nd it was now draggled,
wet, and worthless. This was a staple joke for Francois. Jeanette came
in for a share of their badinage, as Lucien now remembered that he had
tied her head within a foot of the tree, and of course she would be all
this time without eating a morsel. Moreover, in their hurry, the pack
had been left upon her back; and that was not likely to improve her
temper.

It was near mid-day when they came within sight of her.

"Hilloa!" exclaimed Francois, who first caught a glimpse of her round a
point of timber. "What's going on yonder?"

All three halted, and looked across the plain with astonishment depicted
in their faces; and no wonder, for a sight it was to astonish anybody.
It was Jeanette, to be sure; but Jeanette in most singular attitudes.
Her heels were flying in the air--now her fore-feet, now her hind ones--
not in single flings, but in constant and rapid kicking. Sometimes the
whole set appeared to bounce up at once; and the white canvas of the
tent, which had got loosened, was flapping up and down, as her body rose
and fell.

The boys looked on for a moment, with feelings of curiosity, not
unmingled with fear. "It might be Indians," thought they.

"No," said Basil. "It is wolves--she is attacked by wolves! Let us
hasten to her rescue!"

All three spurred their horses into a gallop, and soon got within a few
hundred yards. They could now see the ground by the mule's feet, which
was covered, not with wolves, but with animals of a far different
species. They were hog-shaped, with small, dark bodies, and long
pointed snouts. They had no tails--only knobs in their place; and their
tapering snouts opened into a pair of long jaws, with white tusks, that
could be seen even in the distance.

"_Javalies_!" cried Lucien, who, although he had never seen the animal,
knew them from description. Javalies they were in fact--the wild-hogs
of Mexico.

All three had pulled up, as soon as they saw the animals were not
wolves. They did not halt long, for Jeanette was in danger. She was
still kicking and squealing like a cat; while the javalies, although
several of them lay stretched behind her heels, were uttering their
shrill grunts, and rushing at her shanks whenever these rested for a
moment upon the earth. There were more than a hundred of them around
her feet. The ground was literally covered with their dark forms,
crowding each other, and springing nimbly about.

Without waiting t