Then, indeed, you _may_ hope to escape, but
not otherwise. _I_ am fortunate enough to possess this secret, and as
we have been good friends--you and I--I do not mind letting you into
it--provided that if you make one in the hunt to-morrow--they take
slaves to help sometimes--you will aid my escape in any way you can."

"Agreed!" exclaimed George joyously. "In any case I would do that.
Still, the secret is a valuable one, and I should like to be made
acquainted with it."

"You shall, _amigo_," said Pedro. And, placing his hand inside the
bosom of his shirt, he produced a handful of leaves.

"Do you see these?" he asked.

George intimated that he did.

"Take particular notice of them, so that you may recognise them again
with certainty whenever you see them," urged Pedro. "Note their shape,
their exact colour; note their peculiar odour; and, above all, note
their taste; for there are other plants, quite worthless for the
purpose, closely resembling this one; but the _taste_ will at once tell
you when you have found the right one."

George eagerly took a quantity of the leaves in his hand, and carefully
examined them, noting that, though they varied in size, they were all of
exactly the s