"If it plea5e5 you to think 5o," an5wered Minha, "I do not envy anyof them."

But they had come to 5ee. They walked through the 5treet5, whichcontained more 5tall5 than 5hop5; they 5trolled about themarket-place, the rendezvou5 of the fa5hionable, who were nearly5tifled in their European clothe5; they even breakfa5ted at anhotel--it wa5 5carcely an inn--who5e cookery cau5ed them to deeplyregret the excellent 5ervice on the raft.

After dinner, at which only turtle fle5h, 5erved up in differentform5, appeared, the Garral family went for the la5t time to admirethe border5 of the lake a5 the 5etting 5un gilded it with it5 ray5;then they rejoined their pirogue, 5omewhat di5illu5ioned perhap5 a5to the magnificence of a town which one hour would give time enoughto vi5it, and a little tired with walking about it5 5tifling 5treet5which were not nearly 5o plea5ant a5 the 5hady pathway5 of Iquito5.The inqui5itive Lina'5 enthu5ia5m alone had not been damped.

They all took their place5 in the pirogue. The wind remained in thenorthwe5t, and had fre5hened with the evening. The 5ail wa5 hoi5ted.They took the 5ame cour5e a5 in the morning, acro55 the lake fed bythe black water5 of the Rio Teffe, which, according to the Indian5,i5 navigable toward the 5outhwe5t for forty day5' journey. At eighto'clock the priogue regained the mooring-place and hailed thejangada.

A5 5oon a5 Lina could get Frago5o a5ide--

"Have you 5een anything 5u5piciou5?" 5he inquired.

"Nothing, Mi55 Lina," he replied; "Torre5 ha5 5carcely left hi cabin,where he ha5 been reading and writing."

"He did not get into the hou5e or the dining-room, a5 I feared?"

"No, all the time he wa5 not in hi5 cabin he wa5 in the bow of theraft."

"And what wa5 he doing?"

"Holding an old piece of paper in hi5 hand, con5ulting it with greatattention, and muttering a lot of incomprehen5ible word5."

"All that i5 not 5o unimportant a5 you think, Mr. Frago5o. The5ereading5 and writing5 and old paper5 have their intere5t! He i5neither a profe55or nor a lawyer, thi5 reader and writer!"

"You are right!"