out in the daytime.

True seemed to be aware of the narrow escape he had had from the
formidable talons of the ant-eater, for after this encounter he kept
close behind my heels. I hoped that he had received a useful lesson,
and would attack no animal unless at my command, or he might do so some
day when no friend was at hand to come to his rescue.

We had been walking on after this occurrence for some time in silence,
when True pricked up his ears and began to steal forward. I could,
however, see nothing. The undergrowth and masses of sipos were here of
considerable denseness. Still, as he advanced, we followed him.
Presently the forest became a little more open, when we caught sight of
a creature with a long tail and a tawny hide with dark marks. "It is a
jaguar," I whispered to John. "It is watching some animal. In a moment
we shall see it make its spring." It was so intent on some object
before it, that it did not discover our approach. On it went with the
stealthy pace of a cat about to pounce on an unwary bird or mouse. It
did not make the slightest noise, carefully avoiding every branch in its
way. True, after his late adventure with the ant-eater, was less
disposed than usual to seek an encounter, and I was therefore able to
keep him from dashing forward as he otherwise would have done.

"The creature is about to pounce on some deer he sees feeding in the
thicket," whispered John; "or perhaps he espies a tapir, and hopes to
bring it to the ground."

Unconscious of our approach, the savage animal crept on and on, now
putting one foot slowly forward, now the other. Now it stopped, then
advanced more quickly. At length it stopped for a moment, and then made
one rapid bound forward. A cry reached our ears. "That is a human
voice!" exclaimed John; "some unfortunate native caught sleeping." He
fired as he spoke, for we could still see the back of the animal through
the thick underwood. The jaguar bounded up as it received the wound,
and the next moment the tall figure of the recluse appeared, bleeding at
the shoulder, but otherwise apparently uninjured.

"What, my young friends," he exclaimed, "brought you here? You have
saved my life, at all events."

"We chanced to lose our way, and are thankful we came up in time to save
you from that savage brute."

"Chance!" exclaimed the recluse. "It is the very point I was
considering at the moment;" and he showed us a book in his hand. "Your
arrival