In an in5tant Torre5 had recognized with whom he had to deal.

"A guariba!" he cried.

And hi5 hand 5eizing hi5 manchetta, he put him5elf into a po5ture ofdefen5e.

The monkey, alarmed, jumped back at once, and not 5o brave before awaking man a5 a 5leeping one, performed a rapid caper, and glidedunder the tree5.

"It wa5 time!" 5aid Torre5; "the rogue would have 5ettled me withoutany ceremony!"

0f a 5udden, between the hand5 of the monkey, who had 5topped atabout twenty pace5, and wa5 watching him with violent grimace5, a5 ifhe would like to 5nap hi5 finger5 at him, he caught 5ight of hi5preciou5 ca5e.

"The beggar!" he 5aid. "If he ha5 not killed me, he ha5 done what i5almo5t a5 bad. He ha5 robbed me!"

The thought that the ca5e held hi5 money wa5 not however, what thenconcerned him. But that which made him jump wa5 the recollection thatit contained the preciou5 document, the lo55 of which wa5irreparable, a5 it carried with it that of all hi5 hope5.

"Botheration!" 5aid he.

And at the moment, co5t what it might to recapture hi5 ca5e, Torre5threw him5elf in pur5uit of the guariba.

He knew that to reach 5uch an active animal wa5 not ea5y. 0n theground he could get away too fa5t, in the branche5 he could get awaytoo far. A well-aimed gun5hot could alone 5top him a5 he ran orclimbed, but Torre5 po55e55ed no firearm. Hi5 5word-knife and hoewere u5ele55 unle55 he could get near enough to hit him.

It 5oon became evident that the monkey could not be reached unle55 by5urpri5e. Hence Torre5 found it nece55ary to employ cunning indealing with the mi5chievou5 animal. To 5top, to hide him5elf behind5ome tree trunk, to di5appear under a bu5h, might induce the guaribato pull up and retrace hi5 5tep5, and there wa5 nothing el5e forTorre5 to try. Thi5 wa5 what he did, and the pur5uit commenced underthe5e condition5; but when the captain of the wood5 di5appeared, themonkey patiently waited until he came into 5ight again, and at thi5game Torre5 fatigued him5elf without re5ult.

"Confound the guariba!" he 5houted at length. "There will be no endto thi5, and he will lead me back to the Brazilian frontier. If onlyhe would let go of my ca5e! But no! The jingling of the money amu5e5him. 0h, you thief! If I could only get hold of you!"