-it might have been an owl--it was
full as large as one; but yet, from the glance he had had of it, it
appeared to be black or very dark, and he had never heard of owls of
that colour. Moreover, it had not the look nor flight of an owl. Was it
a bird at all? or whatever it was, was it the cause of the blood? This
did not appear likely to Leon, who still had his thoughts bent upon the
snakes.

While he was revolving these questions in his mind, he again turned and
looked toward the foot of the hammock. The sight caused him a thrill of
horror. There was the hideous creature, which, he had just seen, right
over the bleeding foot. It was not perched, but suspended in the air on
its moving wings, with its long snout protruded forward and pressed
against the toe of the sleeper! Its sharp white teeth were visible in
both jaws, and its small vicious eyes glistened under the light of the
fires. The red hair covering its body and large membranous wings added
to the hideousness of its aspect, and a more hideous creature could not
have been conceived. _It was the vampire_,--the blood-sucking
_phyllostoma_!

A short cry escaped from the lips of Leon. It was not a cry of pain, but
the contrary. The sight of the great bat, hideous as the creature was,
relieved him. He had all along been under the painful impression that
some venomous serpent had caused the blood to flow, and now he had no
further fear on that score. He knew that there was no poison in the
wound inflicted by the phyllostoma--only the loss of a little blood; and
this quieted his anxieties at once. He resolved, however, to punish the
intruder; and not caring to rouse the camp by firing, he stole a little
closer, and aimed a blow with the butt of his pistol.

[Illustration: THE VAMPIRE BAT.]

The blow was well aimed, and brought the bat to the ground, but its
shrill screeching awoke everybody, and in a few moments the camp was in
complete confusion. The sight of the blood on the foot of the little
Leona quite terrified Dona Isidora and the rest; but when the cause was
explained, all felt reassured and thankful that the thing was no worse.
The little foot was bound up in a rag; and although, for two or three
days after, it was not without pain, yet no bad effects came of it.

The "blood-sucking" bats do not cause death either to man, or any other
animal, by a single attack. All the blood they can draw out amounts to
only a few ounces, although after their departure, t