ing was now heard, which the dog felt
obliged to respond to in his most doleful notes.

"Oh!" cried Sumichrast, "are those beasts going to join in the concert
made by the grasshoppers and mosquitoes?"

Lucien, who had gone to sleep, started up.

"Where's my parrot?" he cried.

"Sleep quietly, Chanito!" replied the Indian. "It is roasted, and we
shall eat it to-morrow morning at breakfast."

This reply and Lucien's disappointed face much amused us. L'Encuerado's
fault was too much zeal: not knowing that Sumichrast was going to skin
the bird, he had sacrificed it. In order to repair his error, he
promised Lucien hundreds of parrots of every color; so he went to sleep
and dreamed of forests full of birds of the most brilliant plumage.

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

CHAPTER XXVI.

THE PATH THROUGH THE FOREST.--A FORCED MARCH.--THE
BROMELACEAE.--MOSQUITOES.--THE WATER-PLANT.--THE PROMISED LAND.--A BAND
OF MONKEYS.

Gringalet's barking, the yelping of the coyotes, the heat, the song of
the grasshoppers, and the sting of the mosquitoes, all combined to
disturb our rest. About five o'clock the sun rose radiant, and was
greeted by the cardinals, trogons, and parrots. Lucien was aroused by
all these fresh sounds, and his eyes rested for some time on the wall of
verdure which seemed to bar the entrance of the forest. A cloud of
variegated butterflies drew his attention for an instant; but he was
soon absorbed in contemplating the humming-birds with their emerald,
purple, and azure plumage.

L'Encuerado, whose arm was now completely healed, had again taken
possession of the load, and Sumichrast commenced cutting the creepers in
order to open a path. I relieved him every now and then in this hard
work, and Lucien availed himself of the moments when we stopped for
breath to have a cut at the great vegetable screen which nature places
at the entrance of virgin forests, as if to show that there is within it
an unknown world to conquer. Unfortunately, the small height of the boy
rendered his work useless; but he at least evinced a desire to take his
part of the labor. At last the thick wall of vegetable growth was
passed, and we found ourselves in a semi-obscurity, caused by the shade
of gigantic trees.

"Are we now in a virgin forest?" asked Lucien.

"No, for we are only just entering it," I replied.

"But the ground is so bare; there are no more creepers, and the trees
look as if they were arranged in line