d the
earth with his axe, and then the creature was more easily "extracted." A
blow on its head from Guapo made all right, and it was afterwards
carried safely to the house, and "roasted in the shell."

That was a great day among the "armadillos."

CHAPTER XXX.

THE OCELOT.

During the whole summer, Don Pablo, Guapo, and Leon, continued
bark-gathering. Every day they went out into the woods, excepting Sunday
of course. That was kept as a day of rest; for, although far from
civilised society, there was not the less necessity for their being
Christians. God dwells in the wilderness as well as in the walled city,
and worship to Him is as pleasing under the shadow of the forest leaves,
as with sounding organ beneath the vaulted dome of the grand cathedral.

During week-days, while the others were abroad, Dona Isidora and the
little Leona were not idle at home; yet their whole time was not taken
up by the mere concerns of the _cuisine_. They had an industry of their
own, and, in fact, one that promised to be almost as profitable in its
results as the bark-gathering. This was neither more nor less than
preparing _vanilla_.

Some days after arriving in the valley, while exploring a wood that lay
at the back of the cultivated ground, Don Pablo discovered that every
tree carried a creeper or parasite of a peculiar kind. It was a small
creeper not unlike ivy, and was covered with flowers of a
greenish-yellow colour, mixed with white. Don Pablo at once recognised
in this parasitical plant one of the many species of lianas that produce
the delicious and perfumed vanilla. It was, in fact, the finest of the
kind--that which, among the French, is called _leq_ vanilla; and, from
the fact that every tree had a number of these parasites, and no other
climbing vines, Don Pablo came to the conclusion that they had been
planted by the missionaries. It is thus that vanilla is usually
cultivated, by being set in slips at the root of some tree which may
afterwards sustain it.

In the course of the summer, these vanilla vines exhibited a different
appearance. Instead of flowers, long bean-like capsules made their
appearance. These capsules or pods were nearly a foot in length, though
not much thicker than a swan's quill. They were a little flattish,
wrinkled, and of a yellow colour, and contained inside, instead of
beans, a pulpy substance, surrounding a vast quantity of small seeds,
like grains of sand. These seeds are the per