Vietnam or Thailand ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Updated: June 8, 2025
Sumichrast stood by, laughing most heartily; but his merriment increased on seeing l'Encuerado's gambols, for never before had such wonderful capers been cut. He sang, strummed on his guitar, and danced often doing all three at the same time. About ten o'clock, Lucien retired to rest. The fatigues of the day, in spite of the noise of the guitar and the songs, soon sent him to sleep.
When I turned round, Sumichrast was approaching l'Encuerado, who, cutlass in hand, was hacking at the serpent, to render it further incapable of mischief. At last the fragments of the black snake, blindly tumbling about, became lost in the thicket, and all was again quiet.
The mountain in front of us, which was too steep to climb, caused us some perplexity. "Let us slant off to the left, over this moist ground, carpeted with turf," said Sumichrast, plunging into the thicket. About midday, just as l'Encuerado was declaring, in a grumbling tone, that we ought to have inclined towards the right, our little troop entered the wood.
"Come! now we've got to the point," murmured Sumichrast. "It is a bargain, if your powder is good," said I. "Will you really give the glass to me?" cried the Indian, his eyes lighting up with joy. "I am always a man of my word," I replied. Torribio hurried on so fast that Lucien was obliged to run in order to keep up with us.
Sumichrast had only a few minutes left us, when we heard a report, and he reappeared carrying a magnificent bird, whose red plumage had a purple metallic lustre. "We have never met with this fine fellow before," said Lucien. "It is the most brilliant of all the American passerines," I replied "the Ampelis pompadora; but its splendid attire lasts only for a very short time.
Suffering as we were, it was no use to think of resuming our journey; so we made a virtue of necessity, and remained stationary until we felt more fit to endure fatigue. In the afternoon, Sumichrast and Lucien complained that they were famished, which was an excellent symptom; so we took our guns, and, following in Indian file, ascended the course of the stream.
Hitherto we had proceeded in a north-easterly direction, skirting the provinces of Puebla and Vera Cruz, but still without leaving the Cordilleras, the numerous valleys and forests of which are still unexplored. According to my calculations, and also those of Sumichrast, we were then abreast with the province of Mexico, and we agreed to move westward, as if going towards its capital.
Sumichrast made his way into the forest, cutting away the creepers with his machete in order to clear a passage. In less than an hour we had crossed five or six glades. Suddenly I noticed that Gringalet had disappeared. I called him, and a distant barking answered me. "Can he have met with a stream?" said Sumichrast.
The chant was ended by a prayer, which Sumichrast and I listened to, standing up, with our heads bared; and it was with earnestness that my friend repeated l'Encuerado's solemn "Amen," expressed in the words, "God is great." Having fed the fire with sufficient wood to keep it up all night, we lay down, side by side, under the hut.
Lucien took possession of it, and the two luminous spots looked to him like two enormous eyes. Suddenly the insect gave a kind of shock to the boy's fingers, who looked at us full of surprise. "The name of the insect," said Sumichrast, "is derived from a Greek word which signifies elastic; and it has just shown you that it well deserves the family name which has been given to it.
Word Of The Day
Others Looking