TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 r . OP CALIF. LJBHARY. I.OS
 
 COCKING H18 HEAD HE CALLED, -LUCY, LUCY^OO-O-D GIRL, GOO-D 
 
 GIRL!'" 
 
 Page 3S.
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS 
 IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 BY 
 
 MARY H. WADE 
 
 Author of "The Little Cousin Series," "Light-Bringers," 
 "Pilgrims of Today," etc. 
 
 WITH A FRONTISPIECE IN COLOR AND TWENTY-FOUR 
 ILLUSTRATIONS FROM PHOTOGRAPHS 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY 
 
 PUBLISHERS
 
 Copyright, 1918, by 
 FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY 
 
 All righto reserved, including that of translation 
 into foreign languages
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 PART I 
 THE WONDERS OF BRAZIL 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I GREAT NEWS 3 
 
 II THE FIRST LANDING 8 
 
 III INTO THE BAY OF ALL SAINTS . . . .15 
 
 IV THE NEW HOME ...... 23 
 
 V GETTING ACQUAINTED 32 
 
 VI SIGHTSEEING 36 
 
 VII AMONG THE COFFEE FIELDS .... 42 
 
 VIII BACK TO Rio . . . . . . .54 
 
 IX SURPRISES . . . . 59 
 
 X THE EASTER FESTIVAL . . . . . 65 
 
 XI THE SURPRISE PARTY . . . , . . 69 
 
 PART II 
 
 ARGENTINA AND ITS PAMPAS 
 
 I PEEPS AT URUGUAY . - . . : . . . 83 
 
 II NEW SIGHTS . 92 
 
 III OFF TO LA PLATA 103 
 
 IV OFF FOR THE PAMPAS 117 
 
 V THE PARTING 121 
 
 VI NEW SPORTS . 131 
 
 VII BRANDING THE CALVES 135 
 
 VIII DANGER AHEAD 145 
 
 IX BACK TO THE BIG CITY 151 
 
 X OVER THE MOUNTAINS 163 
 
 21335S4
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 PART III 
 TRAVELING ALONG THE SHOE-STRING 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I CROSSING THE SHOE-STRING .... 173 
 
 II THE VALE OP PARADISE 179 
 
 III UNDER THE OCEAN 193 
 
 IV THE ROUND ROBIN 207 
 
 V ON A CHILEAN FARM 215 
 
 PART IV 
 
 THE LANDS OF GOLD, SILVER AND TIN AND THE 
 BRIDGE OF WATER 
 
 I BOLIVIA THE WONDERFUL 227 
 
 II THE CITY OP THE TRUE CROSS . . . .246 
 
 III PERU THE GOLDEN 251 
 
 IV EQUATOR-LAND 262 
 
 V THE CAPTAIN'S STORY 270 
 
 VI THE BRIDGE OP WATER 276 
 
 VII THE BEST SURPRISE OP ALL . 281 
 
 [vi]
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 "Cocking his head he called, 'Lucy, Lucy, goo-o-d 
 
 girl ! goo-d girl ! ' ' . . . . Frontispiece 
 
 FACING 
 PAGE 
 
 Bahia is a two storied city with street elevators . . 16 
 There are plenty of playmates in Bahian homes . . 20 
 
 The twins' first view of their new home Bio de 
 
 Janeiro '..'. . . . . . 24 
 
 One of Bio de Janeiro 's beautiful palm avenues . . 38 
 
 In Sao Paulo they saw acres of low, shining coffee 
 
 trees . . .52 
 
 Piles of rubber were ready for shipment down the 
 
 Amazon 76 
 
 Fishermen go into the La Plata river on horseback 
 
 with nets 90 
 
 The Congressional Building at Buenos Aires, by night 102 
 Argentina is a great sheep raising state . . . 124 
 An Argentine cowboy preparing leather for a lasso . 136 
 
 A Chilean farmer does not make one horse do all the 
 
 work 186 
 
 An Indian village in Chile is built of straw huts . 196 
 
 The Araucanian Indians in Chile are famous for 
 
 blanket weaving 202 
 
 This Indian dugout in South Chile is made of a huge 
 
 tree 222 
 
 [vii]
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 FACINd 
 PAOE 
 
 Indian boats on Lake Titicaca are made of straw . 234 
 
 Imposing buildings face each side of the public square 
 
 at Cuzco 238 
 
 The courtyard of an old Spanish inn at Cuzco . . 242 
 
 The ruins of the Inca Fort near Cuzco are massive 
 
 and high . . 244 
 
 The seats of the Incas at Cuzco 246 
 
 Two little "Llameros" and their charges . . . 248 
 
 The usual method of travel in the Peruvian moun- 
 tains 252 
 
 A street in Lima looks somewhat like a North Amer- 
 ican thoroughfare 256 
 
 This Peruvian silver mine is a tnue treasure cave . 258 
 
 Culebra Cut at Panama nine miles long wi,th a 
 
 curve in every mile 278 
 
 [viii]
 
 PART I 
 THE WONDERS OF BRAZIL
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN 
 SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 GREAT NEWS 
 
 IT'S impossible!" cried the twins' mother. 
 
 A "Not in the least, my dear." Their father 
 
 laughed as he spoke. 
 
 "To begin with, it costs so much money to live in 
 Brazil." Mrs. Grayson looked worried. 
 
 "But if money can be made twice many times as 
 fast as at home, what difference does that make!" 
 Again her husband laughed. 
 
 ' * And the twins ! How can they get an education 
 down there in South America? Such good schools 
 as we have here, and they are doing so well in their 
 studies twelve years old and in the seventh grade ! 
 It's ridiculous, John. There!" 
 
 "Now look here, little wife, Joe and Lucy can 
 have a good governess as soon as we get settled in 
 Rio. Moreover, they'll have a chance to see some- 
 thing of this big wonderful world of ours. Travel is 
 the best educator possible. Besides, I have an op- 
 [3]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 portunity that should not be thrown away. It's a 
 chance in a life-time.'* 
 
 And then came a hurrying and scurrying up the 
 stairs, the door flew open, and in burst the twins, 
 out of breath, with eyes sparkling and cheeks rosy 
 with the race as to who should get there first. 
 
 "Look!" cried Joe, holding out his school report. 
 "Good marks in everything that is, except con- 
 duct." The boy's eyes danced. They always danced, 
 for that matter ; so, why should a failure to be per- 
 fect in behavior under a teacher who, somehow or 
 other, * * rubbed him the wrong way, ' ' make them act 
 contrary to rule? 
 
 "My report is good in everything except geog- 
 raphy," said Lucy, getting her breath and a chance 
 to speak at the same time. Her eyes were blue like 
 Joe's, but they did not dance. This was made up 
 for, however, by a dimple in each cheek a deep 
 one that insisted on being noticed with every smile 
 of their little owner. 
 
 "I wish these reports could have been perfect." 
 Mr. Grayson tried to look solemn. "They may be 
 the last ones you will ever receive in the United 
 States." 
 
 ' ' What 1 ' ' cried Joe ; and " Why ! ' ' exclaimed Lucy 
 in the same breath. Then they looked at their 
 mother, who was half laughing, half crying. 
 
 "A big ship sails out of New York harbor next 
 week, on the second day of October, at two o'clock 
 in the afternoon. ' ' Their father spoke very slowly. 
 "This ship," he continued, "takes passengers to
 
 GREAT NEWS 
 
 Rio de Janeiro, the capital city of the Republic of 
 Brazil, which is the largest country in South Amer- 
 ica." 
 
 "And and are we going in that ship!" burst 
 out Joe. 
 
 "If your mother is willing. And when we get to 
 Eio for that is the way nearly every one speaks 
 of the city we will stay there for some time, while 
 I am busy exporting coffee to people in this coun- 
 try." 
 
 "Oh-h!" Joe danced with glee. 
 
 "Mummie dear, please say yes!" Lucy's arms 
 were by this time clasped so tightly around her 
 mother's neck, that the dear lady was scarcely able 
 to speak. 
 
 "Would you like to leave Grandmother and Aunt 
 Nell, and your cousins?" The tone of Mrs. Gray- 
 son's voice was somewhat reproachful. 
 
 "Oh, we'll write long letters and tell them about 
 the parrots and monkeys," Joe answered promptly. 
 Brazil stood in his mind mainly for parrots and 
 monkeys. 
 
 "We can send back beautiful parrots for Christ- 
 mas presents, ' ' added Lucy thoughtfully. * * Besides, 
 we'll come back again by and by, and tell everybody 
 about what we've seen." 
 
 "If we go," continued Mr. Grayson, "it must be 
 on next week's steamer. As to the business offer, it 
 is a matter of 'now or never.' Shall I take advan- 
 tage of this chance to make a fortune, or shall we 
 [5]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 go on in the same old way wondering if, by and by, 
 there will be money enough to send the children to 
 college?" 
 
 Mrs. Grayson looked up at her husband with clear, 
 understanding eyes. Her doubts were flying away 
 like robins in the autumn. 
 
 "Now or never, little wife. It rests with you; 
 you know I would not go away and leave you and 
 the kiddies behind for all the fortunes in the world. ' ' 
 
 That settled it. For the next few days there was 
 a tremendous bustle of preparation in the Grayson 
 household. Grandma Stephens came over to help; 
 so did Aunt Nell ; so did Uncle Ben as soon as night 
 came and he could leave his office. 
 
 At the time of parting, Joe and Lucy looked seri- 
 ous for a moment just a moment. But the next in- 
 stant everything else was forgotten in the joys ahead 
 of them a long, long voyage on the wonderful 
 ocean, and then, strange sights, strange people, 
 strange sounds, strange and delicious fruits and 
 dainties! Why, it seemed almost too lovely to be 
 true. 
 
 "It will be nearly as nice as Aladdin's experiences 
 in the magic cave," declared Joe. 
 
 Almost before one could say "Jack Robinson," the 
 Graysons were aboard the steamer; Grandma Ste- 
 phens, and Uncle Joe, and Aunt Nell, and the cous- 
 ins were waving good-by from the shore; Mrs. 
 Grayson was choking back a sob, and Lucy trying 
 to hide a few tears, while Joe and his father shouted 
 [6]
 
 GREAT NEWS 
 
 their good-bys as the ship put off, as cheerily as if 
 they were only leaving for a day 's picnic. 
 
 "Look at the sunny side always," Mr. Grayson 
 had told his son. "That's the best way." 
 
 [7]
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 THE FIBST LANDING 
 
 LOOK quick, Theresa!" 
 Lucy's voice was excited. She was speaking 
 to a little Portuguese girl with olive skin and glossy 
 black hair. The twins had got acquainted with her 
 on the first day of the voyage. She and Lucy were 
 now leaning against the deck rail and peering down 
 into the clear water below. 
 
 ' ' That must be a dolphin. Isn 't it graceful ? ' ' con- 
 tinued Lucy. 
 
 Theresa nodded her head. ' ' And so pretty, ' ' she 
 said slowly. She was a timid little creature, only 
 a year younger than Lucy, but quite a deal smaller. 
 She was very pretty, but her black eyes often had a 
 sad expression. 
 
 "When they are like that I guess Theresa is think- 
 ing of her dead mother," Lucy had told Joe that 
 morning. 
 
 "Theresa's father told Daddie all about it," re- 
 plied Joe, ' ' and Daddie told me. Senhor Vasco is a 
 diamond merchant. A few months ago he had to go 
 to New York on business. His wife and Theresa 
 went with him. Theresa's brother stayed at home in 
 Kio with his grandmother. Well, Senhora Vasco 
 [9]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 was taken dreadfully sick, and died up there among 
 strangers. So now her husband and Theresa are 
 coming back alone." 
 
 "I'm going to be just as good to Theresa as I 
 know how," declared Lucy, and she started off to 
 look for the little girl whom she had seen down on 
 the lower deck a short time before. And now the 
 two, hand in hand, were watching for dolphins and 
 flying fish in the warm southern waters. 
 
 ' ' There 's another, and another ! ' ' cried Lucy, soon 
 after spying the first dolphin. 
 
 * ' But the flying fish pretty soon they come too 
 I love them." English did not come easily to 
 Theresa's tongue, and she had to hunt about in her 
 mind for the right words. 
 
 Just then Joe appeared. 
 
 "I've been having lots of fun," he shouted as he 
 drew near. "I was in the pilot house taking a les- 
 son in steering the ship. And what do you think! 
 The Captain says that any time now we may sight 
 a blow." 
 
 1 ' A blow ! ' ' said Lucy. She did not understand. 
 
 "A blow is a whale, you precious little goose. 
 And, say ! There is a sure-enough one now, over to 
 the east." Joe was so excited that he jumped up 
 and down. 
 
 Afar off, almost as far as the children's eyes 
 could see, was what appeared like a fountain burst- 
 ing up from the surface of the water. 
 
 "Oh-h, now I see why you call a whale a 'blow,' " 
 said Lucy. 
 
 [10]
 
 THE FIRST LANDING 
 
 "The next thing to look out for is the equator,'* 
 said Joe, dancing about on one foot. 
 
 "Daddie says we can't see it when we get there." 
 Lucy's voice was full of disappointment. 
 
 "And here it is," said some one behind her. 
 Senhor Vasco had come up unawares. 
 
 "Oh-h!" cried the twins. And then from Joe, 
 gloomily, "Not a single thing different." 
 
 "Not with the sea, my lad," said Senhor Vasco 
 pleasantly. "But with the coming of evening you 
 will think of the change that has been taking place 
 as we drew near the equator. There is no slow 
 turning of day into night in this part of the world. 
 The sun goes out of sight as suddenly as a ball 
 falls to the ground. Then darkness, and almost at 
 once the sky seems alive with the brightness of count- 
 less stars." 
 
 The little travelers had not begun to tire of life 
 on shipboard when they neared the first port. It was 
 Becife, or Pernambuco as it is commonly called, on 
 the east coast of Brazil. Many vessels were now in 
 sight. 
 
 "What a queer looking rig ahead of us!" ex- 
 claimed Joe. He was standing in the bow of the 
 steamer with his father and Senhor Vasco. 
 
 "It is made of logs like a raft," the boy went 
 on, "but it has a big sail." 
 
 "It is a fishing raft, clumsy enough, but so safe 
 that its owner may venture in it a hundred miles 
 from shore," explained Senhor Vasco. 
 
 "Father" Joe changed the subject suddenly 
 [11]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 "haven't we passed the mouth of the Amazon by 
 this time?" 
 
 * ' Certainly. It was after we crossed the equator, 
 but we were too far from shore to see it." 
 
 "Disappointment number two," said Joe gloom- 
 ily. ' ' It 's a shame that we should have been so near 
 the biggest river in the world and not get even a peek 
 at it." 
 
 "Don't fret, Joe," comforted Senhor Vasco. 
 "There is plenty of time ahead of you to visit the 
 Amazon while you are living in Brazil." 
 
 The steamer was already altering its course to en- 
 ter the harbor of Recife, which was shut in by a 
 narrow rocky ridge reaching far out into the ocean. 
 Along the top of this ridge stretched a stone wall 
 high enough to break the waves during even the 
 worst storms. 
 
 "Recife means reef. It is a good name for the 
 city," remarked Senhor Vasco. 
 
 "The ship has stopped rolling," said Joe, half 
 to himself. "It is as calm as a duck-pond since we 
 entered the harbor ; yet the water looks as if it were 
 very deep." 
 
 "That must be why Recife is one of the most im- 
 portant ports of Brazil," said Mr. Grayson. 
 
 The steamer was fast nearing a big stone wharf. 
 Mrs. Grayson, with Lucy and Theresa, came up on 
 deck, ready for a few hours' sight-seeing on shore. 
 As Senhor Vasco had business to attend to in the 
 city, Theresa was to go about with her new friends. 
 
 And now the sailors on board were busy casting 
 [12]
 
 THE FIRST LANDING 
 
 ropes to other men on the pier. A moment after- 
 ward the gangplank was thrown out, and the pas- 
 sengers began to make their way ashore to find them- 
 selves in the midst of ox-carts and queer-looking 
 wagons laden with sugar, cotton, and hides ; horses 
 and mules also heavily laden; and negroes with 
 backs bent under their burdens. Workmen on the 
 pier were busy removing the loads and hoisting them 
 on board ships to be carried to other lands. All 
 was noise and bustle. 
 
 "The people jabber like monkeys. I can't under- 
 stand a word," said Joe impatiently. 
 
 "Most of them speak Portuguese," explained his 
 father. "When you have been in Brazil a few 
 months you can take part in the jabber yourself." 
 
 Theresa had understood enough of what Joe said 
 to smile. She was thinking of her stay in New York. 
 "It is there that people jabber," she said to her- 
 self. 
 
 "How hot the sun is!" panted Mrs. Grayson, as 
 the little party stood waiting for a carriage in which 
 they could drive around the city. All felt quite com- 
 fortable, however, as soon as they began to move 
 fast through the city streets. 
 
 Theresa 's face was now full of smiles. The twins 
 wondered. They had never seen her look so happy 
 before. 
 
 "Why do you keep smiling?" Joe asked at last. 
 
 "I am glad to be again in my own country," the 
 little girl said slowly. "Brazil it is beautiful 
 everywhere. ' ' 
 
 [13]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 As Theresa spoke, the carriage was crossing a 
 bridge over an inlet from the sea. Tall palm-trees 
 lined the road beyond; the broad leaves were wav- 
 ing in the breeze as if to welcome the travelers. 
 
 "What a pretty park we rode through a while 
 ago !" said Lucy. "It was so shady there under the 
 palms that I longed to get out and examine some of 
 the strange plants about us." 
 
 "It seems queer to see so many black people on the 
 streets," remarked Joe, in a low tone, fearing the 
 negro driver might understand the words. "Why, 
 some of them are dressed like rich ladies and gentle- 
 men." 
 
 "I am told that many of the negroes in this city 
 have made fortunes in sugar," explained his father. 
 ' * More of it is raised in this state than in any other 
 in Brazil." 
 
 "This state?" asked Joe. 
 
 "Why, yes. Brazil is a republic, and is divided 
 into states like our own country." 
 
 "And Brazil has a president, too," chimed in The- 
 resa, who had been listening closely. 
 
 The carriage had now left the newer part of the 
 city with its fine avenues and was headed for the 
 wharves, near which the streets were ugly and nar- 
 row. 
 
 ' ' This is where the first-comers must have lived, ' ' 
 said Mrs. Grayson thoughtfully. "Think, children. 
 The Portuguese settled here nearly one hundred 
 years before the Pilgrims landed in Plymouth." 
 [14]
 
 THE FIRST LANDING 
 
 ' ' Whew ! ' ' exclaimed Joe. ' ' If it is as old as that, 
 the place has a right to look queer and dirty. " 
 
 1 ' Oh, oh ! ' ' broke in Theresa. ' ' See ! ' ' 
 
 The little girl motioned toward an odd-looking 
 procession on the way to market. At the head was 
 a man on horseback. His bare legs were astride 
 two immense bags full of cotton. Behind him on a 
 mule rode his wife with a green parrot perched on 
 her shoulder ; it was chattering in a harsh voice. And 
 back of these was a whole train of donkeys, each one 
 laden with bags of cotton. 
 
 The children were "all eyes" as the procession 
 drew near. When they discovered a monkey acting 
 as driver of one of the mules, they laughed heartily. 
 
 "Look! That must be a chicken pedler ahead of 
 us," said Mrs. Grayson a minute afterward. "He 
 has to walk, for his donkey is loaded with crates 
 full of fowls." 
 
 "They don't like being shut up, if squawking is 
 any sign," said Joe. "But if they aren't careful 
 they will get their necks caught in the lattice work 
 as they stick them out." 
 
 In another half -hour the travelers had been land- 
 ed at the pier, and boarded the ship, which was al- 
 ready getting up steam. 
 
 [15]
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 INTO THE BAY OF ALL SAINTS 
 
 A DAY'S run from Recife brought the ship into 
 ** the beautiful Bay of San Salvador. In the long 
 ago, when Amerigo Vespucci discovered this broad, 
 safe harbor, he called it the Bay of All Saints, in 
 honor of the day he entered it. 
 
 When still a half-mile from shore, the steamer 
 came to a stand-still. Small boats now drew up be- 
 side it, and the dark-skinned owners sprang on 
 board to dicker with the passengers about carrying 
 them ashore to the city of Bahia. 
 
 "What fun!" Joe whispered to his sister, as they 
 settled themselves with their parents, Senhor Vasco, 
 and Theresa in one of these boats. 
 
 The strong strokes of the boatman brought them 
 quickly to a landing-place, where the travelers could 
 see little at first except a narrow strip of land on 
 which the banking and shipping houses were packed 
 close together; behind these rose straight high 
 bluffs. 
 
 "How are we to get up there on the bluffs?" asked 
 Joe. 
 
 "We can climb up one of the steep roadways." 
 Senhor Vasco 's eyes twinkled as he spoke. "Or we 
 can go up in an elevator, ' ' he added after a pause. 
 [17]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 There was a general sigh of relief at this. 
 
 As the family followed the other travelers on their 
 way to the elevator the children's eyes were busy 
 with what was going on around them. Negro work- 
 men were landing cargoes, all of which had to be 
 brought to shore in barges and small boats. Other 
 negroes were carrying to the water's edge bags of 
 tobacco and cotton, bales of goatskins and hides 
 for return cargoes. Black women moved through the 
 narrow streets carrying heavy loads on their heads ; 
 others sat at street corners barefooted, and with gay- 
 colored turbans on their heads, selling fruits piled 
 up on stands beside them. 
 
 "Ripe oranges that are green! Well, I never!" 
 cried Joe, stopping a moment in front of one of the 
 stands. "Besides all these other fruits I don't know 
 the names of," he added. 
 
 The party now entered the elevator which quickly 
 brought them to the cooler air of the heights above. 
 
 The twins were glad to see the governor's palace 
 and the many beautiful churches and public build- 
 ings. But they were more interested in the strange 
 trees on every hand, the bright colors of the houses, 
 and the beautiful gardens. 
 
 "I guess I've seen houses of every color of the 
 rainbow," declared Lucy, after a half -hour of sight- 
 seeing. "Let me see over there is one of bright 
 purple, and beside it is one painted green." 
 
 "While straight ahead is one of orange," contin- 
 ued Joe. ' ' What funny taste the people have ! I like 
 it, though in the shade of the tall palms the houses 
 [18]
 
 INTO THE BAY OF ALL SAINTS 
 
 look cheerful. No one here ought to have the blues." 
 
 "Oh-h! See that house ! It's made of tiles and 
 what pretty iron lace-work over the windows and 
 doors ! ' ' said Mrs. Grayson admiringly. 
 
 * * Listen ! I hear parrots talking ; I 'm sure of it ! " 
 cried Joe, stopping to listen. "I see them now 
 there are two under that tree; each one is fastened 
 to a stand by a long chain. One is green with crim- 
 son tail-feathers and the other has a breast of rich 
 purple. ' ' 
 
 "Look at that monkey!" broke in Theresa. She 
 pointed in the direction of a shady path, in which a 
 small dark-skinned boy was walking. The boy wore 
 a white suit, and sandals on his otherwise bare feet. 
 
 "I have a dear monkey at home so little," The- 
 resa held out her hands about ten inches from each 
 other. ' ' He sleeps in my lap. ' ' 
 
 ' ' Ugh ! ' ' cried Lucy, before she thought. 
 
 Theresa looked grieved. ' ' Wait you will see him. 
 Then you will love him," she said softly. 
 
 "You certainly will," said Senhor Vasco. "It is 
 an ouistiti monkey and is the prettiest pet of its 
 kind in the world. It is found only here in Brazil. ' ' 
 
 Shortly afterward, the sightseers boarded a car 
 to take a ride about the city. 
 
 "Bahia was once the capital and most important 
 city of Brazil," explained Senhor Vasco. "But when 
 coffee began to be raised farther south, Bio became 
 the capital. 
 
 "Let us go back to the beginning," he continued. 
 " As we whirl through these fine streets, let us think 
 [19]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 of the wilderness here long ago when the brave 
 Amerigo Vespucci, sailing under the flag of Por- 
 tugal, entered this port. He is standing on the prow 
 of his ship. 'It is the Day of All Saints,' he is say- 
 ing to his men. 'In its honor I will call this the Bay 
 of All Saints.' " 
 
 As Senhor Vasco went on talking, the children 
 seemed to be with Vespucci and his men, exploring 
 the coast south of Bahia. "They met wild Indians ; 
 they ate strange fruits; they had adventures with 
 strange animals ; and before heading their ships for 
 Portugal, they loaded them with some of the prod- 
 ucts of the country. Chief of all was a dyewood to 
 which they gave the name pau brazil, because it gave 
 a color like coals of fire. Then away they sailed with 
 a wonderful story to tell the King of Portugal. 1 " 
 
 "What did he say when he heard it?" broke in 
 Joe. 
 
 Senhor Vasco smiled at the boy's interest. 
 
 "The King," he replied, "decided at once to send 
 a goodly company to Brazil, for he named his new 
 possessions after the strange dyewood. * They shall 
 build a strong city there,' he said, 'and shall send 
 me back great riches.' 
 
 "Thus Bahia was settled. But troubles came. 
 The rulers of other lands wished to possess the coun- 
 try. More than once the Dutch laid hold of it, but 
 each time the Portuguese got it back into their own 
 hands. Then came the slave trade. Ship after ship 
 arrived in the harbor, bringing thousands of negroes 
 from Africa to work the lands of the Portuguese 
 [20]
 
 INTO THE BAY OF ALL SAINTS 
 
 planters. So many were there that, by the year 1800, 
 more than half the people were slaves.*' 
 
 ''Poor creatures!" sighed Lucy. Her face was so 
 sad that no one looking at her for the first time could 
 imagine that dimples were hidden away in her rosy 
 cheeks. 
 
 "But that bad time is all over," said Senhor Vasco 
 cheerily. ' ' There has not been a slave in the country 
 since the year 1888, directly after Brazil became a 
 republic. Moreover, many of the Portuguese settlers 
 have since married negroes. That is why we are 
 constantly passing people of all shades of color, from 
 black to white." 
 
 "While they were talking, the car sped on, and from 
 time to time Senhor Vasco pointed out different fine 
 buildings the beautiful cathedral, and many grand 
 homes. 
 
 Mrs. Grayson had just exclaimed at the beauty of 
 these homes when Joe pointed out a fat negress com- 
 ing down the walk. 
 
 "She actually waddles," said Lucy. "Do look at 
 her gold chains and bracelets, and the funny dress. 
 It is like a nightgown without sleeves." 
 
 "I'm dreadfully hungry," declared Joe suddenly. 
 
 "Dreadfully hungry," echoed Theresa, with a long 
 sigh. 
 
 "We are only a little way from a good hotel," said 
 Senhor Vasco, laughing. "If our little folks are 
 suffering so much for want of food, we would best 
 go there at once." 
 
 Ten minutes afterward they were eating a deli- 
 [21]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 clous meal in the big dining-room of the hotel. There 
 were several dishes which the twins had never tasted 
 before. 
 
 Senhor Vasco, as well as Theresa, ate generously 
 of dried meat. ' ' We Brazilians are very fond of it, ' ' 
 he told the Graysons. 
 
 Joe and Lucy enjoyed the dessert best of all. 
 There were dainty cakes and rich preserves, and 
 some of the fruit they had wished to taste ever since 
 they came on shore. 
 
 "I like this funny green orange," said Joe ap- 
 provingly ; ' * and the mangoes are first rate. ' ' 
 
 " Isn't this caju queer?" asked Lucy, holding up 
 a small fruit that looked like a lemon, but with seeds 
 growing out of one end. "It's ever so sweet," she 
 continued, as she began to eat it. 
 
 "I can't say I care much for mangoes, even if they 
 are juicy," declared Mrs. Grayson, who was tasting 
 the fruit for the first time. 
 
 "One has to learn to like mangoes. By and by 
 you may think them the most delicious of all growing 
 things," replied Senhor Vasco. 
 
 As soon as the meal was over the party took a 
 carriage ride to a beautiful suburb of Bahia. They 
 passed through avenues of the Bahia palms, and 
 fields planted with banana trees. Big bunches of 
 fruit were hanging down from beneath the clusters 
 of long leaves near the top. 
 
 All too soon the ride ended, and the travelers 
 found themselves at one of the elevators ready to 
 [22]
 
 INTO THE BAY OF ALL SAINTS 
 
 descend to the lower town. As they went down, 
 Senhor Vasco said, "When I visited here as a boy I 
 did not go in this way; it was in a chair carried by 
 two negro porters. Such men were at hand on every 
 street-corner calling to the passers-by, 'Will you 
 have a chair, sir ? Will you have a chair ! ' ' 
 
 It was almost sunset when the party was being 
 rowed out to the waiting steamer. As Lucy looked 
 back at the bright-colored houses among the palms 
 on the bluff, she said, * ' Bahia would be a lovely place 
 to live in, if it were not so hot." 
 
 "You would quickly get used to the heat," replied 
 Senhor Vasco. "At noon you would take a nap in 
 a cool grass hammock. By the time the nap ended 
 the sun would be turned westward, a sea breeze 
 would have sprung up, and you would be ready for 
 play." 
 
 "A nap in broad day!" cried Joe with scorn. 
 
 ' ' Certainly. Every one in the tropics takes a nap. 
 For this reason the stores are closed during the noon 
 hours." 
 
 ' * What wretched little huts the poor live in. ' ' Mrs. 
 Grayson's voice was full of pity. "I noticed those 
 along the edge of the city. A few lumps of clay stuck 
 between laths, a roof of thatch and the house is 
 made." 
 
 "You must remember that the people spend most 
 of their time outdoors, so the home is not very im- 
 portant," said Senhor Vasco. 
 
 "And they don't need to work much, with plenty 
 [23]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 of fruit to be had, and cheap at that. As for 
 
 clothes " Joe chuckled. "They can't need to 
 
 take much more thought of them than the monkeys 
 do." 
 
 [24]
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 THE NEW HOME 
 
 are fast nearing our new home," said Mr. 
 Grayson, as he sat with his wife on the upper 
 deck of the steamer. 
 
 The sentence was hardly finished when Joe and 
 Lucy came hop-skipping down the deck. Theresa 
 was with them, tightly holding Lucy's hand in her 
 own, because this was her first lesson in hop- 
 skipping. 
 
 4 * Mother ! Father ! ' ' cried Joe as he came nearer. 
 4 'We must be almost there! Theresa says those are 
 her home mountains. Goody! Goody!" 
 
 The ship had already turned inland, and was pass- 
 ing through a narrow opening in the waters. Noble 
 mountains could be seen, rising straight up from 
 shore. 
 
 "See! Over there is the mountain, Sugar Loaf," 
 said Theresa. "And on the other side is the Fort of 
 Vera Cruz. ' ' 
 
 The ship was now making its way through a nar- 
 row passage between two islands. 
 
 "When the fiist explorers sailed through this nar- 
 row inlet," explained Senhor Vasco who had fol- 
 lowed the children, "they thought they had entered 
 [25]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 the mouth of a river. It was the second day of Jan- 
 uary. So they said, 'We will call this stream, Rio 
 de Janeiro/ or River of January, as you would say 
 in English. The name has never been changed, 
 though instead of being a river, this proved to be 
 one of the finest, as well as most beautiful, bays in 
 the world. 
 
 "In the long ago, before any white man ventured 
 here," Senhor Vasco went on, "the red people .who 
 dwelt on the shore called these the * Hidden Waters. ' 
 Even if they could have known of the countries 
 across the great ocean they would not have feared. 
 'No one can find us behind the Hidden Waters, ' they 
 would have said to each other. 
 
 "And now, children," he said, leading them close 
 to the deck rail where they could look backward as 
 well as forward, "what fruit does this harbor re- 
 semble I We have just passed through the stem and 
 now we can see the shape of the body as it opens up 
 before us." 
 
 "I know! I know! You told me once," said 
 Theresa in Portuguese. 
 
 "Sh! See if our little friends can tell us," he re- 
 plied in the same tongue. 
 
 "Why it's a it's a " Lucy's forehead was 
 
 wrinkled with thought. 
 
 "A pear, of course," broke in Joe. 
 
 ' ' Right you are. And in this body all the ships of 
 the world could anchor at the same time. Pretty 
 big, isn't it I" 
 
 The children nodded. 
 
 [26]
 
 THE NEW HOME 
 
 ' ' How many dear little islands there are all about 
 us ! It seems as if they were floating on the top of 
 the water. I keep being afraid we are going to run 
 into one of them and knock it into pieces," Lucy said, 
 half to herself. 
 
 "No danger! We have a good pilot." Senhor 
 Vasco smiled. "But now turn your eyes toward the 
 shore. Do you see that mountain 1 ? It is called the 
 Hunchback. And look ! There is one shaped like a 
 fort, and another like a negro's head." 
 
 ' ' Yes, and the trees on top look like his kinky wool 
 only they are green instead of black. ' ' 
 
 "Quite true, Lucy. But we are fast nearing our 
 city." 
 
 "It's beautiful ! And it seems to be resting on the 
 water, just as the islands do, only it is guarded by 
 all those lovely hills behind it." Lucy clapped her 
 hands in delight. 
 
 "A red and white city," said Mrs. Grayson. 
 
 * ' The roofs are covered for the most part with red 
 tiles. You can see this as we draw nearer," ex- 
 plained Senhor Vasco. 
 
 ' ' Home ! My dear home ! ' ' cried Theresa in Portu- 
 guese. 
 
 At that moment the little girl, standing on the rail 
 with her father's protecting arms holding her fast, 
 began to wave her handkerchief she had sighted her 
 grandmother and brother among the crowd on the 
 wharf waiting for the incoming passengers. 
 
 The ship was already making its way past big 
 steamers from far lands and weather-worn sailing 
 [27]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 vessels, pleasure yachts and fishermen's punts. 
 Then, with scarcely a jar, it came to a standstill. 
 The voyage of more than two weeks was over, and 
 a new life lay before the twins. 
 
 "Well, well! It is a pleasure indeed to see you all 
 once more." 
 
 Such were the words that greeted Mr. Grayson as 
 he stepped on shore. The speaker was his old f r jend, 
 Mr. Joyce, who had left New York years before to 
 seek his fortune in Brazil. 
 
 "A pleasure indeed! I hoped you would be here 
 to meet us, Tom." 
 
 The two men were already gripping each other's 
 hands with hearty good will. 
 
 Mr. Joyce now turned to greet the rest of the fam- 
 ily. 
 
 "You haven't changed a bit," he said to Mrs. 
 Grayson. "But dear, dear!" he went on, smiling at 
 the twins. "I haven't seen you two since you were 
 roly-poly babies, and one could scarcely tell you 
 apart. And now, what big youngsters you are ! ' ' 
 
 "It is no use to try to talk here, however," he con- 
 tinued, turning to Mr. and Mrs. Grayson. "Let us 
 go at once to a hotel. There you can rest and at the 
 same time plan about your future home. I have been 
 on the lookout and think I have found the very place 
 to suit you. Here is my motor car. Mrs. Grayson, 
 let me help you in. Joe and Lucy, you shall ride in 
 front." 
 
 Lucy had barely seated herself when she burst into 
 tears. 
 
 [28]
 
 THE NEW HOME 
 
 "0 dear! dear!" she sobbed. "I was so ex- 
 cited I didn't bid Theresa good-by. What will she 
 think of me?" 
 
 ' ' Don 't worry, dear, ' ' comforted her father. ' ' No 
 doubt Theresa was as excited as you, and thought 
 only of meeting her own people. I have the address 
 Senhor Vasco gave it to me, and said he wished to 
 see us a great deal at his home." 
 
 Lucy gave a sigh of relief and settled herself to 
 enjoy the strange sights around her. At the same 
 time Mr. Grayson said to his wife in a low tone, 
 ' ' Senhor Vasco took a great liking to our youngsters. 
 He said he could wish no better playmates for his 
 children. ' ' 
 
 "Senhor Vasco, did you say?" asked Mr. Joyce, 
 catching the name. 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "He is one of the richest and most important men 
 in Bio. Moreover, every one admires him as a true 
 gentleman. ' ' 
 
 "Father! Mother!" Joe broke in. "Please, 
 please look!" 
 
 The auto had by this time turned into a broad ave- 
 nue. It was lined with handsome buildings before 
 which stood rows of tall trees. Through the middle 
 of the avenue "there were beautifully wrought lamp- 
 posts between trees like those bordering the side- 
 walks. 
 
 * ' This is the loveliest place ! ' ' exclaimed Lucy. 
 
 "Those are some of our famous Brazil trees," said 
 [29]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 Mr. Joyce. "They alone would make any avenue 
 beautiful." 
 
 "How clean the city is!" said Mrs. Grayson. 
 
 ' ' When I came here, Bio was already a noble city. ' ' 
 Mr. Joyce spoke with pride. ' * But the people were 
 not satisfied. They tore down old parts and rebuilt 
 them. Among the good things done, you see this 
 avenue which runs through the center of the city. 
 Hence its name, Avenida Central." 
 
 "So many autos make me think of New York," 
 said Joe. 
 
 "But not that pedler with the queer little house 
 on his head," added Lucy. "What is the man do- 
 ing?" 
 
 "That little house is filled with sweeties," said Mr. 
 Joyce. "Didn't you just hear the man calling out 
 his wares?" 
 
 "I heard him shouting, but it was in Portuguese." 
 Lucy pouted. " dear !" she went on. "I'm going 
 to hurry as fast as I can to learn more of the lan- 
 guage." 
 
 * ' Look over there, quick ! ' ' said Joe. ' ' People are 
 actually sitting on the sidewalks and drinking coffee 
 there!" 
 
 "Tables are often set in front of the cafes," said 
 Mr. Joyce, smiling at the lad's amusement. 
 
 The motor car soon came to a standstill in front 
 of a large hotel, and porters in uniform came hurry- 
 ing out to help the travelers alight. 
 
 "Now for a good Rio dinner," said Mr. Joyce. 
 "Afterward we had better ride out to the house 
 [30]
 
 THE NEW HOME 
 
 of which I spoke. It is all furnished. The family 
 who own it have gone to New York for three years. ' ' 
 
 That afternoon the Graysons and Mr. Joyce rode 
 out to see the house he had chosen for them. It stood 
 on the slope of a hill overlooking the water. 
 
 " Won't it seem queer to live in a house painted a 
 bright yellow, with a red roof?" said Lucy, as she 
 ran up the steps. ''Joe, look at that orange-tree 
 close to the piazza ! Only think of having an orange- 
 tree with live oranges on it in one 's own yard ! ' ' 
 
 The word live set everybody laughing. 
 
 "But that's nothing to a bread-fruit tree!" Joe 
 fairly shouted the words. * * It is a bread-fruit tree, 
 isn't it, Mr. Joyce?" 
 
 "Yes; and if you get a monkey and a parrot, you 
 can feed your pets with the fruit." 
 
 While he was talking, Mr. Joyce opened the big 
 front door, and now led the way inside. 
 
 "How odd!" Mrs. Grayson laughed softly as she 
 entered the long parlor. ' * This is a pleasant room ; 
 but, dear me, how stiff everything looks ! The sofas 
 and chairs are set back against the walls as if they 
 were glued there and must not look at each other 
 even out of the corners of their eyes. ' ' 
 
 "We'll soon make a cosy place of it," comforted 
 Mr. Grayson. "When we look out of these big win- 
 dows, we can see avenues of palms and gardens full 
 of blossoms." 
 
 "And the sea with the big ships," chimed in Joe. 
 
 On the way back to the hotel Mr. Grayson said to 
 the twins: "I have a pleasant surprise for you. 
 [31]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 Mr. Joyce tells me that Senhor Vasco lives only a 
 short distance from our new home. ' ' 
 
 ' ' Goody guy 1 ' ' exclaimed Joe. * * And as Theresa 's 
 brother is only two years older than I am, we can 
 have great sport together." 
 
 "You must not be disappointed if he does not play 
 ball and turn somersaults, though." Mr. Joyce's 
 eyes twinkled. ' ' Portuguese children are not as ac- 
 tive as young New Yorkers. ' ' 
 
 "Theresa was ever so quiet on shipboard," said 
 Lucy thoughtfully. ' ' But I thought that was because 
 she was feeling sad about her mother. ' ' 
 
 "Very likely she was more quiet than usual. I 
 still think, however, you will find your Bio playmates 
 less active than the old ones." 
 
 Early the next morning, the Graysons moved into 
 the house on the hillside. Before night a jolly negro 
 cook, Caesar, was ruling in the kitchen, and a house- 
 maid, also black, set the furniture about in American 
 fashion under Mrs. Gray son's direction. The twins 
 were completely happy when Mr. Joyce appeared in 
 the evening with a beautiful green and crimson par- 
 rot. 
 
 "Thank you! Thank you!" cried they. Then, 
 with the next breath, Joe asked : * ' Can he talk, Mr. 
 Joyce?" 
 
 "A few Portuguese words, Joe. You will have to 
 teach him some English." 
 
 "Let's begin with 'Polly wants a cracker,' " said 
 Lucy. 
 
 "Pooh! That's too common. Let's teach him our 
 [32]
 
 THE NEW HOME 
 
 names first, so he can call us," replied Joe; and set 
 out to give a lesson at once. 
 
 Poll, however, not feeling acquainted, only ruffled 
 up his handsome feathers. 
 
 ''Time enough," said Mr. Joyce, smiling at their 
 eagerness. "In a little while the bird will reward 
 you, for he is unusually bright." 
 
 The second day in the new home brought another 
 surprise for the twins. This was the coming of a 
 young English girl to be their governess. 
 
 "Miss Lee is so pretty, I like to look at her," Joe 
 whispered to his sister, as they left the room where 
 they had just had their first real lesson in Portu- 
 guese. 
 
 "I could hug her this minute," Lucy whispered 
 back. "She's so kind and sweet that she made our 
 lesson seem as much fun as a game." Then, think- 
 ing of the little friend on shipboard, she added, ' ' We 
 are like Theresa now, for she told me that she always 
 had a governess at home." 
 
 [33]
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 GETTING ACQUAINTED 
 
 rpHEKE, Joe! At last Polly can talk English I " 
 * Lucy clapped her hands. ' ' It was plain as any- 
 thing." 
 
 As she spoke, the parrot watched her with his 
 bright eyes. Now, cocking his head on one side he 
 called, "Lucy, Lucy goo-o-d girl! goo-d girl!" 
 
 "Well done, old fellow. Now you shall get your 
 reward." Joe, smoothing Polly's feathers softly, 
 held out a piece of banana which the bird seized and 
 devoured eagerly. 
 
 "But, I say, Lucy! What's that?" said Joe the 
 next instant, looking toward the street. 
 
 The children were in the side garden under the 
 bread-fruit tree, where they had brought the parrot 
 to play in the shade. 
 
 A man was drawing near the house with a pack on 
 his back, and two measuring sticks which he was 
 busily clapping. 
 
 " He 's going to stop here. Let 's send him away, ' ' 
 said Lucy. "Mother is taking a nap, and doesn't 
 wish to be disturbed." 
 
 By this time the pedler had come up to the gate. 
 Still clapping the sticks, he began to speak in a high 
 voice. 
 
 [35]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 "Portuguese, of course," Joe whispered to his sis- 
 ter. "But I think I understand. He has dress goods 
 to sell. He probably measures them off with those 
 sticks. 
 
 " No ! No ! ' ' Joe had now turned toward the man, 
 and shook his head as he spoke. 
 
 " No ! No ! " repeated Poll, looking very wise, and 
 the pedler went slowly on his way. 
 
 "People here are well I call them lazy," said 
 Lucy. ' ' No one is ever in a hurry. ' ' 
 
 "Let's go up on the veranda and swing in the 
 hammocks," said Joe. "We'll ask Caesar to make 
 some limeade, and give us some of those nice cakes 
 he makes he calls them doces." 
 
 As the twins settled themselves in the hammocks, 
 Lucy said dolefully, ' ' dear ! we 've been here four 
 whole days, and I haven't heard from Theresa yet. 
 I'm afraid she's forgotten me." 
 
 "And I want to see her brother. You are all right, 
 Lucy, but you are only a girl, you know. And I'd 
 like to get acquainted with some Rio boys. ' ' 
 
 Joe's words didn't make Lucy feel any better, and 
 the tears began to roll down her cheeks. Then sud- 
 denly a sound was heard, as if a carriage had stopped 
 in front of the house. 
 
 Lucy rubbed her eyes. 
 
 "Who can it be?" she cried excitedly. "Do you 
 s 'pose ' ' 
 
 By this time Joe had bounded to the end of the 
 veranda. Peering through the trees, he saw a grand- 
 looking open carriage with silver trimmings. In 
 [36]
 
 GETTING ACQUAINTED 
 
 front sat a black driver in livery holding in a pair of 
 spirited black horses. A boy in a white suit was 
 sitting beside him. In the back seat were two people 
 one was a tiny old lady, but Joe could not see the 
 other. 
 
 "I say," he whispered, running back to Lucy. 
 "I'll bet anything it is the carriage of Senhor Vasco, 
 with Carlos on the front seat." 
 
 "Don't say bet, Joe. It isn't nice." Lucy had 
 still in mind Joe's remark about her being only a 
 girl. "Let's run and tell mother, for the people are 
 going to get out," she added. 
 
 Five minutes afterward Mrs. Grayson entered the 
 drawing-room, followed by the twins and Miss Lee. 
 "We will need your help in talking, I feel sure," she 
 had said to the young governess. ' * We know such a 
 tiny bit of Portuguese, and Senhor Vasco has told 
 me that his mother speaks no English." 
 
 It was an easy matter, however, to get acquainted 
 with the dear old lady with bright black eyes, who 
 talked quite as much with her dainty little hands 
 as with her tongue. Carlos, moreover, a handsome 
 boy, knew a good deal of English which he had 
 learned at school. And as for shy little Theresa 
 for she it was who had sat beside her grandmother 
 in the carriage why, Lucy and she were hugging and 
 kissing each other before one could say "Jack Rob- 
 inson." 
 
 The call was a merry one. There was much laugh- 
 ter over Mrs. Grayson and Senhora Vasco trying to 
 understand each other, though Miss Lee was ever 
 [37]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 ready to help. The boys were a bit bashful at first ; 
 but after black coffee had been served to the ladies 
 and limeade to the children, with cakes for all, the 
 stiffness was over. Then Joe proposed a visit to the 
 parrot and the garden, and all four children went 
 outside, where they were soon acting "natural," as 
 Lucy said afterward. And when Carlos climbed the 
 banana-tree, to show Joe how easy it was to wriggle 
 up the queer straight trunk, Joe felt as if they were 
 already old friends. Then, when Poll was introduced 
 and spoke the first English words he had learned, 
 there was more fun. 
 
 "I have pets too," Carlos told the twins. "An 
 iguana and two macaws. ' ' 
 
 "And my little monkey," broke in Theresa. "Oh, 
 won 't you come to our house quick very quick f ' ' 
 
 "Indeed we will," said Joe emphatically; while 
 Lucy's answer was a hug. 
 
 Just then, Miss Lee appeared at a side door. 
 
 ' ' Come, children, ' ' she called. ' ' The Senhora says 
 it is time to go. ' ' 
 
 So the visit ended. As the Senhora, in the fashion 
 of Portuguese ladies, made several pretty curtsies 
 while bidding her good-bys, she promised to send her 
 carriage the next day to take the twins and Miss Lee 
 for a ride with Carlos and Theresa. 
 
 [38]
 
 Photo by E. M. Newman 
 
 ONE OF RIO DE JANEIRO'S BEAUTIFUL PALM AVENUES
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 SIGHTSEEING 
 
 T T seems as if I couldn't wait any longer," said 
 ^ Joe, impatiently. 
 
 It was two o'clock and the twins were already 
 dressed in their best "bib and tucker" and walking 
 up and down the veranda in readiness for the prom- 
 ised ride, though the carriage was not expected till 
 three. 
 
 "In the early afternoon Bio is like the home of the 
 'Sleeping Beauty.' " Lucy spoke a little crossly. 
 "Everything stops and everybody curls up in a ham- 
 mock." 
 
 "I wonder how Carlos and I will get along," said 
 Joe, changing the subject. 
 
 "Mother likes Carlos. She says he is so gentle 
 and polite, he can teach you some things, Joe. ' ' 
 
 " Urn ! Well, for all that, there 's a fire in his black 
 eyes that wouldn't be pleasant in a quarrel." 
 
 "Here comes Miss Lee. Doesn't she look pretty 
 in that white hat with pink roses?" 
 
 As Lucy spoke, she skipped away to meet the 
 young governess. At the same moment the carriage 
 drew up, with the smiling faces of Carlos and 
 Theresa bent toward the house. 
 [39]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 As his guests settled themselves in the carriage, 
 Carlos said to them : ' 'If it pleases you, we will ride 
 through the Ouvidor, visit some parks, go to the 
 market, and spend the rest of the time in the Botani- 
 cal Gardens. So my grandmother planned. ' ' 
 
 With a flourish of his whip, the driver now started 
 his horses. On flew the carriage over the smooth 
 road. Each moment the twins saw something new. 
 Here was a lady leaning from her window and crook- 
 ing her finger at an acquaintance passing below, to 
 attract attention. Over there was a girl making an 
 odd motion to a friend in the opposite house; this 
 motion, Miss Lee explained to the twins, meant, 
 1 ' Good day to you." 
 
 Again a pedler attracted the children's attention. 
 He bore a wicker crate on his head, in which the 
 sightseers could hear a loud squawking; the man was 
 carrying live chickens to sell at the houses which he 
 passed. Still another man bore a tempting load of 
 cakes and candies. When Carlos saw him, he or- 
 dered the coachman to stop to let him buy some for 
 his friends. 
 
 As they turned a corner into Avenida Central, 
 the twins noticed a large and beautiful building. 
 
 "That is the Monroe Palace," explained Miss Lee. 
 1 ' An exact copy of it was set up at the St. Louis Ex- 
 position a few years ago to show Americans what 
 fine buildings may be found in Brazil." 
 
 Soon afterward the carriage entered a little park 
 where the twins found so many trees and plants un- 
 [40]
 
 SIGHTSEEING 
 
 like any they had ever seen before that all they were 
 able to say was one long, ' ' Oh-h ! ' ' 
 
 On whirled the carriage, and the party soon found 
 themselves in a still larger park where Carlos pointed 
 out the statues of some famous Brazilians. 
 
 ' * And next we will ride past the Ouvidor, ' ' he said. 
 " It is the busiest street in our city ; but as it is nar- 
 row, carriages and automobiles as well as trucks 
 aren't allowed to enter it at this time of day.'* 
 
 Joe looked a bit disappointed. 
 
 Seeing this, Carlos added quickly, "We can get 
 out at the corner, however, and walk down a little 
 way." 
 
 Accordingly, when the Ouvidor was reached, the 
 carriage was left in charge of the driver, and Miss 
 Lee and the children began to make their way along 
 the crowded street. 
 
 "There are all kinds of people here," remarked 
 Joe. "I can see Portuguese and negroes and Amer- 
 icans and, yes Italians." 
 
 "Englishmen and Spaniards also," said Miss Lee 
 quietly. ' ' As yet, Joe, I doubt whether you and your 
 sister can tell the difference between the Spaniards 
 and Portuguese, and between the Americans and 
 English." 
 
 "How gaily the buildings are painted!" exclaimed 
 Lucy. "Joe, do look at those flagpoles reaching out 
 from the stores just over the heads of the passers-by. 
 They make me think of the Fourth of July." 
 
 1 1 Ah, but our market ! ' ' said Carlos, who had been 
 enjoying the twins' interest in so many sights new 
 [41]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 to them. "You shall be proud of it with me. So let 
 us say good-by to the Ouvidor for to-day and make 
 our way there. ' ' 
 
 "On the waterfront," said Joe delightedly, as the 
 party drove up shortly afterward before the big 
 market. 
 
 "We will get out; then you shall see much," said 
 the young host, springing gracefully from the car- 
 riage and turning to help Miss Lee alight. 
 
 ' ' How lovely ! ' ' cried Lucy, stopping before a long 
 stand where oranges, bananas, pineapples and man- 
 goes were piled up, besides other fruits whose names 
 she did not know. She drew a long sniff of delight. 
 ' ' Mangoes have a delicious smell ! ' ' she added. 
 
 ' ' Urn m ! ' ' said Joe sympathetically. ' * And what 
 are these?" He pointed to a pile of mammee apples, 
 as big as cannon balls. 
 
 "Mammee apples are good and sweet and make 
 delicious jam," said Theresa, who was standing be- 
 side him. ' * Very good ! But I like fresh figs better. ' ' 
 
 ' ' It seems queer that we left autumn behind us in 
 New York and jumped into spring here," said Lucy, 
 as the party moved on. 
 
 1 ' We are upside down, ' ' laughed Joe. * ' And some 
 things here are inside out," he added, as they passed 
 a stand piled with fish whose eyes stuck far out of 
 their heads. 
 
 On wandered Miss Lee and the children, past piles 
 of salted beef and pork, till they came to the place 
 where the air was filled with the screeches of bright- 
 feathered parrots and cockatoos, the singing of birds, 
 [42]
 
 SIGHTSEEING 
 
 the cackling of fowls, and the grunting of guinea 
 pigs. The monkeys interested the twins most of all. 
 Big monkeys and little, grandfather monkeys and 
 baby monkeys, looked down at the children below 
 with wise eyes, as much as to say, "What do you 
 think of me?" 
 
 On leaving the market the sightseers drove to the 
 Botanical Gardens. As the carriage entered an ave- 
 nue lined with royal palms, Lucy exclaimed : 
 
 ' ' Why ! They are as tall as some of our New York 
 sky-scrapers!" 
 
 "Look at the soft gray bark and then overhead," 
 said Carlos. 
 
 All turned their eyes upward. Far above them 
 the feathery leaves spread out, making a beautiful 
 green archway. 
 
 The driver soon turned his horses into another 
 beautiful avenue, where the party got out to explore 
 for themselves. 
 
 For the first time in their lives, the twins saw 
 cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg trees. They stopped 
 to admire the pretty yellow blossoms of a cinnamon 
 tree. 
 
 "Do these blossoms change into nuts from which 
 we get our cinnamon?" asked Lucy. 
 
 "No," said Miss Lee. "It is the bark of the tree 
 which furnishes the spice. But the nutmegs grow 
 like any other nuts." 
 
 "Look! This is a cow-tree." As Carlos spoke, 
 he pointed to a tree which his guests were passing 
 [43]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 without notice. ' ' Tap this ; you then get a drink like 
 milk," he added. 
 
 "You can find here almost all things that grow in 
 Brazil," said Miss Lee. 
 
 It was even so; before leaving the Gardens, the 
 children saw rubber-trees, palms of many different 
 kinds, camphor-trees, and so many others that Lucy 
 and Joe almost lost their breath in trying to tell their 
 parents about them afterward. The bamboos pleased 
 them most. They were so pretty and graceful, and 
 grew so thickly together that they gave a pleasant 
 shade. 
 
 "See!" cried Theresa, pointing to some immense 
 red and gold butterflies flitting gaily about in a sunny 
 spot. "And there, there!" she continued, looking 
 toward a bush among whose leaves a humming-bird 
 was flitting. The bird's back was of a deep rich blue, 
 and its tail was very long. 
 
 "What a beauty! Maybe its nest is hidden away 
 in that bush ! ' ' exclaimed Joe, creeping softly toward 
 it. 
 
 "I fear we must not stop for any more discov- 
 eries," said Miss Lee. "The sun is near its setting, 
 and we had better think of home. But do look, chil- 
 dren, in passing, at the orchids whose vines festoon 
 the branches of yonder tree." 
 
 "0 dear! I hate to leave," said Lucy, sighing. 
 
 "Other days are coming, you know," comforted 
 Miss Lee, as she led the way to the carriage. 
 
 [44]
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 AMONG THE COFFEE FIELDS 
 
 IV/r UMMIE ! Mummie ! ' ' called the twins as they 
 ** flew into the house. "We've had such a good 
 time ! ' ' And with these words, they ran straight, not 
 into their mother's arms, but their father's. 
 
 ' ' I 'm so glad you Ve got home, ' ' said Lucy, giving 
 Mr. Grayson's cheek a loving pinch. " You've been 
 late almost every evening, so I didn't expect to see 
 you now. ' ' 
 
 "I have been late, I know, but there has been a 
 great deal of work in my getting settled in the new 
 business. But now I begin to see daylight," replied 
 her father. "Where have you been to-day, little 
 folks?" 
 
 "Over to the Palace," said Joe. The home of 
 Senhor Vasco was so grand that Joe and Lucy had 
 given it this name. 
 
 ' * We Ve had a splendid time, ' ' said Lucy. * ' First 
 we played with the pets. I don't care much for the 
 macaws. They can't talk as much as other kinds of 
 parrots. Their voices are so shrill, I sometimes want 
 to cover my ears when they call. Senhora Vasco 
 doesn't like to have them in the house, so Carlos 
 keeps them out in the yard in a little place his father 
 had built for them." 
 
 [45]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 "But they are beauties,*' broke in Joe. "I'd like 
 to see any birds handsomer bright red feathers al- 
 most all over their bodies, with deep blue wings. 
 They are really very wise birds. I enjoyed watching 
 the iguana, too. Its back is such a pretty green. It 
 is young yet not three feet long. An iguana, you 
 know, is a big kind of lizard and almost all tail." 
 
 "I like Theresa's little monkey best," said Lucy. 
 "Do you know, Daddie, it went to sleep on my lap 
 this morning, and when it woke up, it jumped down 
 on the tiger skin on the floor and rolled over like a 
 kitten." 
 
 "What did you do besides play with the pets?" 
 asked Mr. Grayson. 
 
 "Of course we spent a long time at the dinner 
 table. We had chicken and pork," said Lucy, "and 
 a queer sort of hash made of meat and farina " 
 
 "And queer little hard biscuit, and jaboticabas," 
 added Joe. "The jaboticabas are like plums. Car- 
 los told me they have no stems, but grow right out of 
 the trunk of the tree." 
 
 "But what did you children play?" 
 
 ' ' Theresa and I kept house with our dolls most of 
 the time," said Lucy. 
 
 "And Carlos and I flew parrots," said Joe. 
 
 "Flew parrots?" 
 
 ' * Yes, Daddie ; paper ones with long tails. Carlos 
 has other lovely kites too, different from any I ever 
 saw. Then we played some quiet games in the house, 
 and after that" Joe's eyes danced "I got Carlos 
 to have a match with me turning somersaults. At 
 [46]
 
 AMONG THE COFFEE FIELDS 
 
 first he was slow, but he soon got the hang of it; 
 and what do you think, Daddie he finally beat me 
 out!" 
 
 Mr. Grayson laughed. 
 
 "What do you suppose Carlos told me to-day 1 ?" 
 Joe went on. "He said: 'You always seem to think 
 of me and Theresa as Portuguese. So we are, for 
 our grandparents came from Portugal; but we are 
 Brazilians because my family adopted this country. 
 Besides this, we are Americans just like you, only I 
 have always lived in South America, while your home 
 is North America.' " 
 
 "What did you say to that?" asked Mr. Grayson. 
 
 ' ' That I had never thought about it before, but I 
 was glad, because that made Carlos my brother." 
 
 "Very good, Joe. And now, perhaps, you and 
 Lucy would like to hear some pleasant news. ' ' 
 
 "What is it?" cried the twins. 
 
 "Come to dinner, dears," called their mother, ap- 
 pearing in the doorway. 
 
 As soon as the family was settled around the table, 
 Mr. Grayson said : 
 
 "The business is now running smoothly, so I can 
 leave the city for a few days to visit some rich coffee 
 lands where berries we ship from Bio are raised." 
 
 ' ' And you will take us with you ? ' ' cried Joe, jump- 
 ing up from the table in his excitement. 
 
 ' * To-morrow, ' ' replied his father, with a sly smile 
 at his wife. 
 
 "To-morrow!" cried Mrs. Grayson. "Why, we 
 can't get ready so soon." 
 
 [47]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 "You said 'can't' once before about leaving New 
 York so suddenly." Mr. Grayson smiled. "But we 
 managed it all right. And really, I must take advan- 
 tage of the present time, or not go at all. ' ' 
 
 The result was that the next day the Graysons 
 left Eio on a train bound for Sao Paulo, the second 
 largest city in Brazil. 
 
 The way led first up among the mountains. The 
 twins were kept busy looking at the different sights 
 to be seen from the train windows. Perhaps it was 
 a view of the distant sea from a lofty point on a 
 mountain slope. Again it was a river whose banks 
 were covered with tropical trees. Most interesting 
 of all were colonies of ant hills as big as beehives^- 
 
 When the train stopped at the wayside stations, 
 Mr. Grayson often took the children out on the plat- 
 form to watch the country people gathered there. 
 Many of them were Italians who had found a happy 
 home in Brazil, where the balmy air is much like that 
 of Italy. Clumsy ox-carts were often lined up at the 
 station, and carriages bobbing on two wheels. 
 
 At sunset the travelers found themselves in the 
 bustling city of Sao Paulo, where they had a good 
 supper and a night's rest at the hotel, after which 
 they went on with their journey. 
 
 "A few hours more will bring us to the station 
 where Senhor Gonzalo is to meet us and take us to 
 his plantation," said Mr. Grayson. "Though a 
 stranger to us, he is such a dear friend of Mr. Joyce 
 that he will surely give us a hearty welcome. ' ' 
 
 "As he is a Portuguese, he will be hospitable, 
 [48]
 
 AMONG THE COFFEE FIELDS 
 
 without doubt," said Mrs. Grayson with a happy 
 smile. 
 
 Her words came true. When the travelers left the 
 train, they found Senhor Gonzalo waiting for them 
 with a comfortable carriage and span of horses. He 
 was so pleasant that the twins were talking with him 
 as easily as if he were an old friend before they had 
 scarcely left the station. 
 
 On rolled the carriage over a smooth road between 
 fields covered with rows of low trees. The leaves 
 were of a dark glossy green and among them were 
 countless snowy-white blossoms. 
 
 "Oh-h!" exclaimed Joe; and "Oh-h!" echoed 
 Lucy, as their eyes feasted on the beautiful sight. 
 
 Senhor Gonzalo looked pleased. 
 
 "We never tire of the beauty of our coffee trees," 
 he said in excellent English. * ' But it changes. When 
 the blossoms fade and the bright red berries take 
 their place, then our fields make a picture that would 
 indeed make you cry * Oh ! ' " 
 
 Senhor Gonzalo went on to tell of the harvesting 
 time when men, women, and children flock to the 
 coffee districts from all the country round, to pick 
 the berries. Then the fields are alive with people, 
 each one trying to outdo the others in filling and 
 refilling his basket ; for the laborers are paid accord- 
 ing to the number of pounds they pick. 
 
 The story was so interesting, it seemed but a mo- 
 ment to the twins before the carriage entered the 
 driveway of Senhor Gonzalo 's plantation, or fazenda, 
 [49]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 as the Portuguese say. Senhora Gonzalo stood wait- 
 ing in the doorway to welcome her guests. 
 
 After supper, the host led the way to the veranda 
 where all sat talking in the moonlight till long past 
 the usual hour for the twins to go to bed. 
 
 "Did you notice any ant-mounds on your way here 
 from Bio?" Senhor Gonzalo asked his guests. 
 
 "Indeed, yes. And they were bigger than -any I 
 ever dreamed of," said Joe promptly. 
 
 "It seemed as if the little creatures could have 
 no troubles, did it not, as they went in and out of 
 their homes as though they had no enemies to 
 fear?" 
 
 Joe and Lucy nodded. 
 
 "Ah! but they have a cruel enemy, the clumsy 
 ant-bear, that devours them by the thousands. The 
 big, lazy creature has no teeth, so he seeks his food 
 among the ants, because he can catch them with his 
 tongue and swallow them without trouble. ' ' 
 
 "I'd like to see a live ant-bear," said Joe, "be- 
 sides other wild animals that live in this country 
 armadillos and Brazilian foxes and wolves and tiger 
 cats and and jaguars." 
 
 ' ' You might not have much trouble with the others, 
 but beware of the jaguar." Senhor Gonzalo spoke 
 very seriously. "When I was a young man, I spent 
 months hunting in the wilderness west and north of 
 us. I went as far as the lofty Andes mountains, with 
 an Indian companion. We had many adventures, 
 but none as dangerous as the one with a jaguar." 
 [50]
 
 AMONG THE COFFEE FIELDS 
 
 "Did you kill him?" Joe nearly jumped out of 
 his seat in his excitement. 
 
 ' * No. ' ' Senhor Gonzalo smiled at the disappoint- 
 ment he saw in the boy's face. "In following the 
 trail of a fox, I became separated from my com- 
 panion. Then, suddenly, as I entered a deep forest, 
 I caught sight of a jaguar a big fellow he was. At 
 once, I was filled with the longing to secure that 
 handsome, tawny skin. Recklessly and without fear 
 I shot at him. 
 
 "I missed my aim. The shot entered the crea- 
 ture's foreleg instead of his heart. He was furious 
 and plunged toward me. Again I shot, and again 
 my bullet missed a vital point. 
 
 ' ' Then, alas ! With the jaguar now close upon me, 
 I discovered that my revolver was empty. There 
 was no time to reload. I had barely time to climb 
 the nearest tree. Clinging to a high branch, I could 
 see the creature on the ground below, looking up 
 with fiery eyes and wide-open jaws, and howling 
 angrily. ' ' 
 
 "And then?" Joe broke in. 
 
 "As the sun was already setting, I remained in 
 the tree all night. Toward morning the jaguar, tired 
 of waiting, went off in search of other prey. But if 
 he had ever tasted human blood, he might not have 
 lost patience. 
 
 ' * Ah, but that night ! ' ' Senhor Gonzalo closed his 
 
 eyes thoughtfully. "Monkeys filled the woods with 
 
 their screeching, and once I heard the shrieks of a 
 
 tiger cat. It came nearer and nearer. More than 
 
 [51]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 once I imagined it was climbing the tree where I 
 lodged." 
 
 "I guess you were glad enough when morning 
 came," said Lucy, shuddering. 
 
 "Indeed, yes; glad also to find my Indian com- 
 panion, who, as it happened, was but a short distance 
 away all the time. But, little folks, let me give you 
 something pleasanter than jaguars to put into your 
 dreams to-night. Shut your eyes for a moment, and 
 we will travel into the long-ago to visit an Indian 
 village before the white men came to Brazil. We 
 need not go far from this plantation, for the country 
 round about us was all wilderness then. 
 
 "Ah! here we stand before a little hut made of 
 reeds. Bed children are playing about the hut. 
 They wear little clothing it is so warm, they do not 
 need more. These Indian children sleep on piles of 
 grass which their mother has gathered and dried. 
 They need never go hungry, for bananas and plan- 
 tains grow wild near by, and their father brings home 
 birds and wild animals from the hunt for his wife to 
 roast in hot ashes. Their mother gathers edible roots 
 in the fields and forests. Can you guess what is the 
 most precious of these roots?" 
 
 "I know, I know!" Joe answered in a flash. "It 
 is manioc. Mother says it's what tapioca and farina 
 are made out of. Our cook uses a great deal of it. ' ' 
 
 * ' Quite right. And all Brazilians have it on their 
 table. The Indians showed us whites how to pre- 
 pare it. So let us watch the mother of these red 
 children we are visiting. She is pulling out of the 
 [52]
 
 AMONG THE COFFEE FIELDS 
 
 ground some roots as thick as large beets. She 
 brings them to her home, and with heavy stones 
 presses out a poisonous juice. Then, carefully wash- 
 ing the roots, she pounds them into meal. ' ' 
 
 ''I hope," said Lucy, with half-closed eyes, "she 
 will make nice cakes out of the meal. But what will 
 she use to sweeten them?" 
 
 "Honey from wild bees' nests," suggested Joe. 
 
 "Perhaps." Senhor Gonzalo smiled. "But I 
 doubt if those old-time Indians had such a 'sweet 
 tooth' as ourselves; they were doubtless satisfied to 
 eat manioc cakes without sugar or honey. 
 
 "But look! While we are talking about them, 
 these red children are becoming greatly excited. 
 What can be the matter? Oh, now we see. The 
 father has just brought home some big red monkeys, 
 of which a feast will shortly be prepared for the 
 family and their friends." 
 
 ' ' dear ! How I should like to go hunting in the 
 wilds of this country and meet Indians !" sighed Joe. 
 "By the time I grow up it may be all settled." 
 
 "Never fear, my boy." Senhor Gonzalo laughed. 
 * ' A large part of Brazil is still a wilderness far from 
 any railroad. For years to come, countless wild ani- 
 mals may be found in the country, as well as wander- 
 ing tribes of Indians. ' ' 
 
 "It is getting late for the little folks," said Mr. 
 Grayson, looking at his watch. In the brilliant moon- 
 light he saw readily that it was half -past ten. 
 
 As Mrs. Grayson got up to lead the twins off to 
 bed, her hostess said with a kind smile, "As soon as 
 [53]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 you rise in the morning, I hope you will go to your 
 window and take a long sniff. ' ' 
 
 Then she embraced Lucy and her mother and 
 patted their backs several times. This was to show 
 them in Portuguese fashion that already her Ameri- 
 can guests were like old and dear friends. 
 
 The sun had scarcely shown his head above the 
 distant hills the next morning when Lucy's eyes 
 opened and looked about the strange room. 
 
 "Where am I!" she asked herself sleepily. Then 
 she remembered, and at the same time the words of 
 Senhora Gonzalo of the night before popped into her 
 mind. Out of bed she jumped and, running to the 
 open window, drew in a long breath of the fresh air. 
 
 "Oh!" she whispered to herself in delight. The 
 little girl was drinking in the fragrance of coffee 
 blossoms with which the damp morning air was 
 laden. 
 
 "Joe, Joe!" she called softly to her brother in the 
 next room. 
 
 Ten minutes afterward, both children were dressed 
 and had stolen quietly out among the long rows of 
 coffee-trees. There Senhor Gonzalo and their father 
 soon joined them. 
 
 "How well-kept your orchards are!" said Mr. 
 Grayson admiringly. "Scarcely any weeds can be 
 seen." 
 
 ' ' That is the way to secure heavy crops ! ' ' was the 
 answer. "Besides, the trees must be carefully 
 pruned and not allowed to grow higher than twelve 
 feet or so." 
 
 [54]
 
 AMONG THE COFFEE FIELDS 
 
 "You raise only the red berries, I understand," 
 remarked Mr. Grayson a little later. 
 
 "Only red, because they have a richer flavor. 
 Many planters, however, are now raising the yellow 
 berries which give more abundant crops ; but I pre- 
 fer the best." 
 
 As Senhor Gonzalo spoke, he led the way to broad 
 paved yards close to which stood large buildings. 
 
 * ' In these yards, and by means of the machines in 
 the buildings before us," explained Senhor Gonzalo, 
 "the coffee berries are washed, dried, husked, 
 weighed and prepared for shipment. The most im- 
 portant work of all is the drying, when the berries 
 lie spread out on the pavement in the sunlight." 
 
 As he spoke, a negro servant came toward the 
 party. 
 
 "Breakfast is ready, sir," he said, bowing to his 
 master. 
 
 Joe and Lucy were glad to hear the word "break- 
 fast. ' ' The older people had already had coffee and 
 rolls in their rooms, but the children had run out of 
 the house before the maid appeared at their doors 
 with this early refreshment. 
 
 After breakfast, Senhor Gonzalo led his guests to 
 a side room whose walls were lined with glass cases 
 filled with butterflies and stuffed birds. 
 
 "What beauties!" cried Joe, as he and Lucy 
 turned to one after another. 
 
 Lucy said nothing; she was thinking what a pity 
 it was to kill such beautiful creatures. 
 [55]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 Senhor Gonzalo noticed the sad look in the little 
 girl's eyes. "I was a little savage when I made this 
 collection," he said quickly. "I could not kill one 
 of those lovely songsters now." 
 
 [56]
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 BACK TO BIO 
 
 T^OUR days passed by like a happy dream. The 
 * twins walked and rode horseback; they feasted 
 on the dainties Senhora Gonzalo's cook prepared for 
 the guests; they watched the workmen tending the 
 coif ee-trees ; they played with the pet of the house- 
 hold, a tame monkey that performed many tricks. 
 Then, one sunny afternoon, they found themselves 
 once more at home, where Miss Lee was watching 
 for them and the cook had an excellent dinner ready. 
 
 The next morning Carlos and Theresa came to see 
 them. 
 
 1 'We have missed you so much," said Theresa, 
 putting her arms around Lucy's neck. "And we 
 want you and Joe to go with us down the bay to- 
 morrow. Father will take us in a sail-boat and we 
 can have a picnic dinner on one of the islands. ' ' 
 
 ' * Goody, goody ! ' ' cried Lucy ; while Joe turned a 
 somersault to show his delight. 
 
 The picnic proved a great success. The sail was 
 a fine one ; the dinner, eaten in a grove of banana- 
 trees, was delicious ; and all four children waded in 
 the shallow water along the shore to their hearts' 
 content. 
 
 [57]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 Weeks went by, full of pleasure for the twins. 
 Sometimes they went sightseeing; at other times 
 they played with Carlos and Theresa and their pets. 
 Joe and Carlos often went out into the country to fly 
 kites. Theresa taught Lucy some Portuguese songs 
 and dances. She and her brother showed the twins 
 how to play some new games. 
 
 "Almost Christmas already!" Lucy said to her 
 mother one day. "Won't it be the funniest thing to 
 have Christmas come in'the middle of summer." 
 
 Before Mrs. Grayson had time to answer, Joe burst 
 into the room. 
 
 "What do you think!" he cried. "We are going 
 to Petropolis to spend the holidays. I've just been 
 down to father's office and he told me." 
 
 "Is it true?" Lucy had dropped the doll's dress 
 she was making and was now dancing about her 
 mother. 
 
 "Yes, dear. Your father thinks that a visit to the 
 beautiful city among the mountains may keep us 
 from getting homesick for Christmas with the dear 
 ones in New York." 
 
 Shortly afterward Mr. Grayson arrived with still 
 more good news Senhor Vasco had decided to take 
 his mother and the children to Petropolis for the 
 holidays. 
 
 A jolly party soon left Rio for the summer capital 
 of Brazil. As the train climbed upward through nar- 
 row mountain passes, noisy streams could be seen 
 tumbling down over the rocks. The country around 
 was wild and beautiful. 
 
 [58]
 
 BACK TO RIO 
 
 As Petropolis came into sight nestling among high 
 mountains, Lucy asked, "Didn't one of the emperors 
 have a palace in Petropolis?" 
 
 Senhor Vasco, who had been busy reading a news- 
 paper, looked up with a smile. "Ah, you already 
 know something of our history," he said. "Let me 
 tell you more. 
 
 "When I was a lad this land was an empire, and 
 our ruler was the gentle Dom Pedro II. He was far 
 different from his father, Dom Pedro I, the first em- 
 peror. Before that we were under the rule of Portu- 
 gal. 
 
 "Many stories have I heard of the time when the 
 King of Portugal, father of Dom Pedro I, crossed 
 the ocean and settled in Eio with his whole court. 
 Those were gay times for the city, with constant 
 feasting and dancing, and the streets alive with royal 
 processions." 
 
 "Why should the King of Portugal leave his own 
 home and come to Brazil to live?" asked Joe. 
 
 "The great Napoleon was making all Europe 
 tremble, so the King came here for safety. But when 
 danger was over, he went back, leaving his son to 
 rule Brazil in his name. Then the people claimed 
 for themselves freedom from Portugal. * This coun- 
 try shall be an empire by itself,' they declared. 
 'The King's son shall be our ruler, however, and he 
 shall be called Dom Pedro I.' " 
 
 "Ah, but he was a bad one !" said Carlos, who had 
 been listening closely to his father's story. 
 
 "Quite right, my son. He was treated as he de- 
 [59]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 served when the people forced him to leave the 
 country. He left his young son behind him, and this 
 son, when little older than you, Carlos, was crowned 
 emperor." 
 
 "And then!" asked Joe eagerly. 
 
 "Dom Pedro II was loved by his subjects, though 
 he enjoyed books better than governing. When he 
 began to grow old, however, the people demanded 
 more freedom than they could have as an empire. 
 
 " 'We will become a republic!' they said. They 
 banished the old emperor, who died shortly after- 
 ward in Europe; and with little trouble we started 
 out as a free people like your own United States." 
 
 While Senhor Vasco was. talking, the train had 
 begun to slow up ; Petropolis was close at hand. 
 
 "You will soon see the palace of the good em- 
 peror," Carlos told his little friends, as they fol- 
 lowed their parents out of the train. 
 
 "But it is a boarding-school now," said Theresa. 
 ' ' Father says he will send me there to be finished off 
 as a young lady." 
 
 The next few days were busy ones for the children. 
 They went to the palace, in whose lofty rooms young 
 girls sat studying at desks made in a United States 
 factory. They listened to concerts where Brazilian 
 music was played. They took walks past fine houses 
 shaded by tall palms, with azaleas and orange-trees 
 blooming in the gardens. The boys went horseback 
 riding among the mountains. The ladies and little 
 girls took long walks into the country, bringing 
 bouquets of beautiful wild flowers back to the hotel. 
 [60]
 
 BACK TO RIO 
 
 Best of all, perhaps, to the children, was the grand 
 Christmas dinner and the exchange of gifts which 
 they had brought from Rio, but had not even hinted 
 at to each other till the Christmas sun peeped at 
 them from over the mountains. 
 
 [61]
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 SUEPKISES 
 
 1\/r OTHER darling, Miss Lee says Joe and I have 
 * * got along splendidly ! ' ' said Lucy, dancing into 
 her mother's room. 
 
 ' ' And I 'm sure we are up in the work of our class 
 at home," said Joe, who had followed his sister. 
 
 ''To say nothing of all the Portuguese we have 
 learned," added Lucy. 
 
 ' * You have both done well, and you deserve a good 
 long vacation. Moreover, I have a separate surprise 
 for each one of you." 
 
 ' ' A separate surprise ! ' ' cried Lucy. * ' Surely you 
 don't mean that Joe and I are not to share the same 
 thing!" 
 
 Mrs. Gray son smiled. 
 
 ' ' Be patient, dear, and let me explain. Your father 
 and I have an invitation for each of you. The one 
 for Joe is to take a voyage up the coast with Mr. 
 Joyce, who is going to Para at the mouth of the 
 Amazon, on business. After it is done, he will take 
 Joe on a steamboat trip up the King of Rivers. ' ' 
 
 "And see the Indians tapping rubber-trees, and 
 monkeys and parrots in their forest home and and 
 hurrah ! ' ' shouted Joe. 
 
 [63]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 But Lucy began to pout. 
 
 4 'I won't see any of the wonders," she said at last. 
 She choked over the words. "And Joe and I have 
 never been away from each other in all our lives. ' ' 
 
 "Listen, dear," said her mother, drawing the little 
 girl to her side. "You, too, are to take a trip. 
 Senhor Vasco is going westward to visit the mines 
 in the state of Minas Geraes. His mother and 
 Theresa will go with him ; but he fears the little girl 
 may be lonely without a playmate. So he has in- 
 vited you to join them. ' ' 
 
 "You'll see the miners digging out gold, and 
 perhaps you will find a diamond," said Joe encour- 
 agingly. 
 
 "Besides, Lucy," added Mrs. Grayson, "you will 
 be back in Bio in time to celebrate the Easter fes- 
 tival, which Joe will miss. ' ' 
 
 Smiles quickly chased Lucy's tears away and she 
 was soon busy helping to make plans for the two 
 journeys. 
 
 Joe and Carlos went away first. The little girls, 
 with their parents, went on board the steamer with 
 the boys and Mr. Joyce, and stayed till the last min- 
 ute before the start. Then, as they afterward stood 
 on the dock watching the ship move slowly away 
 from shore, they could not keep the tears from run- 
 ning, even as they waved their handkerchiefs. Their 
 brothers were going so far away ! 
 
 Early the next morning, however, two happy little 
 girls were in a train climbing up among the moun- 
 tains Lucy with dimpling cheeks and wavy, golden 
 [64]
 
 SURPRISES 
 
 hair, and Theresa, whose dark dreamy face was now 
 full of excitement. 
 
 "Look!" she cried more than once, afraid that 
 Lucy would lose sight of something interesting. 
 
 At first the train moved past coffee plantations and 
 villages beside pretty streams. Here and there on 
 some lonely hillside, the children caught glimpses of 
 a mud hut thatched with grass, and with half -naked 
 children playing around it. 
 
 "How can people live where there isn't a store 
 near for miles and miles ? ' ' Lucy said half to herself. 
 
 Senhor Vasco heard her. ' ' The people who live in 
 such places are satisfied with very little," he said. 
 * * If they have a cow to give them milk, a few fowls 
 to lay eggs, a couple of banana-trees, and a patch of 
 manioc, they think themselves quite comfortable. 
 Ah ! but they are lazy folks both negroes and white 
 people who live in that way." 
 
 The first stop made by the party was at a big town 
 where Senhor Vasco had to attend to some business. 
 
 "Why, this is a good deal like a New England 
 town," Lucy told her friends. "There are factories 
 along the river banks and the streets are well lighted. 
 And such nice large school buildings and colleges! 
 It seems queer. ' ' 
 
 "Why?" asked Senhor Vasco. 
 
 "Because there is such a wild country between us 
 and Rio, and and because this is South America." 
 
 "I wonder what you will say when we reach the 
 capital of the state at the end of another day's jour- 
 ney," was the answer. "Though Minas Geraes, or 
 [65]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 General Mines, as you would say in English, is mostly 
 a wilderness, it is one of the largest and most impor- 
 tant states of Brazil because of the rich stores of 
 gold and other minerals, as well as diamonds, found 
 in the river beds." 
 
 That evening as the travelers sat at dinner, Senhor 
 Vasco told the children about the discovery of the 
 first diamonds. 
 
 "We shall have to go back nearly two hundred 
 years," he said, "when negro slaves were searching 
 for gold and silver for their masters. One day, as 
 they were busy washing gold out of gravel, these 
 slaves found some beautiful pebbles. They took 
 them home to their masters, who used them as 
 counters when they played cards, believing the peb- 
 bles had no value. At length, however, one of the 
 gentlemen, who had been to India and seen diamonds 
 there, began to examine the stones. 'Aha!' thought 
 he, 'suppose these pebbles should be diamonds! I 
 will have them weighed and see if they are like com- 
 mon stones. If not, they must be sent to men in 
 Europe who have studied the nature of diamonds. ' 
 
 "This was done, and behold, the word came back 
 to Brazil that the stones were indeed diamonds, and 
 worth large sums of money. Since then, at least a 
 million dollars ' worth of the gems are sent each year 
 from our country to other lands. ' ' 
 
 "Please tell Lucy about the Braganza diamond," 
 begged Theresa. 
 
 "That noted diamond," explained Senhor Vasco, 
 "was found by three men who, for doing some great 
 [66]
 
 SURPRISES 
 
 wrong, were punished in this way : they were driven 
 out into the wilderness to live among the Indians. 
 One day, as they were washing gold out of some 
 river sand, they noticed a pebble that sparkled 
 brightly. 'Can it be a diamond?' they wondered. 
 'We will take it to the priest and ask him.' 
 
 "Now when the priest saw it, he also thought it 
 must be a diamond and carried it to the governor to 
 see what he would say. 
 
 " 'A diamond indeed,' decided the governor, 'and 
 a rare one. It is worth a great fortune. ' ' 
 
 "Did he give it back to those poor men?" asked 
 Lucy eagerly. 
 
 "No, my dear. He kept it for the government, 
 but he gave the three exiles freedom to return home 
 once more, and that was worth more to them than a 
 fortune. ' ' 
 
 The next day after this talk, the party started out 
 once more on their travels. Higher and higher 
 among the mountains climbed the train. At last, 
 Lucy and Theresa drew long breaths of delight as 
 they found themselves in Minas, the beautiful cap- 
 ital of Minas Geraes, tucked away in a lofty valley. 
 
 "This city is often called the Washington of Bra- 
 zil," said Senhora Vasco, "because in many ways, it 
 is said to be like the capital of the United States. ' ' 
 
 After a short stay in the lovely city, the travelers 
 made their way into the heart of the mining country. 
 They visited Diamantina, where they watched the 
 workmen washing the river sands for diamonds. 
 They went on horseback along rough mountain sides 
 [67]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 and saw the miners digging into the steep slopes for 
 gold, and packing the precious earth on the backs of 
 mules to be carried to the town below. 
 
 One morning as they were making their way slowly 
 over a rocky stretch, Senhor Vasco said: "Perhaps 
 it was here in these very wilds that the early Portu- 
 guese explorers found the first gold. They were 
 brave men, and feared nothing in their search for 
 wealth. They met Indians, many of whom they made 
 their slaves and set to work washing gold out of the 
 river sands." 
 
 Before the travelers turned homeward, they vis- 
 ited the town of Ouro Preto, or, as we would say, 
 black gold. Theresa had been there once before, and 
 she could hardly wait to lead Lucy to the monument 
 of Tiradentes, a great patriot who had died for his 
 country. 
 
 "Why Tiradentes means tooth puller." Lucy 
 was thinking aloud. * ' What a queer name ! ' ' 
 
 "He was called that because he used to go about 
 through the country pulling teeth for people. ' ' 
 
 "Oh-h! Just as our great patriot, Abraham Lin- 
 coln, was called the Bail Splitter," said Lucy 
 thoughtfully. 
 
 [68]
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 THE EASTER FESTIVAL 
 
 T 'VE had a perfectly lovely time, but I'm glad to 
 * be back with you, Mummie and Daddie. And oh ! 
 I do wish Joe were here!" 
 
 "Something from him is waiting for you/' Mrs. 
 Grayson managed to say between the hugs her little 
 daughter was giving her. 
 
 "I know it's a letter! Oh, do let me read it 
 quick. ' ' 
 
 "Your father and I had a long one which you shall 
 see later, but this is to your very own self. Bead it 
 aloud, dear, for we should like to hear it, ' ' said her 
 mother, drawing the letter from her pocket. 
 
 Hurriedly opening the envelope, the little girl sat 
 down on a foot-stool at her father's feet and began 
 to read her brother's words. 
 
 Dear Lucy: 
 
 I miss you dreadfully, but I'm having a splendid time 
 every minute. Here we are at Para after a fine voyage 
 up the coast. It is pretty hot here, for you know we are 
 close to the equator. Sometimes we go to the wharves and 
 watch men loading the big ships with rubber brought down 
 from the banks of the Amazon. The workmen are of all 
 sorts of colors white, brown, black Portuguese, Span- 
 iards, mulattoes, negroes. They go barefoot and carry 
 their loads on their heads. 
 
 [69]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 More than once I have seen a man on his way to market 
 with something on his head as hig around as a barrel. At 
 first, I couldn't make out what it was. But when I saw 
 a head with small black eyes sticking out and then draw- 
 ing in, I knew right off. It was a big Amazon turtle lying 
 on its back. And what do you think, Lucy! One turtle 
 like that will lay over one hundred eggs in the hot river 
 sand and leave them to hatch out by themselves. 
 
 I can buy pineapples and cocoanuts in the markets here 
 for a few pennies each, and they are the finest ever. And 
 say ! The bananas just melt in one 's mouth. 
 
 Do you remember, Lucy, the bright-colored houses on the 
 cliffs at Bahia ? They are of all sorts of bright colors here, 
 too. 
 
 Mr. Joyce has been to the big shops with us boys several 
 times, and we have bought hammocks to sleep in when we 
 go up the Amazon. We will hang them on the deck of the 
 little steamer, where we can always get a breeze. 
 
 I can't stop to write more now, as Mr. Joyce is calling for 
 me to get ready for a sail in the harbor. We will pass little 
 islands bordered by lilies, and the homes of thousands of 
 parrots and monkeys. 
 
 There, I must stop. To-morrow we will start on our trip 
 up the Amazon. 
 
 Good-by, twin dear, with lots of love to you all, from 
 
 JOE. 
 
 "I guess Joe and I will chatter like parrots when 
 he gets back," Lucy said with a merry laugh as she 
 finished the letter. 
 
 1 ' Only think ! Next week will be the last one before 
 Lent," said Mr. Grayson. "Then three whole days 
 for the carnival. Moreover, Senhor Vasco has in- 
 vited us to watch the processions from the balcony 
 over his office." 
 
 "Goody!" cried Lucy. "Then Theresa and I can 
 have such fun together. We can pour perfumed 
 [70]
 
 THE EASTER FESTIVAL 
 
 water from the balcony down on the passers-by. 
 That is what she does every year. ' ' 
 
 "Pour perfumed water!" Mrs. Grayson looked 
 puzzled. 
 
 " Everybody does it during the carnival, mother 
 dear. Theresa says we can buy the perfume in little 
 lead bottles very cheap, at stands set up along the 
 streets. Then, as the crowds pass our balcony, we 
 can lean over and squirt the water on any people we 
 choose. They will laugh as much as we." 
 
 The first morning of the carnival Lucy was awake 
 as early as on a Fourth of July at home. 
 
 "Daddie! Mummie!" she called to her parents. 
 "I know you can't be asleep with such a noise out- 
 side." 
 
 Already people were making their way through 
 the streets blowing horns, singing, and shouting. 
 
 After a hurried breakfast, Mr. Grayson took Lucy 
 out to see the city in its holiday dress. The houses 
 were decorated with flags and with bright-colored 
 lanterns that would be lighted when evening came. 
 Early as it was, the streets were crowded with 
 people. 
 
 "Look, look, Daddie!" whispered Lucy, excitedly. 
 "Some of the people have masks and dominoes on, 
 and they keep playing jokes on each other." 
 
 When Lucy returned home, she found Theresa al- 
 ready there, and for the rest of the carnival the two 
 little girls were together nearly all the time. They 
 watched processions and listened to music made by 
 people in the gay crowds, till they were tired. They 
 [71]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 squirted bottle after bottle of perfumed water on the 
 laughing, dancing, shouting passers-by. They 
 feasted to their hearts' content on cakes and 
 sweeties. Then, when night came, they tumbled into 
 bed so tired and sleepy they scarcely knew what they 
 were doing. 
 
 The last day of the carnival was the best of all. 
 A grand procession that was " hours long," as Lucy 
 said, marched through the streets. There were sol- 
 diers on horseback and beautifully trimmed floats on 
 which were men, women and children, dressed in the 
 fashions of long-ago ; there were comical figures rep- 
 resenting different animals. 
 
 "Best of everything," Lucy afterward told Joe, 
 "was the float bearing King Carnival on a magnifi- 
 cent throne and looking very grand in his royal 
 robes." 
 
 Theresa enjoyed the festival twice as much be- 
 cause her little American friend praised it so greatly. 
 "Lucy," she asked more than once, "do you have a 
 carnival that lasts three whole days, in New York?" 
 
 Each time Lucy was obliged to answer, "No o," 
 and once she added, "nor do we have so many holi- 
 days as you do in this country. It surely is fun to 
 have them come so often." 
 
 [72]
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 THE SURPRISE PARTY 
 
 rpO-MORROW!" cried Lucy joyfully. 
 ''To-morrow!" echoed Theresa. 
 
 The two girls had just finished a pretty dance 
 which Theresa was teaching her little guest, while 
 her grandmother played for them on the piano. 
 They sang as they danced. Senhor Vasco and Mr. 
 and Mrs. Grayson sat at one side of the room watch- 
 ing the children and the graceful old lady at the 
 piano. 
 
 ' * To-morrow ! ' ' repeated the grown-ups, smiling as 
 merrily as the little girls. 
 
 What was there in that one word to make every- 
 body seem so happy? It was this: Joe and Carlos 
 were expected home on the next day. 
 
 "If the Senhora is not too tired, I wish you would 
 repeat that pretty dance," said Mr. Grayson. And 
 then, just as the music started again, and the two 
 little girls began to move around the room, the door 
 opened and in bounded Joe and Carlos, with Mr. 
 Joyce close behind them. 
 
 What a laughing and kissing and talking together 
 there was for the next few minutes ! The steamer 
 had arrived ahead of time and Mr. Joyce, with the 
 [73]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 help of the telephone, had learned that the Graysons 
 were spending the evening at "The Palace." 
 
 "We will take everybody by surprise," he told the 
 boys ; and they hurried as fast as motor cars could 
 take them, to Senhor Vasco's home. 
 
 "How tanned you are, Joe! You would almost 
 pass for an Indian," said Lucy, getting the words in 
 edgewise. 
 
 "And how big you've grown, Lucy!" said her 
 brother. 
 
 "Polly is dreadfully lonesome hasn't learned a 
 new word since you went away," Lucy managed to 
 say. 
 
 At the same time, Carlos was whispering in 
 Theresa's ear, "I've missed you, little sister." 
 
 "Dear, dear brother," was the only answer, as 
 Theresa kissed her brother's hand which she had 
 been holding. 
 
 When the first excitement was over, the talk got 
 straightened out. The boys began to tell the story 
 of their adventures from the time they started up 
 the Amazon. 
 
 "The steamer that took us," explained Carlos, 
 "was not very large, but it carried thousands of 
 pounds of salt beef to the settlements along the river 
 banks." 
 
 "Such a big, beautiful river it is!" added Joe. 
 ' ' But what do you think ! Its water is a dingy yellow 
 color like pea-soup, because of the mud it brings 
 along with it." 
 
 [74]
 
 THE SURPRISE PARTY 
 
 "Then I don't understand how it can look pretty," 
 said Lucy. 
 
 "Just wait till you see the forests on either side, 
 and the beautiful plants and flowers," Joe replied, 
 enthusiastically. 
 
 "Indeed, yes!" cried Carlos. "In the first place, 
 it is big and broad, and there are many beautiful 
 little islands in it. But the shores! Think of it! 
 Forests on either side of us at least a hundred feet 
 high, with the trees tied together by a network of 
 vines and air plants some almost as fine and delicate 
 as silken threads, some as thick and strong as tree- 
 trunks. And blossoms everywhere on the vines as 
 they wind around the tree-trunks or stretch from 
 one tree to another even among the topmost 
 branches." 
 
 "Jungles stretch back from the Amazon for sev- 
 eral hundred miles on each side," added Joe, "and 
 everything grows so fast there on account of the 
 heavy rains, that if roads were made, they would be 
 hidden from sight by tangles of weeds in six 
 months." 
 
 ' * The Indians, in making their way in the forests, ' ' 
 put in Carlos, "often carry hatchets with which to 
 cut their way through the vines and brush. ' ' 
 
 ' * I thought I knew a good deal about palms before 
 I left Kio, ' ' said Mr. Joyce, who had been listening 
 to the boys with an amused smile, "but I have 
 learned, while we were away, of new kinds as well 
 as of many uses of the trees that I never heard of 
 before. Why, the Indians in the Amazon's jungles 
 [75]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 could not get along without the products of the 
 palm-trees. 
 
 "To begin with, the palm-trees furnish fruit and 
 oil almost all the food the Indians need, except the 
 flesh they get from wild animals. The rafters of 
 their huts are made of the straight trunks of one 
 kind of palm. The roofs are thatched with the leaves 
 of another kind. The hammocks in which they sleep 
 are woven out of palm fibers. The cradles their 
 babies lie in are often made of spathes from a palm- 
 tree. Ornaments which they wear on their heads are 
 carved out of palm wood, while their odd, musical 
 instruments are made from the stems of palm-trees. 
 
 "This makes me think of what we saw one eve- 
 ning, ' ' Mr. Joyce went on. ' * It was very dark. The 
 sky was hidden by black clouds ; not a star was in 
 sight. The boys and myself were lying in our ham- 
 mocks on the steamer-deck half asleep. Suddenly, as 
 we rounded a bend in the river, a glare of light burst 
 upon us from the shore, and sounds of weird music 
 greeted our ears. And now we could see that some 
 kind of a celebration was taking place. A hundred 
 or more half-naked Indians were marching around 
 a huge bonfire. Several of them were beating on 
 drums, or playing on fifes. At a motion from their 
 leader all stopped, then began to move again in a 
 slow, solemn dance in and out among the trees." 
 
 * ' A solemn dance ! ' ' laughed Lucy. ' ' That sounds 
 funny. ' ' 
 
 "But it was solemn," declared Joe. "It almost 
 made me shiver to watch it. ' ' 
 [76]
 
 THE SURPRISE PARTY 
 
 "We heard many other strange sounds during 
 those nights on the river," continued Mr. Joyce 
 thoughtfully. "There were the cries of wild ani- 
 mals, for instance, that would not be at all pleasant 
 to a lonely traveler in the forest. But we, safe on 
 ship-board, could enjoy them because of their very 
 strangeness." 
 
 "In the daytime, there was something interesting 
 to see as well as hear every minute," added Joe 
 eagerly. "Sometimes we were out in midstream 
 making our way among beautiful little islands. 
 Sometimes we lay close to one bank or the other, but 
 there were always wonderful trees and flowers to 
 look at ; or the huts of Indians with naked children 
 playing about and diving in the water; or strange 
 birds and animals among the trees. And, say ! We 
 saw a real live river-cow! It was a clumsy thing, 
 but it hurried to get out of the way of the steamer. 
 The Indians eat the flesh and think it good, though 
 it is tough and tasteless." 
 
 "They like a stew of nice fat lizards better, I'm 
 sure." Carlos laughed. 
 
 "Oh!" cried Mrs. Grayson, with a shudder. 
 
 * ' Dreadful I ' ' said Lucy, making up a face. 
 
 "I can't bear to think of it!" said Theresa. 
 
 ' * All right. Then let 's change the subject, and go 
 back to the steamer," said Mr. Joyce. "Here we 
 are on deck again, moving past the tall forests, from 
 which hundreds of monkeys' faces are peering out 
 at us. They look almost as wise as human beings, 
 don't they? Ah! Now they turn their sharp eyes 
 [77]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 away, and go on with their play. They hang from 
 the vines stretching from tree to tree. They chase 
 each other in sport. They make festoons of their 
 own bodies joined together by their tails. We laugh 
 at the merry sight. ' ' 
 
 "And then the parrots and macaws and paro- 
 quets ! ' ' exclaimed Carlos. ' ' Sometimes it seemed as 
 if the woods were full of them. They filled the air 
 with their chatter. Such beauties as they were too, 
 of red and gold, and other bright colors." 
 
 "I think you boys found the time to pass very 
 fast," Mr. Joyce said with a smile. 
 
 "Too fast!" Joe declared quickly. "Why, we 
 haven't begun to tell all that happened. We visited 
 a cacao plantation. We saw the home of an Indian 
 rubber gatherer and watched him tap the rubber- 
 trees, and " 
 
 "One thing at a time, my boy," interrupted Mr. 
 Grayson. "Suppose you tell us first about the 
 plantation." 
 
 "All right, sir." Trying to speak more slowly, 
 Joe went on. ' ' Our steamer had to stop at a station 
 near a cacao plantation to leave some provisions, so 
 we had time to land and go over to see it. The 
 planter was a Portuguese and as kind as could be. 
 He gave us mules on which we rode through the 
 orchards. We must have seen thousands of cacao 
 trees with bright green leaves, and fruit growing 
 close to the branches. ' ' 
 
 "Are cocoa and chocolate made out of the dried 
 fruitf" asked Lucy. 
 
 [78]
 
 THE SURPRISE PARTY 
 
 "No, you dear little goose." Joe laughed. ''The 
 fruit is bright yellow on the outside, with a white 
 pulp inside; hidden in this pulp are about thirty 
 brown seeds. After these have been separated from 
 the pulp and dried, they are sent away to be made 
 into cocoa and chocolate; some of them go to fac- 
 tories in Europe and the United States. The planter 
 told us all about it. He said, too, that he and his 
 family often get lonely, living far away from any 
 town and I don't wonder." Joe stopped, out of 
 breath once more from talking so fast. 
 
 "Nor do I wonder," said Mr. Joyce. "One may 
 sail for days on the Amazon and see only a few 
 scattered villages on the banks, and these the homes 
 of Indians." 
 
 "I should like well to hear about your visit to a 
 rubber camp," said Senhor Vasco. "When I was a 
 boy I took such a trip as yours, and was especially 
 interested in the life of the rubber gatherers. ' ' 
 
 "Please, everybody," said Carlos, speaking 
 quickly, "shut your eyes, so you can't see this 
 brightly lighted room, and we can play we are aboard 
 our steamer on the Amazon." 
 
 The boy looked from one to another as, laughing, 
 all did as he asked. Then: 
 
 "Thank you," he said gravely. "Here we are 
 sailing close to shore. We are moving slowly now, 
 for we are going to stop at that little wharf with 
 the station behind it where the rubber gatherers 
 bring their loads to be shipped to Para. 
 
 "There are several dugouts made out of tree- 
 [79]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 trunks along the banks. These belong to the Indians 
 who have paddled down from their camps. Our 
 steamer is going to stop here for several hours, so 
 we get out and go into the station where we see piles 
 of rubber ready for shipment. An Indian has just 
 left his load and is about to go back to his camp. 
 Mr. Joyce asks him if we may go with him and watch 
 him gather rubber sap. He nods, and we follow him 
 into his rough boat. 
 
 "After paddling some distance, we land in front 
 of a hut with a small clearing about it. Around this 
 clearing is the blackness of the big forest." 
 
 Theresa and Lucy shuddered. 
 
 "The Indian's wife and children come out of the 
 hut to greet us. They look at us curiously, for they 
 have probably seen few white people in their lives. 
 
 "But we do not stay here long. The Indian goes 
 into a shed next the house and gets a hatchet and 
 some tin cups. Then he motions to us to follow him 
 into the forest. The path is narrow. More than 
 once we trip over a tangle of vines and brush. We 
 soon come to a straight tall tree before which the 
 Indian stops. Near the ground the bark is black and 
 scarred, but farther up it is smooth and silvery. We 
 know at once that this is the precious rubber-tree. 
 
 "The Indian takes his hatchet and cuts into the 
 bark. Something like thick milk begins to flow. The 
 man now fastens one of the tin cups below the cut, 
 so the sap can run into it. He makes several other 
 cuts, under each of which he fastens a cup. Then he 
 motions to us to follow him once more till he comes 
 [80]
 
 THE SURPRISE PARTY 
 
 to another rubber-tree, where he does what he did to 
 the first one. So on he goes, and we after him, 
 though we find it hard work. 
 
 4 'At last we turn back, making our way under trees 
 from whose branches monkeys are looking down at 
 us. Suddenly something heavy falls to the ground 
 close beside us. We jump back in fright; then we 
 laugh at ourselves, as we see what it is. Yet it might 
 have hurt badly if it had struck one of us." 
 
 "But what is it? An animal?" cried Theresa. 
 
 * ' No ; only a Brazil nut. But it is hard, and big as 
 a baseball. If we stop to open it we would find it 
 full of smaller nuts the nice little three-cornered 
 ones we like to crack and eat at home. ' ' Carlos came 
 to a sudden stop. Then he continued, "I'm tired! 
 Mr. Joyce, won't you or Joe take us through the 
 rest of the day?" 
 
 "I enjoy best to listen to-night," Mr. Joyce re- 
 plied with a smile. "I think Joe will be willing to 
 finish the story. ' ' 
 
 Joe, who had really been eager to speak for some 
 time, took up the thread without delay. 
 
 "We hurry back along the path because a storm 
 has suddenly arisen. We catch a glimpse of a sloth 
 hanging upside down on the low limb of a tree. It 
 is half asleep, and does not seem to notice that the 
 branch is shaking in the wind, and is likely to fall 
 off. Lazy, stupid thing, it cannot hurry. If it were 
 on the ground it could not travel more than six yards 
 in a whole hour. 
 
 "Still we hurry on. We notice a big snake coiled 
 [81]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 around a tree-trunk, with its shining eyes fastened 
 on a bird overhead. The bird cannot move for 
 fright. Poor thing ! The snake will soon be devour- 
 ing it." 
 
 ' ' Oh-h ! ' ' said Theresa in pity. 
 
 "The path is now hidden by the darkness of the 
 storm. But the Indian can still find his way, and we 
 follow close at his heels. We reach the hut, drenched 
 through from the rain that is falling thick and fast. 
 We hurry inside, to find the hut shaking from the 
 force of the wind. Every moment it seems to us as 
 if it would fall to the ground, yet the Indian's wife 
 does not seem scared. She is used to such storms, 
 and she goes on getting dinner ready for her family. 
 She invites us to eat with them. We are hungry, but 
 when we find a dish of stewed monkey before us, we 
 find it hard to swallow. 
 
 "Still the wind howls, and we hear the sound of 
 falling trees nearby. It is hard to think of anything 
 but the storm, but we try to listen as the Indian tells 
 us of the jaguar and other fierce creatures of the 
 forest. He describes a strange army that he once 
 met " 
 
 "An army!" exclaimed Senhora Vasco. 
 
 "Yes, dear Senhora, and there were millions in 
 that army. ' ' 
 
 * ' Millions ! ' ' exclaimed Lucy. 
 
 "Yes, millions." Joe smiled mischievously. 
 "This army" he spoke slowly "was made up of 
 ants. Straight ahead they marched, laying the 
 [82]
 
 THE SURPRISE PARTY 
 
 ground bare in their pathway. All the creatures of 
 the forest, big and little, fled before them." 
 
 "I'm glad I wasn't there," said Theresa. 
 
 "And I," echoed Lucy. 
 
 1 ' The Indian also told us stories of his hunts after 
 wild animals, and how pleased his children once were 
 when he brought home a paca, and his wife cooked it 
 for them. No doubt it was as great a dainty to them 
 as a rich cake is to us." 
 
 "A paca?" questioned Mrs. Grayson. 
 
 "It is a small animal much like a rat, only larger," 
 explained Senhor Vasco. 
 
 "Ugh!" cried his mother, shuddering at the 
 thought of eating a paca. 
 
 "The talk is so interesting that the storm stops 
 without our noticing it," Joe went on. "But Mr. 
 Joyce must have been watching. ' Come, we must get 
 back to the steamer,' he says, 'or it will be sailing 
 away without us.' After that we stay in the camp 
 just long enough to look into the shed, where the 
 Indian points to a big bowl nearly full of rubber 
 sap. * I make a fire of palm nuts, ' he tells us. ' Thick 
 smoke rises from the fire. I dip a broad paddle into 
 the sap. It sticks to the paddle which I whirl about 
 in the smoke. The rubber grows thick and black. 
 Again I put the paddle into the bowl of sap and then 
 I whirl the paddle in the smoke. So on and on till a 
 big lump of rubber six pounds maybe has formed 
 about the paddle. I cut it off with my knife. It is 
 ready to be shipped to the big city.' 
 
 "But we must not stay another minute. The In- 
 [83]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 dian's son paddles us back to the steamer and we 
 quickly lose sight of the rubber gatherer's little 
 home. But in our last glimpse of him, he is going 
 into the forest again with a large gourd, to fill it with 
 the sap that has run into the tin cups during the 
 day." 
 
 "I am glad I left the story to you boys," said Mr. 
 Joyce. * * You have told it well. ' ' 
 
 "Indeed they have," said Senhora Vasco. "Why, 
 it seems as if we had all been with you. ' ' 
 
 "Dear, dear!" suddenly exclaimed Mr. Grayson, 
 as he looked at the clock. "Half -past eleven! I 
 doubt if Joe and Lucy ever before sat up so late. We 
 must go home at once, and leave the hearing of more 
 adventures till another time. ' ' 
 
 As the older people bade each other good night, 
 Senhor Vasco said in a low voice : ' * My mother and 
 I are grateful to the United States for giving us such 
 good friends. My children, especially, are very 
 happy. They have gained a brother and sister." 
 
 As he spoke, the kind gentleman's eyes turned in 
 the direction of the young folks. Joe 's arm was rest- 
 ing lovingly on his boy chum's shoulder. Lucy and 
 Theresa were kissing each other as tenderly as if for 
 a long absence. 
 
 "My husband and I are equally grateful to Bra- 
 zil," replied Mrs. Grayson earnestly. "And for the 
 same reason." 
 
 "Good little Americans, all four of them," said 
 Mr. Joyce. At the same time he nodded smilingly at 
 the children, and added, "And they are better for 
 knowing each other. ' ' 
 
 [84]
 
 PART II 
 ARGENTINA AND ITS PAMPAS
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 PEEPS AT UBUGUAY 
 
 "DRAZIL is the best ever," said Joe, stroking 
 *-* Polly's feathers as she roosted on his shoulder. 
 
 "Best ever," echoed the bird. 
 
 " What good times we've had since we came here !" 
 Lucy drew a long breath of delight at the thought, 
 and then her mother entered the room breathless, 
 with cheeks as rosy as the children's, and eyes like 
 bright stars. 
 
 "What w the matter, Mummie dear?" cried Joe, 
 and followed with, "Have you got a letter of good 
 news! Are some of the home folks coming?" 
 
 Mrs. Grayson shook her head. 
 
 ' * But it 's good news for you children, ' ' she said as 
 she got her breath. "Your father has telephoned to 
 me that it is all settled. He has had a long talk with 
 Senhor Vasco and given his consent." 
 
 The twins looked puzzled. 
 
 "Consent to what?" asked Joe. 
 
 "Our good friend wants you both to " the dear 
 
 lady stopped because of a queer little lump in her 
 throat. Then she went on, * * go with him and Theresa 
 on a long journey." 
 
 "A long journey!" cried the twins together. 
 [87]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 ''Yes. You know he has decided to retire from 
 business ; but he is restless at the thought of so much 
 time on his hands, and wishes to travel. His mother 
 is not able to go, but he wants to take the children 
 for a trip into other countries of South America. 
 He invites you to join them me, too, but I couldn't 
 leave your father for so long. ' ' 
 
 "0 Mummie! you must go," begged Lucy. . 
 
 "No, my darling, but I can't be selfish and deprive 
 you of such an opportunity. Miss Lee, however, has 
 agreed to take my place." 
 
 "But isn't Theresa's governess going too?" asked 
 Lucy. 
 
 "No ; she told Senhor Vasco last week that she will 
 soon be married, and so must give up her work. Miss 
 Lee, however, is pleased at the idea of going and is 
 quite ready to take charge of you all. ' ' 
 
 "I just love Senhor Vasco," said Lucy enthusiasti- 
 cally. 
 
 1 i He 's a regular trump ! ' ' added Joe. ' ' When are 
 we to start?" 
 
 "As soon as everything can be got ready. You see 
 you are to be away a long time. ' ' 
 
 "We'll write long letters and tell you about every- 
 thing we see," said Lucy, giving her mother a big 
 hug. 
 
 Thus the matter was settled The next few days 
 were so busy that, as Lucy said afterward, they went 
 by like a dream. Then, one bright clear morning in 
 August a big ship sailed out of Rio's harbor and on 
 it went a party of sightseers bound for Argentina. 
 [88]
 
 FEEPS AT URUGUAY 
 
 On sped the ship past the noble mountains, and out 
 into the big ocean where Joe and Carlos quickly 
 sighted a whale blowing in the distance. Then south- 
 ward it moved for hours till the pilot made a sudden 
 turn to the west. 
 
 "We will soon reach Montevideo, the capital of 
 the little republic of Uruguay," Senhor Vasco told 
 the children. "The ship will stop there long enough 
 for us to see the city ; then we will cross the La Plata 
 river and settle down for several days in Buenos 
 Aires, the largest city in Argentina and in fact in all 
 South America." 
 
 "That must be Montevideo now," cried Carlos, 
 looking through a small telescope his father had 
 brought along. 
 
 "Monte-video that means, 'I see the mountain/ " 
 said Joe, turning to Miss Lee. She nodded her head 
 but said thoughtfully, ' ' The mountain behind the city 
 that gave it the name is scarcely more than a hill. ' ' 
 
 "It's a pretty harbor," said Lucy, as the ship 
 made its way inside. 
 
 "It's shaped like a horse-shoe," said Theresa, who 
 had been silently looking. 
 
 ' * There are so many different flags on the vessels 
 anchored here, it seems as if all the countries in the 
 world must be represented," said Miss Lee. 
 
 "There's our own red, white and blue ahead of us. 
 Hurray!" shouted Joe. 
 
 A moment afterward, the ship came to a stand- 
 still. It was almost instantly surrounded by small 
 boats, all of whose owners seemed anxious to secure 
 [89]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 passengers for the shore. Senhor Vasco chose a boat 
 with two jolly-looking rowers, who soon landed the 
 travelers at a big wharf. 
 
 ' ' Now we can set about * doing the city, ' ' ' declared 
 Carlos, and the twins laughed at their friend 's using 
 American slang. 
 
 "How clean everything looks !" said Miss Lee, as 
 the party reached one of the main streets. 
 
 "And what big buildings it makes me think of 
 New York, ' ' added Joe. 
 
 "Look quick, everybody, at these funny carts 
 drawn by mules, ' ' broke in Lucy. * ' What big, clumsy 
 wheels they have ! ' ' 
 
 "The noise they make is enough to give one a 
 headache," Miss Lee declared, with a smile that 
 showed they had not made her head ache yet, at any 
 rate. 
 
 "We will take a car that will carry us out of this 
 noisy quarter," said Senhor Vasco, who had been in 
 Montevideo a few years before. ' ' Ah ! the very one 
 we need is coming now. ' ' 
 
 Shortly afterward the travelers were whirling past 
 big blocks, and lovely squares in which they caught 
 glimpses of beautiful plants and trees and marble 
 statues. 
 
 "Not as many palms here as in Rio," remarked 
 Lucy. 
 
 "Look, do look!" whispered Carlos, nudging Joe. 
 
 A young girl was standing in the open window of a 
 
 house which the car was passing. She did not move ; 
 
 she was staring at a richly-dressed young man on the 
 
 [90]
 
 PEEPS AT URUGUAY 
 
 sidewalk, and he was also standing still and staring 
 at her. 
 
 ' ' They are making love to each other, ' ' Carlos con- 
 tinued. "Father has told me about this queer, Uru- 
 guay fashion. Perhaps the young man has been 
 standing there for hours. It is his way of telling the 
 girl he is in love with her. He probably feels happy 
 because she has opened the window and keeps look- 
 ing at him. It is her way of saying: 'I think you 
 are very nice. Go to my father and ask if he will let 
 you marry me. ' ' 
 
 "Hm! It's a sort of a game, isn't it?" Joe was 
 grinning. 
 
 "Yes, and it has a name it is called ' playing the 
 dragon.' ' 
 
 "What a beautiful house it's a regular palace!" 
 said Lucy from the seat behind the boys. The car 
 was now moving through the suburbs where the 
 wealthy people of Montevideo have their homes. The 
 house, made of cement, was decorated with frescoes. 
 There were tall trees and lovely gardens about it. 
 The shades were drawn as if the owners were away. 
 
 "That may be the house of a rich cattle-raiser," 
 suggested Senhor Vasco. "As spring opens, he and 
 his family probably leave this mansion to spend the 
 summer on their ranch in the country. Very likely 
 there are floors and pillars of marble in this city 
 home." 
 
 "Ugh!" Joe shrugged his shoulders. "Marble 
 floors may make it seem like a palace, but they can't 
 be cosy in winter." 
 
 [91]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 " Quite true, Joe, especially where there are no 
 stoves to warm the high-ceilinged rooms. The 
 people of Uruguay have an idea that the only health- 
 ful heat comes from the sun. So this will make you 
 smile the ladies here often receive their callers in 
 winter with hot-water bottles at their feet and heavy 
 cloaks about their shoulders." 
 
 "How queer some people are!" said Lucy. 
 
 "And how queer my stomach feels," said Theresa 
 quite seriously. 
 
 Every one laughed. 
 
 "You are hungry, little daughter," said Senhor 
 Vasco with a smile, "and in that case we'll change 
 over into the next car headed for the city and get 
 dinner at one of the best hotels." 
 
 Miss Lee, as well as the children, was pleased at 
 the idea still more so, when a half hour later they 
 were busy eating a dinner of the choicest things the 
 city could offer. 
 
 "I guess the people here have much the same 
 tastes as Brazilians," remarked Joe in a low tone. 
 "Several of those around us have ordered jerked 
 beef." 
 
 * ' Well they may, ' ' said Senhor Vasco. * ' Uruguay 
 is a cattle country ; it dries millions of pounds of beef 
 a year for other lands, besides immense quantities 
 that are eaten by the people here. 
 
 "I would like to take you about the country," he 
 continued, "but I have already planned to visit so 
 many places before our journey is over, that I fear 
 we must slight Uruguay this time." 
 [92]
 
 PEEPS AT URUGUAY 
 
 "If we only had an aeroplane we could see a great 
 deal in a single day, ' ' said Joe. 
 
 "If!" Carlos laughed. 
 
 "See here!" Senhor Vasco's eyes twinkled. 
 "While we are eating this delicious pineapple pud- 
 ding, there's nothing to hinder our skimming over 
 the little republic in a thought aeroplane, anyway." 
 
 The children nodded their heads in delight. 
 
 "Here we go, then; make up your minds not to 
 feel dizzy. Ah, as we rise, you can get a good view 
 of the Paris of South America, as the people here 
 call their city. Below us is the Solis Theater spread- 
 ing over two acres. Three thousand people can sit 
 in it at one time. ' ' 
 
 "Whew!" exclaimed Joe. 
 
 "And now we can get a good view of the grand 
 cathedral and the museum, and yes, that is the big 
 university. ' ' 
 
 "I can see a procession of young men leaving the 
 building," said Carlos, entering into the fun of 
 make-believe. 
 
 "Now then, away we sail so fast that you must 
 hold on tight over many miles of fresh green plains 
 where thousands of horses and cattle are feeding. 
 Do you see that mud hut? It is the home of a cat- 
 tle man. His children are playing nearby; they 
 must live almost as wild a life as the cattle. ' ' 
 
 "Two of the boys are riding horses bareback; I 
 guess they are racing with each other," said Joe, 
 with eyes that tried to look serious. 
 
 "As we fly onward," continued Senhor Vasco, "we 
 [93]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 notice a few towns, but they are small and far apart. 
 Montevideo is, in fact, the only real city in Uruguay. 
 It is a busy one because it is the port from which are 
 shipped all the beef and hides and beef-extract sent 
 to other countries. Oho ! This reminds me that we 
 must get a glimpse of Fray Bentos. Here it is, with 
 its large buildings, to which thousands of cattle are 
 driven every year to be killed, and what for! That 
 millions of pounds of beef may be obtained for 
 making beef tea." 
 
 Theresa shuddered. She was thinking of the poor 
 animals which had to be killed that sick human be- 
 ings might gain strength. 
 
 "As we leave Fray Bentos behind us," Senhor 
 Vasco went on, "we find ourselves near a factory 
 town. Great quantities of dried beef are prepared 
 here. But dear me ! ' ' He had taken out his watch 
 and was looking at the time. "We must get back 
 to Montevideo at once, as our steamer will leave in 
 an hour." 
 
 "I like to ride in an aeroplane," said Lucy, when 
 the merry party was soon afterward settled in a lit- 
 tle steam launch to be carried out to the ship. 
 
 "But the whirring sound makes me nervous," 
 Miss Lee smiled; "and my ears feel queer when I 
 am as high up in the air as we were a little while 
 ago." 
 
 The others laughed at her entering into the fun so 
 heartily. 
 
 1 ' And now for Buenos Aires ! ' ' cried Joe delight- 
 [94]
 
 PEEPS AT URUGUAY 
 
 edly, as the launch drew up beside the big steamer. 
 " There '11 be plenty to see there, I'm sure." 
 
 As the ship steamed out into the muddy, yellowish 
 water of the La Plata river, Miss Lee told the chil- 
 dren that English people often called it the River 
 Plate. 
 
 "On the map of my geography it looks almost all 
 mouth," said Lucy. 
 
 "Like a sculpin," suggested Joe. 
 
 By this time the ship had begun to rock and plunge, 
 for the water was getting rougher every minute. 
 
 "I think I feel a bit queer," said Miss Lee 
 faintly. The young girl 's face was a grayish white. 
 
 "You must be seasick. Let me lead you to your 
 stateroom," said Senhor Vasco. 
 
 "River-sick, I should say," said Joe, turning to 
 the other children. "But, Lucy, what's the matter 
 with you ! ' ' 
 
 "The ship seems to be going round." As Lucy 
 spoke she leaned limply against the deck-rail. 
 
 "Well, I never! You sailed down through the 
 
 Atlantic all right, and now " Joe's incfiith 
 
 twitched with a longing to laugh. He did not finish 
 the sentence, for he saw that his sister was in real 
 distress. 
 
 "Here, take my arm, twin dear, and we'll follow 
 Miss Lee double quick, ' ' he said. " I '11 be back again 
 in a minute," he promised Carlos and Theresa, who 
 seemed to be actually enjoying the rocking of the 
 ship. 
 
 [95]
 
 CHAPTER n 
 
 NEW SIGHTS 
 
 T AST night was the longest I ever knew," de- 
 -^ clared Lucy. The little girl was standing with 
 Senhor Vasco and Theresa on the upper deck of the 
 steamer. She was still a little pale, but her eyes 
 were as bright and her dimples as deep as usual. 
 
 "Seasickness is just terrible while it lasts," she 
 continued, "but now it's over, it doesn't seem as if 
 it could have been real. ' ' 
 
 "And before us is something that is real," said 
 Senhor Vasco with a smile. "In this morning sun- 
 light Buenos Aires certainly looks beautiful." 
 
 ' ' Isn 't it funny 1 ' ' said Joe, coming up with Car- 
 los and Miss Lee. "The captain just told me that 
 the people of Buenos Aires call their city the Paris 
 of South America, just as the people of Montevideo 
 do theirs." 
 
 "The two cities are jealous of each other," said 
 Senhor Vasco. "Perhaps it is because Uruguay 
 was once a part of Argentina." 
 
 "The Spaniards discovered Buenos Aires," Car- 
 los explained to the twins, "and they must have 
 found the air good here or they would not have 
 named the city as they did. ' ' 
 [97]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 "I see Buenos Aires means good airs/' said 
 Lucy, thinking aloud. 
 
 "And it's the biggest city in South America,*' said 
 Theresa; "bigger even than our dear Rio." 
 
 The steamer was now so near the shore that many 
 sky-scrapers and elevators could be plainly seen, as 
 well as wharves crowded with busy workmen. 
 
 ' ' There are many English people in Buenos Aires, 
 which they often call B. A. for short," explained 
 Senhor Vasco. "A great many of them carry on a 
 big trade with other countries, sending millions of 
 pounds of beef and thousands of hides from this port 
 every year, besides great quantities of grain." 
 
 "Look! look!" cried Joe, pointing to some ele- 
 vators, whose long tongues were pouring wheat into 
 the holds of ships drawn up below them. 
 
 "That wheat was raised on the plains of Argen- 
 tina and is now going out to feed rosy-cheeked boys 
 and girls in other lands, ' ' Miss Lee told the children. 
 
 "We're close to the wharf now," said Theresa 
 excitedly. 
 
 "There goes the gangplank," said her brother. 
 "We must hurry and get into line." 
 
 In the midst of the bustle which followed, Lucy 
 got a chance to whisper to Joe, "Carlos is getting 
 real American. Six months ago he never would 
 have thought of hurrying, for the best thing in the 
 world." 
 
 As Senhor Vasco led the way to a motor car, Miss 
 Lee cried out at the noise of the city. "The clank- 
 [98]
 
 NEW SIGHTS 
 
 ing and screeching of the overhead railroad is quite 
 dreadful," she declared. 
 
 "And what narrow, crowded streets!" said The- 
 resa. 
 
 "Plenty of policemen to keep order," added Car- 
 los. "They seem to be everywhere. " 
 
 "Funny little fellows almost as dark as In- 
 dians," remarked Joe. "They wear odd uniforms, 
 too white gaiters and wands, with blue suits." 
 
 "They are, no doubt, partly Italian or Spanish 
 and partly Indian," commented Senhor Vasco. 
 "There are, I believe, thousands of Italians as well 
 as the Spaniards and English people in the city. 
 Nearly every one here speaks Spanish, however." 
 
 As he spoke, the motor car came to a standstill in 
 front of a hotel and the driver sprang out to help the 
 party alight. 
 
 After a few minutes spent in their rooms ' * fresh- 
 ening up," the travelers went to the dining-hall, 
 where Joe declared he was so hungry he could eat 
 an ox. 
 
 " Or a part of one, at any rate, like the little girl 
 at the next table," said Miss Lee. ' ' She has a large 
 portion of boiled beef before her and it seems to be 
 rapidly disappearing." 
 
 "I've changed my mind, and will order roast lamb, 
 with cheese and macaroni," said Joe, after looking 
 over the bill of fare. 
 
 "That's an Italian dish. I suppose it's to suit 
 the taste of the Italians here," said Miss Lee. 
 [99]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 "I shall order fresh roasted armadillo," decided 
 Senhor Vasco. 
 
 "I, too," said Lucy, always ready for something 
 new. 
 
 "And I, the same," said Theresa and Carlos. 
 
 "It's so good," agreed the children after tasting 
 the tender white meat. "And much like broiled 
 chicken!" added Lucy. 
 
 The dessert proved to be equally delicious. ' ' These 
 preserved pears with flower-shaped cakes couldn't 
 be beaten," said Joe. 
 
 "Such pretty cakes are almost too nice to eat," 
 said Theresa. 
 
 ' ' Nevertheless, they are getting out of sight pretty 
 fast." Carlos laughed as he spoke. 
 
 As the party left the dining-room, Senhor Vasco 
 explained that he had to attend to a little business 
 that afternoon, but he had engaged a young Italian 
 guide to show Miss Lee and the children around the 
 city. "The hotel proprietor," he said, "recom- 
 mends the youth as quite trusty ; so, as soon as you 
 are ready, Beppo will take you to see the sights. ' ' 
 
 A half -hour later, a slim lad of sixteen, with olive 
 skin and soft dark eyes, was conducting the pretty 
 governess and her four charges past rows of brick 
 or cement buildings, whose front walls were orna- 
 mented with scrolls and roses and other designs. 
 
 "You will notice many beautiful doors," said the 
 
 young guide. "They came from across the great 
 
 ocean. This is because there is little building-wood 
 
 in Argentina little stone either. Sometimes out 
 
 [100]
 
 NEW SIGHTS 
 
 on the pampas" the boy pointed westward toward 
 the great plains "people raise peach-trees for 
 kindling-wood, because these trees will grow on our 
 soil. It often happens that there is so much fruit, 
 it falls to the ground only to lie there and rot, or else 
 it is given to the pigs." 
 
 "What a pity! There would be some lively pick- 
 ing if I were around," said Joe. "I never yet got 
 tired of eating peaches." 
 
 "Ah! here we are in the Plaza de Mayo," said 
 the young guide. "You will think it beautiful. It 
 has its name, Mayo, in honor of the month when our 
 people began their fight for freedom against the rule 
 of Spain. Not long afterward we became a repub- 
 lic." 
 
 While the youth talked, he pointed out the cathe- 
 dral on one side of the square, saying it would hold 
 nine thousand people ; he also showed the big build- 
 ing in which the President of Argentina attends to 
 most of the country's business. 
 
 "Now, perhaps you would like to go to the city 
 market, ' ' he said. 
 
 As the party neared the market, they passed two 
 men with heavy packs fastened on their backs with 
 ropes. 
 
 "Those men are porters," explained Beppo. 
 * * There are many of them in the city and almost all 
 came from Spain. ' ' 
 
 "They still dress in Spanish fashion," said Car- 
 los. "Their short jackets and the gay sashes wound 
 around their waists tell that." 
 [101]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 ' ' Look, look ! ' ' cried Joe. * ' There *s a man driving 
 a flock of turkeys right through the street." 
 
 "He must have got them at the market," explained 
 Beppo, ' ' and is going to peddle them from house to 
 house." 
 
 When the sightseers had entered the market, they 
 saw stalls filled with fresh and dried beef, and quan- 
 tities of fruit and vegetables. 
 
 "Not as fine fruit as at home," Carlos said to his 
 sister. 
 
 Beppo heard him. "In the spring," he said 
 quickly, "our fruit is not so plentiful as by-and-by. 
 Then, what beau-ti-ful grapes and peaches and 
 pears!" The lad drew out the word beautiful 
 
 He now pointed to a pile of armadillos whose shells 
 looked much like those of turtles; they had funny 
 little eyes. 
 
 "I have caught many armadillos when I was at 
 home on the pampas," said Beppo. "One must get 
 them at night because they stay in their holes all day. 
 But when the dark comes they creep out in search of 
 fruits and roots. ' ' 
 
 Before leaving the market the party passed stalls 
 filled with live chickens which filled the place with 
 their noisy squawking. Miss Lee drew a sigh of 
 relief on reaching the outside air. 
 
 "We will now, if you like, take a car for the Calle 
 Florida, ' ' said Beppo. " It is the fashionable shop- 
 ping street, and as it is nearly five o'clock, it is the 
 time when the ladies of the city walk there freely. 
 [102]
 
 NEW SIGHTS 
 
 If they went out earlier, they would be much stared 
 at." 
 
 When the sightseers got out of the car at the Calle 
 Florida, they found the sidewalks crowded with peo- 
 ple. They managed to see, however, that many of 
 the stores were beautiful. Joe came to a standstill 
 in front of a large window. 
 
 "What brilliant diamonds and rubies and sap- 
 phires!'* he exclaimed. 
 
 To please him, Miss Lee stepped up to his side to 
 examine the gems. An instant afterward, as she 
 turned around, she cried, "Where's Theresa?" 
 
 The little girl was nowhere in sight. 
 
 "Dear! dear!" Miss Lee wrung her hands in 
 fright at the thought of timid little Theresa lost in 
 the crowd of strange people. 
 
 "Step inside this store, lady quick," said Beppo. 
 "I go at once after her." 
 
 "Joe and I will go in one direction, you in the 
 other," said Carlos promptly. He spoke quietly, 
 but his eyes showed he was worried for his sister's 
 safety. 
 
 The next five minutes seemed like hours to Miss 
 Lee and Lucy as they stood watching from inside the 
 store. 
 
 "Suppose Theresa's been run over!" suggested 
 Lucy with a lump in her throat. 
 
 "Or kidnapped," thought Miss Lee in agony. 
 And then, as she began to tremble with fear, Beppo 
 appeared with Theresa, out of breath and trembling, 
 but quite safe. 
 
 [103]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 "Now I go after the boys," said the young Italian 
 quickly. 
 
 By the time the boys had been brought back, The- 
 resa had regained her breath enough to explain how 
 she had got astray. As the others turned to look in 
 the jeweler's window, she had caught sight of the 
 candies in a confectioner 's store just beyond. ' ' They 
 were beautiful candies," she said, "shaped like 
 prickly pears and plums and peaches, and then and 
 then I looked around and couldn't see any of you, 
 and I was so scared!" At this she began to cry. 
 "I didn't know what to do," she went on between 
 her sobs. "People in the crowd began to look at me, 
 and a fierce-looking man stepped up and asked if I 
 was lost. I didn't answer, but hurried away through 
 the crowd and up the street, hoping to catch up with 
 you." 
 
 "You are safe now, my darling," said Miss Lee, 
 ' * and I shall take care you are not away from my side 
 again so long as we are in this city." 
 
 When the sightseers got back to the hotel they 
 found Senhor Vasco waiting for them, as well as 
 letters from the dear ones in Eio. 
 
 "I have pleasant news," said Senhor Vasco gaily. 
 ' ' One of the first persons I met this afternoon was an 
 English friend, Mr. Wolfe, whom I had not seen for 
 many years. He owns an estancia out on the pam- 
 pas, but he and his family spend their winters here 
 in Buenos Aires. He has promised to call on us 
 with his wife and son this evening." 
 [104] ,
 
 NEW SIGHTS 
 
 "That will be delightful," said Miss Lee, and the 
 children nodded their heads in agreement. 
 
 "What is an estancia?" Lucy asked Carlos, as his 
 father turned to read the evening newspaper. 
 
 "It's Spanish for what you Americans would call 
 a big farm or ranch," he answered. "Let's play 
 dominoes while we are waiting for the company," he 
 proposed. The children gathered round the table 
 for the game and Miss Lee settled herself to write 
 a letter. She did not have a chance to finish it, 
 however, before Mr. Wolfe arrived with his wife and 
 son. 
 
 The callers did not stay very long, because they 
 felt the travelers must be tired after the day's ex- 
 citement. 
 
 "But they are perfectly lovely," declared Lucy, 
 after they had gone. 
 
 "I like their son James he's a chummy sort of 
 boy, ' ' chimed in Joe. 
 
 "How kind they were to ask us all to visit them 
 for a week," said Miss Lee. "I felt acquainted with 
 Mrs. Wolfe at once. Perhaps it was because of her 
 sad smile. How she must miss the little daughter 
 she lost last year!" 
 
 "Off to bed, young folks," said Senhor Vasco. 
 ' ' Then you will be fresh for an early start to-mor- 
 row for our friends' home. Their motor car will 
 come for us at nine o 'clock. ' ' 
 
 "I'm half asleep now," said Carlos, whose eyes 
 had been blinking for some time. 
 
 "And I am three-quarters," mumbled Theresa, 
 [105]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 who had been dozing against Miss Lee's shoulder 
 during most of the call. 
 
 The good-nights were said speedily and the young 
 travelers started for Dreamland with little more de- 
 lay. It was, therefore, not strange that nine o 'clock 
 next morning found them ready and waiting for 
 their friends' car, which arrived shortly afterward. 
 
 A half-hour later it brought them to a pretty ce- 
 ment villa shaded by tall eucalyptus and acacia trees. 
 Mrs. Wolfe and her son James were already stand- 
 ing in the doorway to welcome their guests. The 
 English lad immediately took possession of Joe and 
 Carlos and carried them off for a game of tennis in 
 the court behind the house. Mrs. Wolfe was soon 
 planning with Miss Lee for the next few days. Her 
 visitors, she said, must, of course, go to Palermo 
 Park and the Botanical Gardens. They must also 
 ride out to La Plata and see the treasures in the 
 Zoological Gardens there. 
 
 A week flew by "like the wind" for the children. 
 Joe discovered to his delight that James liked foot- 
 ball as well as he did, and that he also played the 
 English games, cricket and polo, which the American 
 lad wished to learn. 
 
 ' * If you will come out to visit us on our estancia, ' ' 
 James told him, "you can have a fine chance to learn 
 polo, because we have ponies there." Joe answered 
 with a whistle of longing. 
 
 In the midst of the good times, Lucy managed to 
 write a long letter to her mother, which she ended 
 by saying : 
 
 [106]
 
 NEW SIGHTS 
 
 Mrs. Wolfe is just spoiling Theresa and me. She gives 
 us everything nice she can think of, and she takes us riding 
 every day. There isn't any time for study, but we are 
 learning a great deal, just the same. 
 
 Oh, I wish you could have gone with us to Palermo Park. 
 It is ever so big and it's just beautiful. There are long 
 avenues of palms, and little streams, and pretty lakes on 
 which I saw children rowing about. Other children were 
 playing on the grass some of them Italian, some Spanish, 
 and some English. 
 
 I must not forget to mention the race-course at Palermo 
 Park, where we saw ever so many handsome horses. The 
 people in this city are crazy over racing, as Joe says. 
 
 But the Botanical Gardens! They are wonderful. I 
 saw trees and plants there that grow in almost every part 
 of the world. One of the strangest trees of all is the ombu 
 which grows best on the pampas. Its branches and even its 
 roots which often stick out of the ground, are twisted into 
 shapes that make one think of queer-looking beasts. The 
 trunk is hollow, and if you should press your finger hard 
 against it, you would find it soft like pulp. 
 
 I've so much more to tell you, but I must stop now. 
 Mrs. Wolfe is calling to me to get ready for a ride to La 
 Plata. So good-by, with my dearest love to you and Daddie 
 and Senhora Vasco. 
 
 LUCY. 
 
 P.S. Joe will write to Daddie this evening. Does 
 Polly seem lonesome? 
 
 [107]
 
 CHAPTER in 
 
 OFF TO LA PLATA 
 
 T AM glad you can take a day off from business," 
 Mrs. Wolfe told her husband, as the pleasure- 
 seekers settled themselves in a comfortable train 
 bound for La Plata. * * It is so good to have you with 
 us also, ' ' she added, turning to Senhor Vasco. * ' Ever 
 since you came, you have been so busy seeing your 
 men friends in the city that we ladies have had little 
 of your company." 
 
 "I am indeed glad to be with you now," said the 
 Senhor. 
 
 "I wonder if our friends have noticed what a fine 
 car this is, and how smoothly it travels," said Mr. 
 Wolfe, changing the subject. "We Argentines are 
 proud of our railroads. One line, which has not 
 been built many years, stretches across the country 
 and even crosses the Andes. I fancy" he smiled 
 at the little girls as he spoke ' ' the wild creatures of 
 the pampas were scared when the first trains whizzed 
 past them with their shrieking engines. It had been 
 pretty quiet till then." 
 
 "Were there herds of buffalo, such as used to wan- 
 der over our great plains?" asked Joe. 
 
 "No, but there were thousands of wild horses and 
 [109]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 cattle, besides hares and armadillos, deer and pole- 
 cats yes, and jaguars and pumas sometimes left 
 their mountain homes to steal over the pampas in 
 search of prey." 
 
 "Who were the first white people in Argentina?" 
 asked Lucy. 
 
 "The Spaniards," promptly replied Carlos. "A 
 man named Solis sailed into the Bio de la Plata -and 
 visited the country nearby, but he died soon after- 
 ward. And then and then " 
 
 "And then came Sebastian Cabot," said James, 
 quite ready to go on with the story. "He met In- 
 dians and looked greedily at their gold ornaments. 
 * Aha ! ' he thought, ' there must be rich mines in the 
 country. ' He set his men to search for the gold, and 
 made a settlement on the big river. Then he went 
 home to tell the king about his discovery. 
 
 "After that, more Spaniards came here, besides 
 English and Portuguese. The different settlers 
 quarreled with one another and with the Indians. 
 After a while Juan Manuel Eosas was made gov- 
 ernor of the country. He was very cruel to the peo- 
 ple. Then came a better governor, but he wasn't all 
 right. And at last there was a revolution, when 
 Spain had to give up her rule and we became a re- 
 public. San Martin was the man who made this 
 possible. He was one of the greatest heroes in 
 the whole world ! ' ' James 's eyes flashed. * * He de- 
 served every statue and monument that was built in 
 his honor throughout the country. Do you know," 
 the boy went on excitedly, * * San Martin dreamed of 
 [110]
 
 OFF TO LA PLATA 
 
 freeing all South America! He did succeed in mak- 
 ing four republics three besides our own." 
 
 "He hated injustice above all else," said Mr. 
 Wolfe, smiling at his son's enthusiasm. "But now, 
 my little friends, while talking about Argentina's 
 great patriot, you must not miss the passing sights. 
 I doubt if you ever saw so many cattle together as 
 now, from this car window." 
 
 ' * This plain must be a sample of the pampas, about 
 which I have read so much," said Miss Lee thought- 
 fully. ' * Not a hill in sight scarcely a tree nothing 
 but grass as far as eye can see." 
 
 "When summer comes the grass will be so tall 
 that you children could play hide and seek in it," 
 said Mrs. Wolfe. 
 
 i ' Oh, see ! There 's a little mud hut with children 
 running about in front of it!" cried Theresa. 
 "What a lonely place to live in! I suppose that is 
 the home of a cattle man, and those boys and girls 
 stay there all the year round." 
 
 "Lonely! I think not," said Mr. Wolfe, "With 
 ponies to train and ride bareback, and lambs to pet, 
 and hunting, and helping their parents, I doubt if 
 they have a moment in which to wish for a different 
 kind of life." 
 
 "La Plata!" called the conductor. 
 
 The children started in astonishment. They had 
 been so busy looking and talking, it did not seem 
 possible that they had been traveling an hour. 
 
 "Now you shall see one of the newest and most 
 beautiful cities of Argentina, ' ' promised Mr. Wolfe, 
 [HI]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 as the party left the train and entered a broad ave- 
 nue. 
 
 ' * I feel as if I had entered the Kingdom of Sleep- 
 ing Beauty, ' ' Lucy told her brother, as they fell into 
 the rear. "It's so still here, and scarcely a person 
 insight." 
 
 "Yet it's the capital of the province," was the 
 boy's answer, "and great sums of money, Mr. Wolfe 
 said, have been spent on parks and palaces and grand 
 public buildings. I declare, I begin to feel sleepy 
 myself." 
 
 James, who had caught Joe 's words, fell back be- 
 side the twins. ' ' Many people who have government 
 offices," he told them, "live in Buenos Aires, and 
 come up here just to attend to business. It's a good 
 place for the museum, though," the lad chuckled. 
 
 "Why?" asked Joe. 
 
 "Because it holds so many dead things awfully 
 dead, for they lived thousands of years ago. They 
 are what people call prehistoric. Father is going to 
 take us to see them now." 
 
 When the party arrived at the magnificent mu- 
 seum, Mr. Wolfe explained to his guests why it was 
 so important. ' * In the long ago, ' ' he told them, * l the 
 ocean waves rolled over all Argentina, and the crea- 
 tures of the sea were swimming over the plains 
 where tens of thousands of cattle are now feeding. 
 But when the waters first swept over the land they 
 probably drowned herds of other creatures that were 
 giants beside those we now know. At any rate, skele- 
 [112]
 
 OFF TO LA PLATA 
 
 tons of immense animals have been found, and are 
 now preserved in La Plata Museum. ' ' 
 
 The young visitors' eyes were big with wonder 
 when they looked at the skeleton of a giant sloth. 
 
 ' * Not much like the one I saw on the banks of the 
 Amazon," said Carlos. "That was a baby beside 
 this one which could never have been able to climb 
 down a tree backward. ' ' The boy laughed. 
 
 "It had no need to climb trees to get its dinner of 
 leaves," said Mrs. Wolfe. "It could easily tear up 
 a tree by its roots and then feast on the foliage at 
 its leisure." 
 
 "Oo!" cried Joe, as he examined the shells of two 
 immense armadillos. "One of those armadillos 
 could have furnished meat enough for more than one 
 Thanksgiving dinner." 
 
 "I have discovered some very interesting curiosi- 
 ties," said Senhor Vasco, suddenly appearing after 
 being away from the rest of the party for some min- 
 utes. "Please come with me." 
 
 Every one gladly followed him till he stopped be- 
 fore some large cases containing queer tools and 
 weapons, besides oddly shaped dishes and clothing. 
 
 "These show how the Indians lived before the 
 white men came among them," said Mr. Wolfe. 
 "Here, too, are pictures that make you see just how 
 they worked and amused themselves." 
 
 "The Indians look fierce and cruel," said Lucy. 
 "I'm glad they aren't alive now." 
 
 "There are plenty of wild Indians in Argentina 
 [113]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 still," said James mischievously. "And not so very 
 many hundreds of miles away either. ' ' 
 
 "Truly-ruly?" 
 
 1 ' Truly-ruly, cross my heart, as you New Yorkers 
 would say. They live in the Chaco, that stretch of 
 wild country that reaches up into Paraguay, as well 
 as into Brazil and Bolivia." 
 
 "I've heard a good deal about the Chaco Indians," 
 said Carlos. ' ' Some of them go about almost naked, 
 and their homes are scarcely more than sheds with 
 roughly thatched roofs. Then there are others who 
 have no homes at all, but roam from place to place, 
 sleeping at night under the trees. I don't believe 
 there are any fiercer savages in South America. ' ' 
 
 "There is good hunting in the Gran Chaco," said 
 Mr. Wolfe. "Plenty of peccaries and wild dogs, as 
 well as jaguars and tapirs." 
 
 "I saw a peccary once at the circus," said Joe. 
 "It looked like a pig." 
 
 "But wild dogs!" exclaimed Lucy. "I never 
 heard of them before." 
 
 "You would hear them plainly enough if you were 
 up in the Chaco and near a swamp some still night. 
 Their shrill barking would make your head ache. 
 And if they met you while creeping along to attack 
 a sheep or cow to get a good meal, they would make 
 short work of you. ' ' 
 
 Lucy shivered. 
 
 "Don't let my mischievous son scare you," said 
 Mrs. Wolfe's cheery voice behind her. "We are at 
 a safe distance from the Chaco; but if you were 
 [114]
 
 OFF TO LA PLATA 
 
 really there, you might meet only the peaceful In- 
 dians who raise crops and whose wives keep house 
 quite neatly. As for wild dogs, you might not hear 
 a single one during your stay. ' ' 
 
 "We must start at once for the train," called Mr. 
 Wolfe from the doorway. "I find we have scant 
 time to catch it." 
 
 [115]
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 OFF FOE THE PAMPAS 
 
 "DEPPO told me that his father works on a wheat 
 " ranch," said Joe. 
 
 All five children were standing at a window of the 
 Wolfes' sitting-room, gloomily watching the rain, 
 which was falling in sheets. 
 
 "We pass some big wheat ranches on the way to 
 our estancia," replied James. "I have seen regular 
 mountains of bags filled with wheat at the stations, 
 waiting to be shipped. Ever so many Italians leave 
 their homeland to raise wheat here. They hire some 
 land, make mud and straw huts to live in, work hard, 
 and save almost all the money they get from their 
 harvests. Then back they go with their earnings to 
 Italy to live idly for the rest of their lives." 
 
 "If!" Mrs. Wolfe, who had entered the room 
 unawares, said the word with a twinkle in her eyes. 
 
 "I know what you mean, Mother." James spoke 
 quickly. ' ' The farmers can be pretty sure of their 
 crops if the locusts don't get them first, or if there 
 is no drought." 
 
 "I've read something about those horrid locusts 
 that fly in thousands," said Joe. 
 
 "Thousands? Billions, more likely!" exclaimed 
 James. 
 
 [117]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 * ' If you will sit down, children, perhaps I can help 
 you while away this dreary morning by telling you 
 about a war with locusts in which I had a share when 
 a little girl." 
 
 "Good!" cried one after another, following Mrs. 
 Wolfe's advice. 
 
 "I was spending the summer," she began, "with 
 an uncle who had a big wheat farm. One morning 
 I was feeling a bit lonely because I had no playmate. 
 So, to amuse myself, I mounted to the top of a wind- 
 mill to get a good look out over the broad fields of 
 wheat a beautiful green then, but if left to ripen it 
 would change to a rich gold. 
 
 "Suddenly I saw some gulls flying about excitedly 
 overhead ; they moved now this way, now that, as if 
 danger were near, but they did not know how to 
 escape. What could be the matter? Aha ! I quickly 
 discovered a small cloud between the sun and my- 
 self ; it was made up of shining specks ; it moved fast. 
 
 " 'Locusts!' I said to myself, and hurried down 
 to the ground, then onward to the house. 
 
 " 'They've come! they've come!' I shouted to my 
 aunt, who was in the garden. I wrung my hands at 
 the thought of a war with the locusts. 
 
 "During the next few days the cloud I had seen 
 kept growing larger and coming nearer. Then, one 
 morning, I woke up to find that the sky was nearly 
 hidden from sight ; the buildings on the farm seemed 
 wrapped in a heavy fog. 
 
 "That fog can you imagine it, children? con- 
 sisted of locusts, millions and millions of them." 
 [118]
 
 OFF FOR THE PAMPAS 
 
 "What happened?" asked Joe eagerly. 
 
 ' * Very little, at first. For the next few nights the 
 locusts roosted quietly wherever they could get com- 
 fortable places. Then each morning they flew to 
 the roads stretching through the estancia, and set 
 to work." 
 
 "Work!" cried Lucy. 
 
 "Yes, my dear hard work at that. The locusts 
 used the two sharp jaws at the ends of their tails in 
 digging holes in the earth big enough for them to 
 creep inside to lay eggs." 
 
 "Why didn't your uncle and his men kill them?" 
 asked Carlos. 
 
 "They did kill all they could by driving flocks of 
 sheep over the ground to trample the insects, and 
 they beat down the pests with iron flails. But alas ! 
 as fast as the roads were cleared of the swarms that 
 had already settled there, other swarms arrived, and 
 then others. It was an exciting time, yet not as much 
 so as when the baby locusts began to hatch out tiny 
 brown things hopping, hopping everywhere, and so 
 hungry they sometimes ate each other." 
 
 "Ugh!" cried the little girls, shrugging their 
 shoulders in disgust. 
 
 "But the hot summer air, filled with such a hor- 
 rid smell," Mrs. Wolfe went on, "was the hardest 
 thing of all to bear. I hated to take a long breath. 
 
 "In the meantime the workmen were busy burning 
 
 all the baby locusts they could, or in driving them 
 
 into pits. Hawks and eagles sometimes helped by 
 
 swooping down and devouring great numbers of the 
 
 [119]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 insects. Yet still they were countless. At first 
 they were like tiny brown caterpillars; afterward 
 they changed into flying things with gauzy wings. 
 
 "How they ate! nearly everything green was de- 
 voured fields full of alfalfa, the leaves of willows 
 and acacias, the ripening crops of wheat, all except 
 the foliage of a few ombu trees, which locusts will 
 not touch. 
 
 "At last, when there was nothing more to feed 
 upon, the swarms went on their way. ' No harvests 
 this year,' said my uncle sadly, as he looked over 
 the deserted fields. But I, being a little girl, was 
 happy now that I was free to go outdoors once more. 
 Never before had clear air and sky seemed so pleas- 
 ant. " 
 
 "Look! the rain has stopped," said James, run- 
 ning to the window. ' ' What do you say, Mother, to 
 our going to the Tigre this afternoon!" 
 
 "Exactly what I just thought of proposing," re- 
 plied Mrs. Wolfe. "The river is beautiful at this 
 time of the year; the peach and pear orchards will 
 be in bloom; and if your father and Senhor Vasco 
 go with us we can hire a launch and have a fine ride 
 past lovely homes and vine-covered banks." 
 
 [120]
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 THE PASTING 
 
 WHY do you go to a private school, James, since 
 you say the public ones in Buenos Aires are 
 so good?" 
 
 "It's this way, Joe. I am out on our estancia 
 three or four months of the year, and I can get along 
 faster at a private school, when in the city. But say I 
 I wonder if you would like to join in what the pupils 
 in our public schools have to recite every day." 
 
 "What kind of things?" 
 
 "Oh, they must promise to love this country above 
 everything else even their parents." 
 
 "I'd never give my father and mother second 
 place." Joe shook his head gravely. 
 
 "Then they must declare that Argentina is the 
 finest country in the world. ' ' 
 
 1 * Hm ! how do they know if they have never been 
 anywhere else?" 
 
 James smiled and went on. ' * They must say they 
 are proud of their country's having the grandest 
 history in the world; and whenever General San 
 Martin's name is spoken they bob up and bow, just 
 as every one does when the National Anthem is 
 
 sung. ' ' 
 
 [121]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 * * The bowing is all right, of course. Why, even in 
 a theater at home every American stands up at the 
 first note of The Star-Spangled Banner." 
 
 "When I'm old enough I am going to the Uni- 
 versity here. It's one of the best in the world." 
 James was really very proud of his adopted coun- 
 try, though he sometimes dreamed of going to Eng- 
 land to live, when he should grow up. 
 
 The boys had not noticed the entrance into the 
 room of Mr. and Mrs. Wolfe and Senhor Vasco, who 
 now stood smiling at them. 
 
 "We have just made a plan," said Mr. Wolfe, as 
 James finished the sentence. "Where are the little 
 girls and Carlos? I want you all to hear it." 
 
 At Joe's call, the other children came hurrying 
 in from the tennis court and five pairs of expectant 
 eyes were directed toward Mr. Wolfe. 
 
 "Senhor Vasco," he now said, "proposes a trip 
 down into Patagonia with you, Carlos and Joe, as 
 it is the right season for roughing it; James is to 
 help his mother and me in making it pleasant for 
 Miss Lee and the little girls out on our estancia while 
 you are away." 
 
 The children looked at the grown-ups and then at 
 each other in astonishment and delight. 
 
 "Patagonia!" said Carlos at last, drawing a long 
 breath. "What sport!" 
 
 "But the savages there! Cannibals, aren't they?" 
 asked Lucy, with fearful eyes. 
 
 "Away down at the southern end with Cape Horn 
 and its terrible storms not far away, there are some 
 [122]
 
 THE PARTING 
 
 fierce Indians, but not where we are going," said 
 Senhor Vasco with a smile. "We shall rough it, 
 however, and have the experience of lying in sleep- 
 ing-bags all night under the stars.'* 
 
 "Oh!" cried James, looking enviously at his boy 
 guests. 
 
 "We will take the trip some other time," com- 
 forted his father. "Just now your dear mother 
 would worry if you were away from us." The kind 
 gentleman's eyes were misty as he thought of the 
 little daughter who had been taken away. 
 
 "We'll have a dandy time anyway, Lucy and The- 
 resa," James said bravely. "I'll teach you to ride 
 bareback and tame ponies." 
 
 "And Joe and Carlos will come back with much to 
 tell us, ' ' said Theresa, who had not forgotten happy 
 hours spent in listening to their stories of the 
 Amazon. 
 
 Three days afterward, Senhor Vasco, with Joe and 
 Carlos, had taken a little steamer bound for a port 
 on the eastern coast of Patagonia, and the Wolfe 
 family, with Miss Lee and her girl charges, were on 
 their way to their estancia on the pampas. 
 
 "Baa, baa, black sheep," Theresa hummed to her- 
 self as she looked out of the car windows. As far as 
 she could see, the wild plain was covered with sheep 
 feeding on the tall grass. 
 
 "Have you any wool?" came a laughing voice in 
 the seat behind her. 
 
 "Yes, sir; yes, sir; a million bags full," she an- 
 swered James as quick as a flash. There was no 
 [123]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 ! 
 
 dodbt about it. Theresa was waking up under the 
 influence of her lively little friends. 
 
 "Once in a great while we see a mud hut with a 
 windmill close by. I suppose the hut is the home of 
 a shepherd, and the windmill works the pump where 
 the family gets water." 
 
 "Yes, and windmills are necessary in this part of 
 the pampas because the streams are not plentiful," 
 said Mrs. Wolfe. 
 
 "What a beautiful sight!" cried Miss Lee, draw- 
 ing a long breath of delight. The train had passed 
 the flocks of sheep, and now seemed to be moving 
 through an ocean of grassy waves. 
 
 "Most of the pampas are like this," explained Mr. 
 Wolfe. "However, there are stretches here and 
 there where the ground is covered with shrubs and 
 dwarf trees. 
 
 "Not many years ago," he went on, "no human 
 beings except Indians and Gauchos roamed over 
 these plains." 
 
 "What are Gauchos? Are they wild animals'?" 
 asked Lucy. 
 
 James put his hand to his mouth ; he was trying to 
 keep back a laugh. 
 
 Mr. Wolfe himself smiled as he answered : ' * Span- 
 iards who came over here in the early days and fol- 
 lowed the wild life of the Indians have always been 
 called Gauchos. Many of them took Indian wives; 
 their children and grandchildren are also called Gau- 
 chos. Their delight has always been in chasing on 
 horseback the wild creatures that roamed as freely 
 [124]
 

 
 THE PARTING 
 
 as themselves. They planted few gardens, and lived 
 almost entirely on flesh. I fancy that they enjoyed 
 a steak of horse-meat as much as you like a slice 
 of beef." 
 
 "0 Father," broke in James, "please tell our 
 friends about the time when you were a boy and got 
 caught out on the pampas far from home." 
 
 "That was a great experience," said Mr. Wolfe 
 thoughtfully. * ' I had gone out hunting with an elder 
 brother. We had ridden on and on, and were prob- 
 ably forty miles from home when a storm suddenly 
 arose. The night was coming on; we had lost our 
 reckoning; our clothes were drenched; our horses 
 were worn out ; every minute the darkness deepened. 
 
 1 ' And then, to make matters still worse, my horse 
 stumbled and fell. The poor beast had stepped into 
 the burrow of a viscacha and broken his leg." 
 
 "A vis ca cha?" asked Lucy. 
 
 "Yes, the bothersome creatures are the dread even 
 of Gauchos, fine horsemen as they are. Viscachas 
 are no bigger than squirrels. They live in the holes 
 which they dig in the ground, and which are hidden 
 by the long grass. Such burrows are countless." 
 
 "What did you do?" asked Miss Lee pityingly. 
 
 "It seemed as if we were already human rain- 
 drops" Mr. Wolfe laughed "when my brother 
 suddenly cried out, 'I see a light !' He pointed west- 
 ward. ' That shines from the home of a Gaucho, ' he 
 declared hopefully. 
 
 " 'He may be no better than a savage Indian/ I 
 [125]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 replied, for I had heard many stories of the fierce- 
 ness and cruelty of Gauchos. 
 
 'We'll soon find out,' was the answer; and my 
 brother started off in the direction of the light, while 
 I followed, leading my limping horse. 
 
 "We were still a good half-mile away from the hut, 
 when a sound rang through the air that made me 
 shudder. It was the cry of a wild-cat which must 
 have crept down from its forest home on the western 
 mountain slopes in search of prey on the pampas. 
 
 "I was a daring young fellow in those days, but 
 that wild cry in the darkness did not sound invit- 
 ing." 
 
 ' * How easily the creature could have sprung upon 
 you from out of the tall grass ! ' ' Theresa cried ex- 
 citedly. 
 
 "You may well believe we did not loiter," contin- 
 ued Mr. Wolfe. "After what seemed an endless 
 time, we reached the hut in safety, to find a rough, 
 wild host, but a kind-hearted one. His wife broiled 
 some horse-flesh, from which her husband hacked off 
 chunks with a big knife. He handed these to us to 
 eat. As we sat hungrily devouring the meat, we 
 heard a soft crow over our heads. What do you 
 think ! It came from a tiny black-eyed baby swinging 
 from the low roof in a horse-hide cradle." 
 
 "The darling!" cried Theresa. 
 
 "After supper," Mr. Wolfe continued, "the Gau- 
 
 cho took down from the wall a roughly-made guitar, 
 
 and sitting cross-legged on a pile of skins, played 
 
 some of the wildest music I ever heard. After that 
 
 [126]
 
 THE PARTING 
 
 we all stretched out on some mats on the floor to 
 sleep. I did not wake till near daybreak, and 
 then " Mr. Wolfe stopped suddenly. 
 
 "And then please go fast, Father," said James, 
 who knew what was coming. 
 
 * ' And then, ' ' Mr. Wolfe repeated, * ' it was because 
 of something curling about my arm. I jumped up, 
 to feel the clasp becoming tighter. My brother, now 
 awake, quickly struck a match. Lo, my arm was in 
 the grip of a huge snake, with wicked, glittering 
 eyes. The next moment our host was at my side, 
 and with his strong hand choking the throat of the 
 unwelcome visitor." 
 
 "Oh-h!" gasped Lucy and Theresa together, clos- 
 ing their eyes as if to shut out the sight of the dread- 
 ful serpent. 
 
 "When the serpent had been disposed of," Mr. 
 Wolfe went on, "the Gaucho went with me to look 
 after my poor horse. She was suffering so much 
 we saw there was only one thing to do kill her. ' ' 
 
 "You and your brother had only one horse be- 
 tween you now and you were far from home," said 
 Miss Lee seriously. 
 
 ' * Yes, but we bought another horse from the Gau- 
 cho for a few dollars. We soon started out, with our 
 host and his wife and baby watching us from the 
 doorway. I tell you what ! He was a handsome fel- 
 low, with sharp black eyes, long black hair hanging 
 about his dark face from beneath a broad-brimmed 
 hat ; high boots with silver spurs at the sides, full red 
 [127]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 trousers, and a bright-colored cloak over his shoul- 
 ders he made a picture for an artist." 
 
 "Whew!" exclaimed James. "I wish I could 
 have seen him." 
 
 ' ' Such a one is not met often nowadays. The cat- 
 tle men on my estancia are mostly Gauchos, but they 
 dress much like other workmen and are no fiercer 
 than our host of that stormy night, years ago." 
 
 "The next station is ours," said James joyfully. 
 
 The train had just stopped at a camp town made 
 up of a few small sheet-iron buildings. There were 
 neither trees nor gardens in sight. Outside it, in 
 every direction, stretched the wide pampas. 
 
 ' * Not much excitement for the boys and girls who 
 live here, ' ' said Lucy pityingly. 
 
 "Only horse-racing, and the pleasure of watch- 
 ing the people who ride in for supplies from distant 
 estancias, ' ' replied James. ' ' Everybody in this part 
 of the country enjoys the races." 
 
 By this time the camp-town was already far behind 
 and the travelers were busy putting on wraps and 
 getting packages together to leave the train. 
 
 ' ' Home again after six months ! ' ' cried Mrs. Wolfe 
 joyfully, as the station came into view. "I do love 
 the country life." 
 
 1 ' And I. " " And I, ' ' chimed in the others. 
 
 Sambo, a fine-looking negro, was waiting with 
 a large covered wagon drawn by four horses. The 
 fellow's face shone with delight at sight of his mas- 
 ter and mistress ; while in greeting James, his smiles 
 reached from ear to ear. "Everybody on the place 
 [128]
 
 THE PARTING 
 
 has been up 'fore daylight to get ready for yo ' corn- 
 in V ' he told the boy as they drove along. 
 
 On galloped the horses over mile after mile of 
 dusty roads. The travelers passed big fields of wheat 
 and flax and alfalfa, and still larger ones in which 
 herds of cattle were feeding lazily. 
 
 "This is all our land," James proudly told his 
 young friends. 
 
 "Everything we have passed on both sides of the 
 road?" asked Theresa. 
 
 "Everything, even the road itself," was the an- 
 swer. "You see, Father is what they call a cattle- 
 king, while I" the boy laughed "am treated out 
 here like a young prince." 
 
 [129]
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 NEW SPOKTS 
 
 IV/TISS LEE! Miss Lee!" came a chorus of chil- 
 ^ -* dren's voices. The next moment the govern- 
 ess, who had been looking out of a window of the big 
 beautiful living-room, found her young charges at 
 her side. 
 
 ' ' Do come out with us, ' ' begged Theresa. ' ' James 
 sent us in to get you. He wants to show you around." 
 
 1 'It's a great place a regular village," put in 
 Lucy. * * Stores, houses, gardens, a blacksmith shop 
 and children, lots of them." The little girl's face 
 was ablaze with happiness. 
 
 " We've got acquainted with the manager's little 
 daughter already," said Theresa. "She's Spanish, 
 and just my age, and she's ever so nice." 
 
 "We can't take you now, after all," said James, 
 appearing in the doorway, "because dinner is ready. 
 I think you won't be sorry, though, if you are hun- 
 gry as I am." 
 
 They certainly were not sorry when they began to 
 eat the food Mrs. Wolfe's cook had prepared. The 
 soup was delicious ; so were the roasted chicken with 
 fresh vegetables, and a Spanish dish made of spiced 
 beef that had been rolled up in the animal's skin 
 [131]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 while being broiled. Best of all the good things, to 
 the children 's taste, was a rich and very sweet pasty. 
 
 After dinner James invited the little girls to go 
 out pony-riding with him. 
 
 "What sport it is!" cried Lucy, as the children 
 left the road and galloped over the grassy fields. 
 
 "Great fun!" called Theresa, a little way behind. 
 
 They had ridden for some time when James sud- 
 denly drew up his pony. 
 
 "I don't believe you ever saw a toad like that," 
 he cried, pointing to one hopping on the ground be- 
 side him. 
 
 "How gaily colored its back is!" said Lucy, com- 
 ing up, ' * and how funny it is ! ' She laughed as she 
 looked down at the tiny creature blowing out its 
 sides like a balloon, and looking angrily at the sur- 
 prise party of children. 
 
 "It has a wicked temper," said James, laughing 
 in his turn at the angry toad. "If either of you 
 should jump down and put your fingers close to its 
 mouth, woe be unto you, because of the sharp teeth 
 ready to bite." 
 
 "Ugh!" said Theresa. 
 
 Lucy's eyes were already attracted to something 
 else a bird whose breast feathers were of a brilliant 
 red. It reminded her of the robin redbreast of her 
 homeland, but it was even more beautiful. 
 
 "Say, girls ! don't let your ponies enter that patch 
 
 of thistles," James called out a little later. As he 
 
 spoke, he came to a stop beside the outermost ones. 
 
 He had just discovered a pile of wet earth with a 
 
 [132]
 
 NEW SPORTS 
 
 hole in the top. Jumping down, he ran up to the 
 mound and began kicking the earth about. 
 
 Lo! the next minute something greenish and liz- 
 ard-like came creeping out and scuttled off among 
 the thistles. It was an iguana, about four feet long. 
 
 James kept on digging and presently laid bare a 
 nest of dry grass filled with tiny white eggs, at least 
 thirty of them. And, wonder of wonders ! three baby 
 iguanas, with long tails and slender feet, were crawl- 
 ing about among the eggs. 
 
 ''The poor mother is probably watching to see 
 what I will do," said James. "I won't harm her 
 children, though they may grow up to destroy birds' 
 eggs by making holes in them and sucking out the 
 insides. Iguanas even sometimes venture into our 
 farmyard after hens' eggs. I once had a tame 
 iguana for a pet, and used to catch flies and beetles 
 for it to feast on." 
 
 "That's just what Carlos does for his iguana in 
 Eio, ' ' said Theresa, as the children turned their po- 
 nies homeward. 
 
 They had almost reached the house when Theresa 
 suddenly reined in her pony, exclaiming, "What's 
 that?" 
 
 James, who was ahead as usual, wheeled round 
 and looked down where Theresa pointed. 
 
 ' ' Why, that must be a mataco, ' ' he said. ' ' It 's a 
 kind of armadillo. See, it has rolled itself into a 
 ball for safety. Matacos always do that when they 
 think danger is near. With its head hidden and its 
 jointed shell curled around, it now feels quite safe." 
 [133]
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 BRANDING THE CALVES 
 
 "V7" OU are a good sport, Lucy, but I'm afraid The- 
 * resa might cry at seeing the red-hot iron brand 
 a calf's hide. Really, though, it only hurts for a 
 moment. ' ' 
 
 "I guess she'll be all right. She would feel bad 
 if we didn't ask her anyway." 
 
 With these words Lucy ran upstairs and tapped 
 softly at her little friend's door. Theresa was al- 
 ready dressed, though it was early morning. 
 
 "Of course I want to go if you do," she said with 
 eyes full of excitement, as the two girls skipped 
 down the stairs to join James. 
 
 The evening before they had heard the head cat- 
 tle-man, or capitaz, as every one called him, tell Mr. 
 Wolfe that a herd of "left-overs" were to be brand- 
 ed the next day. All the other calves had been 
 marked in the winter. The children, of course, had 
 immediately made up their minds that they must see 
 the exciting work. 
 
 As they now stole out of the house where the 
 grown-ups were still sleeping, they met the capitaz 
 and his helpers on the way to the field where the 
 calves to be branded had been gathered. 
 [135]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 The capitaz was a handsome fellow, with black 
 hair and eyes and a dark reddish skin that showed 
 he was partly Indian. He wore wide, baggy trou- 
 sers, a shawl tucked in at the waist, and a red cot- 
 ton handkerchief tied about his neck. Wound around 
 one hand he carried a lasso made of plaited leather. 
 
 After the workmen had entered the field James 
 led the little girls to a slope behind it, where they 
 would be quite safe, yet could see everything going 
 on below them. 
 
 And now the capitaz mounted a horse which one of 
 his assistants had brought for his use. 
 
 "There he goes !" cried Lucy. 
 
 The head man, with reins and whip in one hand 
 and lasso in the other, was in pursuit of a calf. The 
 next moment, the noose at the end of the lasso had 
 fallen about the creature 's horns, to be drawn tighter 
 and tighter. The calf kicked and pulled, but the 
 capitaz kept his hold. 
 
 1 1 dear, dear ! ' ' cried Theresa ; but she grew quiet 
 when James reminded her of a promise not to get 
 excited. 
 
 By this time one of the helpers had run up to the 
 capitaz, having already cast his own lasso so cleverly 
 that it caught the calf's hind feet in its hold, and 
 it was thrown to the ground. Quick as a flash, an- 
 other helper ran up with a heated iron with which 
 he branded the hide of the helpless animal. The 
 lasso was now instantly loosened and the trembling, 
 frightened calf was set free. 
 [136]
 
 Photo from Underwood & Underwood, N. Y. 
 
 AN ARGENTINE COWBOY PREPARING LEATHER FOR A LASSO
 
 BRANDING THE CALVES 
 
 "Oh-h!" gasped Lucy, much relieved. "Is that 
 all?" 
 
 "Isn't that enough!" James burst out laughing. 
 "For the rest of its days, every one who sees that 
 calf will know who is the owner. ' ' 
 
 The children remained on the slope for some time 
 longer, as one calf after another was caught and 
 branded. 
 
 Only once did the capitaz make a mistake in cast- 
 ing his lasso. Then he let it fall about the calf's 
 throat and it was almost strangled as the noose 
 tightened from the creature's sudden plunge. Help 
 came in time, however, though not before Theresa 
 was crying bitterly. 
 
 ' ' Branding cattle and breaking in horses are tame 
 beside what I have seen," James told his little guests 
 on their way home. They looked up in wonder. 
 
 "I'm thinking of the work of dehorning," he ex- 
 plained. "I don't like to watch that because I know 
 it hurts the creatures badly. ' ' 
 
 Mrs. Wolfe and Miss Lee were in the doorway 
 watching for the children. 
 
 "We have had breakfast already," said Mrs. 
 Wolfe. 
 
 "And we are dreadfully hungry," said James. 
 "But we have been so busy we haven't thought 
 about breakfast before." 
 
 When the meal was over, the children went for a 
 
 game of tennis, which Theresa could now play quite 
 
 well. Then, tired from the exercise, they went in 
 
 to rest and read in the library. A map of Argentina 
 
 [137]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 hanging on the wall caught Lucy's eyes, and she be- 
 gan to study it. 
 
 "What a big country it isl" she said, half to her- 
 self. 
 
 James, though his head was buried in a book, 
 heard her. 
 
 "Hm! I should say so," he said with pride. 
 ' * Notice what a long stretch it has from away down' 
 there near the Strait of Magellan where the ice lasts 
 all the year, to the warm sugar lands in the north, 
 and the Chaco that reaches away up into the coun- 
 try of Paraguay. And then all through the middle 
 lie the pampas." 
 
 "Your father told me that Argentina raises more 
 flax than any other country in the world, while it 
 stands second in wheat-raising, ' ' said Theresa. 
 
 "I know it." Again James spoke proudly. "But 
 say, girls, when I spoke of the Chaco a minute ago, 
 it made me think of our talk at La Plata Museum. 
 Do you remember it!" 
 
 "Indeed I do," Lucy answered promptly. 
 
 "And I too," spoke up Theresa, who had just fin- 
 ished a fairy story and was now ready to talk. 
 
 "Sometime I am going to Paraguay with Father," 
 James went on. "It's a fine trip up the Parana and 
 Paraguay rivers. One can see ever so many strange 
 sights there, from the alligators along the banks of 
 the streams to the ghost-women at the market-places 
 of the towns. ' ' 
 
 "The ghost-women f" cried Lucy and Theresa to- 
 gether. James's eyes twinkled mischievously. 
 [138]
 
 BRANDING THE CALVES 
 
 Just then came a call. "Time for another meal, 
 little folks," and James led the way to the dining- 
 room. 
 
 As the children sat eating, Lucy kept making signs 
 across the table to James. She was mutely asking 
 him to explain what he had said in the library. His 
 only answer was a knowing smile. 
 
 When dessert was served, every one chose oranges. 
 
 "I never tasted more delicious ones than these," 
 declared Miss Lee, as she opened the large one on 
 her plate. ' * They are so sweet and juicy. ' ' 
 
 "We get them from Paraguay," said Mr. Wolfe; 
 "and I believe no country in the world raises better 
 ones." 
 
 "When I think of Paraguay," said Mrs. Wolfe, "I 
 see not only vast orange orchards, but forests in 
 whose shade mate shrubs are growing abundantly. ' ' 
 
 "What a refreshing drink mate is!" said Miss 
 Lee. "I know that Paraguay is its home, but it is 
 also raised, as you doubtless know, in southern Bra- 
 zil." 
 
 "We Argentines could scarcely get along without 
 it," said Mr. Wolfe. "We use seven times as much 
 mate as coffee. As for the working people, it fre- 
 quently takes the place of breakfast. Few of the la- 
 borers on this estancia eat any food before ten or 
 eleven o 'clock in the morning. A gourd full of mate 
 drunk on rising makes a man feel strong and ready 
 for any task." 
 
 "I will never forget the first mate I drank," said 
 Lucy. ' ' It seemed so queer to draw it into my mouth 
 [139]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 through a long tube. It was hotter than I expected 
 and burned my mouth, and it was so bitter I didn't 
 wish to taste any more for weeks. But now I like 
 it. So do Mother and Father and Joe. " 
 
 "When I visited Paraguay," said Mr. Wolfe, "I 
 met many a long mule-train carrying mate to the 
 coast for shipment, and once I came upon a place 
 back in the country where the mate shrubs were 
 growing in the shade of tall trees. There, in the 
 wilderness, Indians were busily chopping off the 
 branches and carrying them to drying houses. The 
 roofs of the houses consisted of poles twisted to- 
 gether ; the floor beneath was of smooth, hard clay. 
 
 "As fast as the bundles were brought in, they 
 were handed to other workmen who wove them 
 among the poles of the roof; then a low fire was 
 started on the clay floor and kept burning till the 
 leaves overhead were thoroughly dry. After that 
 they were brushed down and pounded into powder, 
 packed in bales and loaded on mules ready to carry 
 them away to a port. ' ' 
 
 " I wish we could visit such a forest in Paraguay," 
 said Theresa. "But Father says we can't go there 
 now, we have so much else to see." 
 
 ' ' It 's a brave little republic, ' ' said Miss Lee. ' ' It 
 has had many troubles, and I am glad it is now at 
 peace." 
 
 "My boy here" Mr. Wolfe glanced at James 
 "is eager to visit the unsettled part of the country 
 in the Gran Chaco, where so many wild animals are 
 to be found." 
 
 [140]
 
 BRANDING THE CALVES 
 
 11 And Indians, Father!" added James quickly. 
 
 ''There are plenty of Indians all over Paraguay, 
 my son. More than one-fourth of the people are of 
 the red race." 
 
 "And a large number of the others are part Indian 
 and part Spanish," spoke up Mrs. Wolfe. 
 
 ' ' The people in the settled parts are kind and hos- 
 pitable, ' ' continued her husband. ' * If we were their 
 guests, they would gladly share their home with us ; 
 though, if they lived in one of the little villages in 
 the country, it would probably be a small mud hut 
 with one or two pieces of furniture. See here, let's 
 play we haven't just finished dinner, but are enter- 
 ing a Paraguay village with empty stomachs. "We 
 follow a man going home from his work in a field of 
 sugar-cane. Half-naked children with streaming 
 black hair run out to meet him and stare at the 
 strangers. He asks us into his hut to dine. His wife 
 looks up from her work to smile at us. She is pound- 
 ing corn in a hollow of a log standing in the middle of 
 the room. The corn is to be used for a cake which 
 she will soon serve us; this, with boiled beef and 
 mate, is to be our dinner. After it is finished, our 
 host and his wife fill pipes with tobacco and begin 
 to smoke. We do not care to join them, and go on 
 our way to another village, passing tobacco and 
 manioc fields, or perhaps groves of oranges." 
 
 "Aren't there any cities in Paraguay?" asked 
 Lucy. 
 
 "Not many. Asuncion is the largest. It is one 
 of the oldest in South America. The Spaniards set- 
 [141]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 tied there long before the Pilgrims went to your own 
 Plymouth. I found it a busy place, with colleges, 
 banks and parks. How the people there do like 
 bright colors! Their low-built houses, standing in 
 blocks along the sidewalks, are painted red, blue, 
 yellow, green all the tints of the rainbow." 
 
 "And ghost-women walking past them," James 
 said in a low voice to the little girls with puzzled 
 faces opposite him. 
 
 Mrs. Wolfe caught the words. "What are you 
 talking about, sonnie!" she asked; but his father 
 broke into a laugh. 
 
 "Yes, ghost-women, if you choose to call them so," 
 he said. "The women go about the streets in loose 
 white garments, with large white cloths wrapped 
 about their heads. Many of them are barefooted, so 
 they move noiselessly, as ghosts are supposed to do. 
 Let us follow two of them on their way to the mar- 
 ket. One carries a heavy jar on her head ; the other 
 balances a big load of oranges in the same way ; both 
 step as lightly as though they had no burden. This 
 way of carrying loads is common all over the coun- 
 try. 
 
 "Ah! we are nearing the market. It is a big one- 
 story building, extending around the four sides of a 
 square. There are women, women everywhere, buy- 
 ing and selling the wares of the country. I know 
 what Lucy would like to get for her mother it is 
 some of the delicate lace on that counter. It has 
 been made by the rough hands of the Paraguay 
 women." 
 
 [142]
 
 BRANDING THE CALVES 
 
 "I'd like some for Grandma," said Theresa. 
 
 * ' Of course, my dear. So we had better get a good 
 many yards. ' ' 
 
 Everybody smiled. 
 
 "But see here," Mr. Wolfe went on. "You must 
 all notice the quantities of tobacco and manioc for 
 sale, since these are raised in large quantities in the 
 country, and the people use the greater part them- 
 selves. Dear, dear! nearly all the folks about us, 
 both men and women, smoke pipes or cigars, or else 
 chew tobacco; even young girls are smoking. 
 
 "Let us turn from them toward a meat stall, and 
 watch the butcher hack off big chunks of beef which 
 he sells at so much a chunk. This beef came from 
 nearby cattle-farms fine ones, too." 
 
 "I declare!" suddenly exclaimed Mrs. Wolfe, 
 "while we have been talking, the daylight has begun 
 to fade. Let us go out on the veranda and watch 
 for the new moon." 
 
 [143]
 
 CHAPTER VHI 
 
 DANGER AHEAD * 
 
 T UCY," James whispered outside the little girl's 
 " door, " Mother says you are to ride Snow 
 White this morning when we go to the shearing. It 
 was my sister's, you know, and is very gentle." 
 
 Off ran James before Lucy had a chance to speak. 
 Her eyes were dim for a moment at thought of the 
 little girl who could never ride the beautiful white 
 pony again. Yet she could not help being happy at 
 her own privilege, and when she kissed Miss Lee 
 good-by she said, "I feel like a princess in a fairy 
 story princesses always ride on white ponies, you 
 know." 
 
 Then she ran to find the other children, the man- 
 ager's son, Pedro, having been invited to join the 
 party. 
 
 "The sheep farm is ten miles away," James told 
 the little girls as they started off. 
 
 "Ten miles and yet it is a part of your father's 
 estancia!" cried Theresa. 
 
 "We could travel a whole day in the direction we 
 are going now," he answered, "and we would still 
 be on our own land. ' ' 
 
 ' James ! Pedro !" called Lucy from behind. ' ' A 
 [145]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 hare just crossed my path. It went like the wind ! ' ' 
 
 " There are hundreds of hares on the place," said 
 James, smiling at the little girl's excitement. "Pe- 
 dro and I have hunted them more than once, haven't 
 we, Pedro?" 
 
 The Spanish boy nodded pleasantly. He was a 
 little shy in the company of the two strange girls. 
 
 The children rode on quietly for several miles, 
 when James called to the others to look closely into 
 the thick grass by the roadside. They discovered 
 two sharp eyes set in a white furry head. 
 
 "But don't stop. Bide on fast," directed James. 
 * ' That was a skunk a beauty too. ' ' 
 
 Later on when the riders passed a big field of cat- 
 tle, a fierce-eyed bull plunged toward the barbed- 
 wire fence that shut him in, longing to attack the 
 children. Lucy and Theresa breathed more easily 
 when they had got out of his sight. 
 
 ' * Almost there ! ' ' said James at last. * ' I can hear 
 the baaing of the sheep. Yes, now we can see them!" 
 
 "What lots and lots of them!" cried Lucy. 
 
 "And the dear little lambs at their mothers' 
 sides!" added Theresa. "I'd love to be a shep- 
 herd." 
 
 "There he goes now," said James, reining in his 
 pony to get a good look. "He's on horseback and 
 keeps moving about among the flocks. Let's call at 
 his hut and say good-day to his wife and children 
 before we go to the shearing." 
 
 With these words, James headed his pony for a 
 tiny mud-brick house thatched with grass. Three 
 [146]
 
 DANGER AHEAD 
 
 dark-eyed Italian children came running out to meet 
 the visitors. Behind them was their mother with 
 braided hair wound around her head and a bright 
 red kerchief folded over her shoulders. 
 
 ''Mother sent you these," said James, handing 
 the woman a pair of ear-rings and some gay ribbons. 
 
 She thanked him with a deep bow and many Italian 
 words the other visitors did not understand. Then 
 she hurried back to her work, as she was preparing 
 dinner for the shearers who had come to help her 
 husband. Her young guests followed her as she 
 went to a big oven in the yard and opened the door 
 to look in at roasting joints of beef and mutton. 
 
 "Yum, yum!" said James. "The smell of that 
 meat makes me hungry. We'd better get on to the 
 shearing, or we won't be home in time for our own 
 dinner. ' ' 
 
 Scattering a handful of coins among the little 
 Italians, the English lad led the way to a large store- 
 house. Close by were pens in which hundreds of 
 sheep were huddled together. Two men were busy 
 lifting out the animals, binding their legs and send- 
 ing them by other helpers to the storehouse. These 
 the visitors followed. As they entered the door 
 they could see the shearers cutting off thick tufts of 
 wool from the backs of helpless sheep. Another 
 man was weighing the wool, tying it into big bun- 
 dles, and handing these to an assistant who tossed 
 them into the loft overhead. 
 
 "Poor creatures!" said Theresa pityingly, as she 
 looked at the shorn sheep, which were trembling, 
 [147]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 partly from fear, partly from cold at the loss of 
 their warm coats. 
 
 "When all the wool is ready for shipment there 
 will be another busy time," Pedro told the little 
 girls. "If you are still here, you will see a long 
 train of carts leaving the estancia, each one loaded 
 as high as possible. The loads are so heavy that 
 the train fairly creeps, though eight or more horses 
 will draw a single cart. ' ' 
 
 "Before we start for home let's leave the road and 
 take a short ride through the tall grass," proposed 
 James. "It's a deal of fun. I have my pocket 
 compass with me, so we can't get lost." 
 
 Away flew the children over the wide-stretching 
 pampas, not one of them noticing that the sun was 
 getting out of sight behind a heavy black cloud. 
 Then, suddenly, sounded an angry rumble in the 
 heavens. At the same moment darkness swept over 
 the pampas. 
 
 "It's beginning to rain, ' ' James called back. ' * We 
 are in for it ! " 
 
 The rain was already falling in sheets, and light- 
 ning coming in blinding flashes. Theresa's heart 
 beat fast. So did Lucy's, though she tried her best 
 to appear brave when she saw that the two boys 
 were actually laughing over their plight. How 
 lonely it was not even a windmill in sight 1 
 
 "Speed up!" James shouted, checking his pony 
 long enough to examine his compass. "Now then, 
 follow me!" 
 
 On flew the riders, the lightning playing about 
 [148]
 
 DANGER AHEAD 
 
 them in constant dazzling flashes, the thunder roll- 
 ing as if the sky were being bombarded, and the rain 
 falling in such torrents that the water ran in streams 
 down the ponies' sides and their young riders' 
 clothing. 
 
 "Oh!" cried Lucy suddenly. Something had 
 struck her cheek and cut it. 
 
 "We are in for it," shouted back James. "It's 
 hailing. ' ' 
 
 The boy was at last frightened, not for himself, 
 but for the little girls in his care. He knew the 
 damage that hail in Argentina sometimes works ; he 
 had seen the stones as big as pigeons' eggs. For 
 this reason the windows on the storm side of his 
 home were protected by wire netting. 
 
 The ponies needed no urging. On, on they flew, 
 with their riders bending over them as far as pos- 
 sible to keep their faces hidden from the sharp hail- 
 stones. 
 
 Scared as Lucy was for herself, she did not forget 
 gentle, beautiful Snow White. "Poor little crea- 
 ture," she whispered to her. "I hope you will not 
 be hurt." 
 
 "I see a windmill!" called James at last. 
 
 "And there is your house," cried Pedro cheerily. 
 
 "We're safe, but wet as dolphins," shouted 
 James a minute afterward to a group of worried- 
 looking people in the doorway. And when the lit- 
 tle girls had been helped down from their ponies and 
 hurried into the house by Mr. Wolfe, what a rejoic- 
 ing there was! Dripping wet as they were, they 
 [149]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 were hugged again and again by Miss Lee and Mrs. 
 Wolfe, who had been fearful about them for the last 
 hour. 
 
 ' ' That was an experience for two little girls, ' ' Mr. 
 Wolfe told his wife, after she had given each of the 
 children some hot mate. "To tell the truth, I was 
 a bit scared about them myself. ' ' 
 
 [150]
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 BACK TO THE BIG CITY 
 
 V/f AYBE it's a message from my dear papa," said 
 1* A Theresa, running up to Lucy, who was on the 
 shady side of the veranda dressing a doll. The lit- 
 tle girl had spied a messenger handing a telegram 
 to Mr. Wolfe. 
 
 Theresa's guess was correct. Every one in the 
 household was excited, of course, because only once 
 after the wanderers arrived on the coast of Pata- 
 gonia had they been able to send a message. That 
 was three weeks ago. "During our tramp inland 
 we can't even telegraph you," Senhor Vasco had 
 said, and so no one was troubled at the silence. But 
 now Theresa could scarcely contain her joy. 
 
 "All well," ran the telegram. "Just setting sail 
 for Buenos Aires." 
 
 "Let us go to the city ourselves and take our 
 friends by surprise," Mr. Wolfe proposed. "Then 
 they must come back here for a little visit before 
 starting for Chile. ' ' 
 
 "Indeed, yes!" said his wife. "I want to keep 
 my little guests with me as long as possible." 
 
 So it came to pass that a gay party stood on the 
 pier to greet the travelers when they landed. 
 [151]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 "How brown you are even more so than when 
 you got back from the Amazon ! ' ' Lucy told the boys 
 as they all rode out to the Wolfes' villa, which had 
 been opened for their coming. Theresa said noth- 
 ing; she was too happy for words, as she sat snug- 
 gled up to her father 's side with a tiny hand clasped 
 in his big one. 
 
 "There is so much to tell, it's hard to know where 
 to begin, " said Carlos, as all gathered on the veranda 
 in the moonlight that evening. 
 
 Senhor Vasco smiled. 
 
 "Perhaps the best way to begin will be at the be- 
 ginning," he said. Then he went on, telling about 
 the sea trip south along the coast, and the other pas- 
 sengers on board the ship. There was one family, 
 with three children in it, that had left a cosy little 
 home with vineyards and orchards in distant Ger- 
 many, to raise sheep on the wild Patagonian pam- 
 pas. 
 
 Then Senhor Vasco told of the Patagonian port 
 where he and the boys landed a few sheet-iron 
 buildings with no trees and only coarse scanty grass 
 in sight. Behind it stretched the sandy pampas 
 dotted with clumps of thorn bushes. 
 
 "It was a great day for the townspeople when we 
 arrived," said Joe, as Mr. Wolfe stopped to rest. 
 "They had flocked to the shore from miles around 
 to see the ship and get supplies it had brought them. 
 Some of them would now have new clothes ; others 
 were after sugar and canned fruit and vegetables. 
 [152]
 
 BACK TO THE BIG CITY 
 
 Think of it ! nothing fresh to eat raised in the whole 
 country except mutton. ' ' 
 
 "And yet," said Carlos, taking up the story, "the 
 boys and girls looked red-cheeked and happy, even if 
 they have no candy-stores nor fruit-stalls in which 
 to spend their money." 
 
 "That is probably why they are so healthy," said 
 Mrs. Wolfe softly. "Without rich desserts, and 
 living most of the time in the fresh air, they can 
 have little need of a doctor's care." 
 
 "I don't see what fun there was for you in that 
 little town of sheet-iron houses," said Lucy thought- 
 fully, as she turned toward Senhor Vasco. 
 
 There wasn 't any, ' ' he laughed. ' We left it as 
 soon as we could that is, after we had secured a 
 good guide and bought some horses. You know we 
 got our sleeping bags, provisions, and the rest of 
 our camping outfit before we left this city. More- 
 over, I was anxious to reach my friend's ranch as 
 soon as possible." 
 
 "So away we went into the wilderness," cried 
 Carlos, "when we rode over the trails among thorn 
 bushes for three days and slept two nights in our 
 warm bags under the bright stars of the Southern 
 Cross." 
 
 "It was great fun getting our own meals," said 
 Senhor Vasco, going on with the story. "Each 
 morning we rose before daylight. Then, while we 
 were dressing and packing, our Indian guide, Jim, 
 made a fire out of callifate brush, which contains a 
 good deal of pitch. And, by the way, Joe, you were 
 [153]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 wrong in giving the idea that no fruit is raised in 
 Patagonia, because the callifate bush has small sour 
 red berries which the settlers often make into jam. 
 
 "But to continue: Breakfast was quickly ready 
 because all Jim had to do was to heat some cans of 
 food over the fire and make mate. As soon as we 
 had eaten, we reloaded our packhorses with our 
 camping outfit. Then away we went along the trails 
 made by natives and settlers, plodding hour after 
 hour over the sandy pathway with no person, no ani- 
 mal, no house in sight." 
 
 "Toward night of the first day, though, we had 
 an adventure," said Carlos, fearing his father had 
 forgotten it. 
 
 "Tell about it, my son." 
 
 "It was this way: Jim and Father were ahead, 
 and Joe and I were lagging behind. Our horses 
 were so tired they fairly crawled up the rocky hill 
 they were climbing, and we boys were half asleep 
 from the long day's ride. Finally Joe lay back to 
 stretch himself, letting the reins loose ; at that very 
 moment his horse stumbled and he fell off, catching 
 his foot in the stirrup. ' ' 
 
 "At that the horse started up, dragging me along 
 with her, till I didn't know whether I was dead or 
 alive," put in Joe. 
 
 "Of course I shouted, and jumped from my horse, 
 and Jim and Father wheeled about, and Joe was 
 rescued by the time he was a mass of bruises and his 
 ankle was sprained. And after that," Carlos ran 
 on, "Father got out his case of 'first aid to the in- 
 [154]
 
 BACK TO THE BIG CITY 
 
 jured' and Joe was patched up. But of course we 
 had to rest a while before he was able to go on. And 
 as we stretched ourselves out on the hillsides, Jim 
 suddenly said, 'Aha, guanacos!' He pointed far 
 out on the plain below us. There among the thorn 
 bushes small animals were moving about at least 
 forty of them. 
 
 " 'Sh! don't move or make a sound!' continued 
 Jim in a whisper. ' The wind is in our favor, or the 
 guanacos would have scented us before this.' 
 
 " Creeping along on all fours, he went to a pack- 
 horse after his rifle. Still keeping low, he went down 
 the hillside, then in and out among the bushes to- 
 ward the herd. My eyes did not leave him till he 
 had drawn near enough to shoot. The bullet flew 
 straight into the neck of a buck, which sprang 
 into the air, and then fell to the ground in its death 
 struggle. Away galloped the rest of the herd and 
 were soon out of sight. 
 
 "I ran to meet Jim as soon as he started back 
 with the buck over his shoulders." 
 
 "My, but that guanaco was a beauty!" again in- 
 terrupted Joe. "Its fur was tawny yellow with 
 white spots ; it looked somewhat like a baby camel, 
 somewhat like an antelope. It must have weighed 
 one hundred and fifty pounds." 
 
 "I'll never forget our supper that night," said 
 Senhor Vasco. "Jim broiled a guanaco steak over 
 the brush fire; it seemed to us hungry trampers as 
 delicious as venison." 
 
 "Let me see. We didn't have another adventure 
 [155]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 till the end of the second day," said Joe thought- 
 fully. ' ' That was when we reached a little mud hut 
 and found a man living there with his two sons. 
 They asked us in and treated us to supper of roasted 
 mutton and dried biscuit, with mate. The father 
 heated the water for the mate over a fire built in the 
 middle of the room. There was no chimney, so the 
 smoke made us cough and choke. There was only 
 one gourd for all of us to drink from, and each of 
 us had to cut off a slice of mutton for himself and 
 eat it with his fingers." 
 
 Miss Lee's face puckered at the idea. 
 
 "If you were tramping in a wild country, you 
 wouldn't mind a little thing like that," said Senhor 
 Vasco with a smile. Then he took up the story. 
 
 1 'At sunset of the third day," he said, "we saw 
 a large sheep ranch ahead of us, and Jim told me it 
 was my friend Berg's whom I had traveled all the 
 way to see. When at last we reached the house, 
 which was made entirely of corrugated iron, you can 
 all imagine what an exciting time there was. Herr 
 Berg and his wife seemed glad beyond measure at 
 the surprise-party, and made us very comfortable, 
 even though their home is small and away out in the 
 wilderness." 
 
 "Think of it! They have a piano and pictures, 
 and easy chairs, all brought on a ship from Ger- 
 many and then carted over rough trails by mule 
 train!" said Carlos. 
 
 "And they haven't any neighbors for miles and 
 miles!" cried Joe. 
 
 [156]
 
 BACK TO THE BIG CITY 
 
 "With nothing to see from the window save an 
 endless stretch of thorn bushes," continued Senhor 
 Vasco. 
 
 4 'The next day," Joe went on, "the Berg children 
 showed us over the place. We went around among 
 the flocks of sheep and visited the poultry yards. 
 Not like any you ever saw," the boy went on, look- 
 ing at one after another of his listeners, "because 
 there were young ostriches running about among the 
 chickens. ' ' 
 
 "Ostriches?" cried the little girls. 
 
 "Yes, the Patagonians call them ostriches, though 
 Senhor Vasco says they are really rheas. Herr Berg 
 hatched them from eggs laid by the wild ostriches 
 he had found them in the sand out in the wilderness. 
 He was raising the birds for meat. Their feathers 
 are small and coarse, but Hans told me his mother 
 would use them when the birds were killed; she 
 would make them into mats and dusters." 
 
 "The next day after we arrived we had broiled 
 ostrich meat for dinner," put in Carlos. 
 
 ' ' The omelet we had for breakfast took my fancy," 
 said Senhor Vasco. "It was large enough to sat- 
 isfy the appetite of the whole family, yet it was made 
 out of only two ostrich eggs Herr Berg had found 
 them the day before in a nest out on the pampas. 
 
 "My friend told me," he continued, "that a num- 
 ber of mother birds lay their eggs together in a big 
 hollow in the sand. During a large part of the day, 
 the sun keeps them warm enough ; but with the ap- 
 [1571
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 proach of night the father birds take their places on 
 the nest to brood over the eggs." 
 
 "How odd!" said Miss Lee. "Fancy hens strut- 
 ting around our own farm yards while the cocks are 
 patiently hatching out the chickens." 
 
 The idea set every one laughing. 
 
 "The Berg children had a tame guanaco," said 
 Joe, when there was quiet once more. * * Their father 
 brought it home after killing the mother when he was 
 out hunting. It was so gentle, I just loved it ; it fol- 
 lowed us around like a pet dog. When it was brought 
 home, it was so young the children told me they had 
 to feed it milk from a bottle." 
 
 "In our stores here in Buenos Aires I have seen 
 beautiful blankets made by the Patagonian Indians 
 out of the skins of young guanacos," said Mrs. 
 Wolfe. 
 
 1 ' Oh, the Bergs would never kill their pet to use its 
 skin!" Joe's voice was full of dismay at such an 
 idea. "Frau Berg had a mat in her sitting-room 
 made of the skins of wild guanacos," he added, "but 
 that is a different matter." 
 
 "After several delightful days with my friends," 
 said Senhor Vasco, taking up the story, "we bade 
 them good-by and started south." 
 
 "We had an exciting adventure before we turned 
 eastward." After saying this Joe stopped and 
 looked from one to another, hoping by the pause to 
 rouse their curiosity more keenly. 
 
 "Don't wait. Tell us right off," begged Lucy. 
 
 "We were riding over a long stretch of desert, 
 [158]
 
 BACK TO THE BIG CITY 
 
 and had to go slowly because the sand was so hard 
 on our horses' feet," said Joe after several slow 
 ahems. "It was bad enough as it was, with the air 
 as hot as that of a furnace, while up over our heads 
 it was noon-time the sun looked like a ball of 
 fire. But it was still worse when a fierce wind came 
 up, scorching our faces so it seemed as if they must 
 blister. Suddenly Jim called out, 'Do you see that 
 cloud low in the sky? It means trouble.' 
 
 "The cloud came nearer and nearer, and with it 
 came what do you think?" 
 
 "Bain, of course," said Theresa promptly. 
 
 ' l Wrong you are ! A storm of thick, driving dust 
 swept over us. 'Quick!' shouted Jim. He had al- 
 ready sprung from his horse and was digging a hole 
 in the sand. ' Get down ! ' he ordered. ' Spread your 
 blankets, creep under them, and shut your eyes ! ' 
 
 "Without a word we did as he had told us. There 
 we lay till the storm passed by, and then we found 
 that we had big loads of sand to lift, as well as our 
 blankets, before we could be free. My! how we 
 choked and coughed when we got up to shake off the 
 heavy white dust that had sifted in upon us even 
 through the thick covering. Our ears and noses were 
 full of it, too." 
 
 "But the poor horses what had become of 
 them?" asked Miss Lee. 
 
 "They had lain down and protected their heads 
 as well as they could, but they were in a sorry state. 
 After much snorting, which kept company with our 
 [159]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 coughs and sneezes, they were soon able to start off 
 again, however." 
 
 * 'I declare!" Mrs. Wolfe laughed. "I feel as if 
 I had been out in a sandstorm myself. I don't envy 
 you your experience one bit." 
 
 "It was exciting, though, and different from what 
 most folks know about, so I'm glad I had it." Joe's 
 eyes shone at the thought of all he should sometime 
 have to tell his boy friends in New York. 
 
 "After that sandstorm, we had another that 
 wasn't very pleasant," said Carlos, who was getting 
 sleepy, yet wished to have his share of the story 
 telling. t i We rode all one day in a driving rain, but 
 at night we got shelter with a colony of Boers who 
 had lived happily in South Africa before the war 
 with the English, but had lately come to Patagonia 
 to raise sheep. I tell you, the Boer home where we 
 spent the night seemed comfortable after the long 
 tiresome ride I It was made of mud-bricks, and was 
 as neat as wax, and it seemed as if the dinner of mut- 
 ton and macaroni was about the best I ever tasted. 
 When it was over we sat with the family around the 
 fireplace, listening to stories of Indians, and of os- 
 trich and guanaco hunts." 
 
 "The next day," said Senhor Vasco, seeing that 
 both boys were really too tired to talk, "we rode into 
 a flock of ostriches skimming over the sand, with 
 wings spread out, heads stretched forward, and kick- 
 ing up the dust with their long legs. They travel 
 very fast, and sometimes even race a train, actually 
 keeping up with it for quite a while." 
 [160]
 
 BACK TO THE BIG CITY 
 
 "That's going some,'* broke in Joe, falling into 
 American slang, "when the train is moving forty 
 miles an hour." 
 
 "Fast as the birds travel," continued Senhor 
 Vasco, "a hunter on a swift horse soon tires them 
 out. Then, with a skillful fling of a leather string 
 with iron balls at each end, he winds it around the 
 legs of an ostrich and it falls helpless to the 
 ground." 
 
 "The Boer family treated us to armadillo stuffed 
 with bread-crumbs, ' ' said Carlos, putting in one last 
 word. < ' It was good, although the armadillos down 
 there are not as big as ours." 
 
 "We had a splendid time," declared Joe, "but I 
 was glad to get back to the coast, and then we had 
 to travel a half-day before reaching the port from 
 which we were to sail home. We saw sea-lions bask- 
 ing in the sunshine on the rocks near the shore; and 
 once we stopped to explore a cliff, and discovered a 
 buzzard's nest with four eggs in it. The mother 
 bird had flown off, but she came hurrying back as 
 scared and angry as could be. 
 
 "But the best of all was meeting a party of Ameri- 
 can scientists who had come down to Patagonia to 
 hunt for the bones of prehistoric animals. They 
 were awfully glad to see us and talked with me about 
 dear old New York." 
 
 Lucy sighed enviously. 
 
 "And now, dear friends," said Senhor Vasco, 
 turning to Mr. and Mrs. Wolfe, "we must soon take 
 leave of you and start out on our further wanderings 
 [161]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 first across Argentina into Chile on your fine 
 Transandine railroad; then up the western coast, 
 through the wonderful Panama Canal, and home 
 again by way of the Atlantic. I want my children 
 and these little American friends of ours to know 
 South America before we end our travels. Miss Lee, 
 too, I feel sure will enjoy the journey." 
 
 1 ' Oh, oh ! " cried Mrs. Wolfe in dismay. ' ' My hus- 
 band and I had hoped you would all spend at least 
 a month with us on our estancia. ' ' 
 
 "I am very sorry we cannot accept your invita- 
 tion. You have already been most kind to us." 
 Senhor Vasco's voice was full of gratitude. "But 
 we must really be on our way. ' ' 
 
 "The boys had a good time, of course," Lucy said 
 to Theresa, when the good-nights had been said, and 
 they were on their way upstairs. "But I'm glad we 
 didn't go with them, and went to the estancia in- 
 stead." 
 
 "So am I, and I hate to leave the Wolfes now- 
 they have been so kind to us," answered the affec- 
 tionate little girl. 
 
 [162]
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 OVER THE MOUNTAINS 
 
 T)AMP AS, pampas everywhere," said Joe with a 
 ^ yawn. ' ' Cattle and sheep and grain fields, and 
 then more cattle and sheep. ' ' 
 
 The train was now many hours on its westward 
 way, and the children were getting tired and restless. 
 
 "All Argentina isn't what you just described," 
 replied Senhor Vasco. "Up in the north, for in- 
 stance, where the weather is warmer and the rains 
 are heavy, one finds rich fruit and sugar lands. 
 There you could picnic among groves of palm-trees 
 as in our dear Brazil. Yes, and you could stretch 
 your hammock in a lemon or orange orchard and let 
 the ripe fruit fall into your lap." 
 
 "I suppose we could pick bananas too," said Lucy. 
 "Then, after eating my fill, I'd cry out like Carlos, 
 'I'm a monkey, I'm a monkey.' That sounded so 
 funny to me at first, till I found out how fond mon- 
 keys are of bananas." 
 
 As Lucy spoke, the porter cried : * * First call for 
 dinner." It was already dark outside; so, after a 
 hearty meal in the handsome dining-car, the travel- 
 ers "turned in" for the night, to find themselves 
 at sunrise in the rich vine-lands of western Argen- 
 tina, with the Andes close at hand. 
 [163]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 "What a beautiful place!" exclaimed Miss Lee, 
 as the train reached Mendoza with its many orchards 
 and grape-vines, and its cosy homes half hidden 
 among the trees. Beyond were the snow-topped 
 mountains reaching up into the clouds. 
 
 As there would be a wait of several hours before 
 the narrow-gage train would leave for the journey 
 across the Andes, the party had time for a long walk 
 through the shady streets. More than once they 
 stopped to watch groups of children at their play. 
 
 "They have little thought that they are playing 
 above the ruins of another town which was destroyed 
 by an earthquake, ' ' said Senhor Vasco, half to him- 
 self. 
 
 * 'An earthquake ! ' ' Lucy shivered as she spoke. 
 
 1 ' Tell us about it, please, ' ' begged Joe, who had a 
 boy's liking for horrors. 
 
 "An old gentleman in the smoking-car described 
 it to me on the way here ; he was a little boy living 
 in the city at the time. Well, to begin: It was on 
 a Sunday afternoon and the churches were filled with 
 people. Suddenly the ground began to shake and 
 a low grumble sounded through the air, drowning 
 the voices of the singers and priests. 
 
 ' ' The next moment it seemed to the few who were 
 left alive as if there were no churches, no anything of 
 the pretty city just ruins, ruins everywhere. It 
 happened that my fellow-passenger who told me 
 about it was walking by the river with his parents. 
 All at once, he noticed that the river was rising. 
 [164]
 
 OVER THE MOUNTAINS 
 
 The next instant he felt himself being lifted up into 
 the air. Should he ever stop, he wondered dully. 
 
 "He knew nothing more till he awoke to find him- 
 self lying on a rough pile of earth with the stars 
 twinkling merrily overhead. Not a sound about him ! 
 'Mother! Father!' he cried; but there was no an- 
 swer. He did not know then that his parents were 
 lying dead beneath the city's ruins. 
 
 "All night long the little boy wandered about alone 
 among piles of stone and broken lumber. When 
 morning came at last, he met a sad-eyed man search- 
 ing among the ruins for his own loved ones. This 
 man took pity on the little orphan and adopted him ; 
 but neither could ever forget the sorrow caused them 
 by the earthquake which had destroyed the city and 
 brought death to ten thousand or more people." 
 
 "How dreadful!" said Miss Lee; while Joe whis- 
 pered to his sister, l ' Suppose the earth should open 
 and swallow us this very minute ! ' ' 
 
 Theresa caught his words and burst into tears. 
 
 "I only said that to tease Lucy," Joe said in- 
 stantly, "and I'm truly- ruly sorry. You know they 
 say lightning never strikes twice in the same place, 
 and I guess it's true of earthquakes." 
 
 "There's the narrow-gage road ahead of us," 
 called back Carlos, who was walking ahead of the 
 others with his father. 
 
 "And we'll soon be riding along that steep track 
 up among the mountains," said Joe, hoping to keep 
 Theresa's mind busy with other thoughts. "Per- 
 [165]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 haps we'll catch sight of some llamas jumping about 
 among the crags." 
 
 When the little train, with an engine pushing 
 bravely behind, bore the travelers out of the small 
 town, Senhor Vasco remarked that he was sorry to 
 leave Argentina without a visit to the old town of 
 Cordova. 
 
 "Long before the Pilgrims landed on your 'own 
 Plymouth Kock," he told the twins, "the Spanish 
 settlers of Cordova built a university there." 
 
 At first the children could see grape-vines and al- 
 falfa fields from the car windows, but as they climbed 
 higher they looked out on a wild, rocky country. High 
 above them towered the lofty peaks of the Andes, 
 the summit of the volcano Aconcagua above them all. 
 
 "How strange!" cried Miss Lee, as she noticed 
 the coloring of a stream beside which the train was 
 now moving. 
 
 "That is the Mendoza River," said Senhor Vasco, 
 consulting his map. "Those bright colors must be 
 given by the metals found in its rocky bed; the 
 stream itself is the gift of the melting snows on the 
 heights above." 
 
 On puffed the train past a row of cliffs that looked 
 like a procession of pilgrims bent with a hard jour- 
 ney. Then Joe discovered a stone bridge that Dame 
 Nature must have made herself. At the children's 
 cries of wonder, a fellow-passenger in the next seat 
 turned around and told them the story of the place. 
 
 "In the long ago," he said, "before the coming 
 of the white man, the Indians had great faith in the 
 [166]
 
 OVER THE MOUNTAINS 
 
 power of healing possessed by the waters below that 
 bridge. They would travel many miles to drink 
 there. Come then 1 Let us imagine that a red chief 
 is very ill and that he is being borne there in a lit- 
 ter over the wild mountain passes to be cured of 
 some dreadful illness." 
 
 "Yes, yes, I can see the waving plumes of the sick 
 chief ; now he has reached the stream and is about to 
 drink a gourdful of the wonderful water," said The- 
 resa, who had a lively imagination. 
 
 No one spoke for some time, as all were busy feast- 
 ing on the wild beauty of the country, now catching 
 glimpses of snowy peaks, and again filled with won- 
 der at the brilliant colors of nearby rocks. Unno- 
 ticed, the train had begun to slow up and they heard 
 the call "La Cuevas!" as they entered a little sta- 
 tion. 
 
 "Good-by, friend Argentina. We shall see no 
 more of you, ' ' said Senhor Vasco. Then, as the por- 
 ter began lighting up the car, he told the children 
 to prepare for a long underground ride. "We have 
 already passed through several short tunnels," he 
 said, "but now we are about to travel through one 
 over ten thousand feet long, dug through the heart 
 of a mountain. When we next see daylight, we shall 
 be in Chile." 
 
 "By going through this tunnel instead of over it," 
 said the stranger in the next seat, once more turning 
 around to talk with the children, "you miss the 
 greatest sight among the mountains." 
 [167]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 "What is it?" asked Joe, before any one else had 
 a chance to speak. 
 
 "The Christ of the Andes," said the gentleman 
 reverently. "It is a statue of our dear Lord, twen- 
 Jy-six feet high ; one hand holds the cross ; the other 
 is stretched forward in blessing ; and as the beholder 
 looks into the calm face above, it seems as if he could 
 hear the words, ' Peace be unto you. ' ' ' 
 
 "Why should such a statue stand in that lonely 
 place among the snow and ice?" asked Lucy. 
 
 "It is the emblem, my child, of brotherly love be- 
 tween Chile and Argentina, who were once on the 
 verge of war. Cast out of bronze from cannon be- 
 longing to both countries, it was set up on the boun- 
 dary-line to speak of the peace which they have 
 vowed shall evermore exist between them." 
 
 "Did you ever see it?" asked Carlos. 
 
 "Indeed, yes. Before the railroad was built I 
 climbed with some friends over the Andes. A ter- 
 rible storm overtook us ; we were already blinded by 
 the snow and nearly frozen, when we came upon a 
 rest house where we were sheltered till the storm 
 was over." 
 
 "A house up among such wild mountains?" ques- 
 tioned Miss Lee. 
 
 "Yes; several such houses have been built along 
 the trail. They are mound-shaped and of stone, so 
 they stand firm through the most terrible storms." 
 
 "I've read stories about condors, those big birds 
 that build their nests and raise their babies among 
 [1681
 
 OVER THE MOUNTAINS 
 
 the cliffs and caves of the Andes," said Carlos. 
 ''Did you ever see them!" 
 
 "Many a time. Perhaps if you keep your eyes 
 open, you will catch a glimpse of condors flying over 
 a beautiful lake. We shall reach it soon after we 
 cross the border." 
 
 "Daylight!" Joe burst out excitedly. The boy's 
 face had been pressed against the window-pane, so 
 he was the first to discover that the train was emerg- 
 ing from the tunnel. 
 
 "And Chile, my homeland!" said the stranger. 
 
 [169]
 
 PART III 
 TRAVELING ALONG THE SHOE-STRING
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 CBOSSING THE SHOE-STBINO- 
 
 WE are still high up," said Lucy, as the train 
 pulled out of the little station at Caracoles 
 and she looked off over the rugged, lonely slopes. 
 
 "And wonders are still spread before us," said 
 Miss Lee. l i I never dreamed that rocks could have 
 such glorious colors; while the wild streams rush- 
 ing down the slopes and the water-falls leaping over 
 the edges of lofty cliffs have at times made me al- 
 most breathless with delight. ' ' 
 
 "I'm glad to have the highest peak of the whole 
 Andes for a neighbor," said Joe. "Away back in 
 New York I never dreamed of ever seeing both the 
 King of Eivers and the King of Mountains. Aconca- 
 gua is so grand it almost takes one's breath away to 
 look at it. I'd like to climb Aconcagua. I once read 
 the story of a party of men who reached the sum- 
 mit, though they almost lost their lives in doing it. 
 They were caught in a fearful gale, and were almost 
 frozen to death ; their provisions gave out, and they 
 were nearly starved ; two of the men barely escaped 
 falling over a precipice. But they had their reward 
 when they reached the top in the glorious view they 
 had. Far to the east were the pampas of Argentina, 
 [173]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 while to the west, beyond the mountains and valleys 
 of Chile, lay the big waters of the Pacific. And think ! 
 clouds were lying like blankets at their feet." Joe 
 drew a long breath at the thought of the mighty 
 things to be seen in this world. 
 
 "Our ride through the long tunnel seemed won- 
 derful to me." Carlos spoke quietly as if half to 
 himself. "I kept thinking of the mountain over my 
 head and of what that tunnel means, as well as the 
 little ones we have passed through also." 
 
 "What does it mean?" asked Theresa curiously. 
 
 "Why, just this, it's the patience and the work, 
 day after day, and month after month, of hundreds 
 of workmen, as they chipped away bit after bit of 
 the solid rock. Then, at last, a way was opened up 
 so that people can cross our continent from the At- 
 lantic to the Pacific." 
 
 "It is a big thought," said Senhor Vasco. A mo- 
 ment later, as he turned to the window, he said, 
 "The wonders of our journey are not yet ended. 
 Look quickly, all of you, at that beautiful lake nest- 
 ling among the rocky ledges. Its waters are as clear 
 as crystal." 
 
 "Long ago, it was loved by the Incas," said the 
 gentleman who had talked with the party before. 
 "The Incas, as you probably know, were Indian 
 chiefs who ruled on our coast before the white men 
 came. They were perhaps the wisest and most 
 powerful ones ever known among the red men." 
 
 "I think that strange man is very nice," Theresa 
 [174]
 
 CROSSING THE SHOE-STRING 
 
 whispered to Lucy, as her father and the stranger 
 went off together to the smoking-car. 
 
 ' * He laughed when I told him I had always heard 
 Chile called the shoe-string of South America," re- 
 plied the little girl. ' * ' Do you know why?' he asked. 
 I said, 'Of course. It's because it is so narrow and 
 stretches such a long way from its northern neigh- 
 bor, Peru, down along the whole length of Argen- 
 tina, till it curls like a kitten's tail around the bot- 
 tom of Patagonia.' You know I studied it on the 
 big map at Mrs. Wolfe 's. ' ' 
 
 "After that he asked if I knew what the word 
 Chile meant. He smiled when I shook my head, and 
 told me that when the white men first came here, 
 they entered a valley called by the Indians Tchili, 
 meaning beautiful. They admired the country about 
 them so much that they gave it the same name, 
 though they spelled it in an easier way. And The- 
 resa ! the gentleman went on to say he has a big farm 
 in the beautiful valley that stretches ever so far up 
 and down through Chile, and he would like to have 
 us visit him!" 
 
 "I hope we can go, because he is so pleasant and 
 you know I just love farms," was the answer. 
 * ' Papa likes him, I 'm sure. He says the gentleman 's 
 name is Arnold and he thinks he is an Englishman." 
 
 "Look quick, girls!" cried Joe from the seat be- 
 hind. "That is a condor, I'm sure." 
 
 The boy pointed to a large black bird flying down- 
 ward in wide circles from the top of a cliff. It had 
 doubtless discovered some dead body, perhaps that 
 [175]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 of a sheep or llama in the valley below, and was on 
 its way to feast on it. 
 
 1 1 Ugh ! ' ' Joe went on. * ' Chile can have the con- 
 dor for her national bird if she wishes. But even 
 if it does stand for strength and bravery, I don't ad- 
 mire it, because it makes one think of vultures. 
 When I was at Para I saw vultures flying about the 
 market-place and devouring the carrion. The peo- 
 ple there won't kill the creatures because they help 
 to keep the city healthful. I hate the thought of 
 them, just the same." 
 
 While the children talked on, the train had stopped 
 at several small towns on the mountain-slope, each 
 one looking greener and prettier than the one above 
 it. 
 
 When the station at the foot was reached, Senhor 
 Vasco and his new acquaintance returned to the car, 
 where there was already a general commotion, for 
 here the narrow-gage road ended and the passengers 
 must change cars. 
 
 "What dandy pears and plums!" said Joe, look- 
 ing longingly at a man on the station platform who 
 was busily selling the fruit to travelers as they left 
 the train. 
 
 Senhor Vasco stopped to secure a bagful ; with this 
 to feast on, the party entered a fine Pullman car of 
 the train about to leave for the journey across Chile. 
 Not long after it started out, Mr. Arnold, who was 
 sitting with the boys, told them he should soon leave 
 them, as he was fast nearing his home. "But," he 
 said, "I have made a plan with Senhor Vasco by 
 [176]
 
 CROSSING THE SHOE-STRING 
 
 which I shall expect to see you there before many 
 days." 
 
 At these words, Joe and Carlos beamed with de- 
 light. 
 
 As the train rushed onward, the travelers discov- 
 ered that it had a companion, also making its way 
 toward the sea. It was the Aconcagua River that 
 rushed onward with sudden leaps over the rocks in 
 its pathway, sometimes roaring and foaming as if in 
 anger, sometimes singing a song of merriment. 
 
 When Mr. Arnold's station was reached and good- 
 bys had been said, the children had time to take no- 
 tice of the passengers who were left. Nearby was a 
 countryman in broad-brimmed hat, and with a loose 
 wrap called a poncho over his shoulders. Beside him 
 sat his wife with heavily powdered face, and his lit- 
 tle daughter in holiday dress, with black eyes full of 
 joy at the idea of a visit to the big city. 
 
 "She is Spanish, I'm sure," Theresa whispered 
 to Lucy. 
 
 "Do look at that man in the seat beyond her," 
 was the only reply. "He must be a priest, because 
 of his beaver hat and the black gown that reaches 
 down around his feet." 
 
 Joe and Carlos were most interested in a group 
 of soldiers in uniform at the other end of the car. 
 
 ' * Every man in Chile, as well as in Argentina, has 
 
 military training," Senhor Vasco told the boys. 
 
 Then, turning to Miss Lee, he spoke of the different 
 
 peoples of the world represented in the carj Eng- 
 
 [177]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 lish, Germans, Spanish, Portuguese, Indians, Ameri- 
 cans all were there. 
 
 Leaving the fertile valley behind, the train soon 
 entered a pass in the coast range of the Andes. Once 
 on the other side, it climbed down through the hills, 
 past vineyards and orange orchards, and fields where 
 the children caught sight of rose-bushes loaded with 
 fragrant blossoms. 
 
 " And morning-glories too!" cried Lucy in delight. 
 "See, Theresa! the fences along the track are cov- 
 ered with them. They are so near, I can almost 
 touch them by reaching my arm out of the window." 
 
 "But the air!" said Theresa, taking a long sniff. 
 "It is soft and sweet with the blossoms and new- 
 mown hay, and everything nice." 
 
 Not only the flowers, but the fresh figs and oranges 
 brought along by the train-boy, were forgotten when 
 the blue waters of the ocean came into view. Then 
 Miss Lee, as well as Senhor Vasco, joined in the 
 chorus, "The Pacific! The Pacific!" 
 
 Nearer and nearer it appeared, till the train was 
 skirting along the coast of the King of Oceans. "We 
 shall soon reach Val paraiso, or the Vale of Para- 
 dise," now said Senhor Vasco, "but I doubt if it can 
 deserve the name as much as the lovely country we 
 have left behind us. 
 
 "Aha! we are indeed near," he said a minute 
 afterward, "for we must be passing Vina del Mar, 
 a place noted as the beautiful suburb of the great 
 city." 
 
 [178]
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 THE VALE OP PAEADISE 
 
 T WAS so tired when we got here last night, I 
 ^ wasn't much interested even in this fine hotel; 
 but now, after a long sleep, I'm ready for anything." 
 As Lucy spoke, she danced about the room as lightly 
 as a fairy. 
 
 "I was tired too," said Joe, "though now I can 
 hardly wait to get started on our sightseeing. But 
 say, twin dear, isn 't it grand to get to the other side 
 of the wall without a tumble either 1 ' ' 
 
 4 'The other side of the oh, I see what you mean." 
 Lucy laughed. "The wall is the Andes, of course. 
 Joe, just think ! If Daddie and Mummie had wanted 
 to get from the Atlantic to the Pacific when they were 
 as young as we are, they would have had to sail 
 around the wicked Cape Horn or through the treach- 
 erous Strait of Magellan. Very likely they would 
 have got drowned ship-wrecked at any rate. And 
 now how easy it is to cross over with the Transandine 
 railroad's help!" 
 
 "All ready, children!" called Miss Lee. 
 
 "Yes indeedy!" came Joe's prompt reply; and 
 he and Lucy hurried to join the rest of the party in 
 exploring the city. 
 
 [179]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 "I should be satisfied to stay right here to enjoy 
 the view from this veranda," said Miss Lee, as she 
 followed the others outdoors. She had good reason 
 for her words : the hotel stood high up on a terrace 
 of the lofty hillside. On the slope below were other 
 terraces lined with homes, while far down at the 
 base the fine harbor curved inward in the shape of a 
 half-moon. The business part of the city stretched 
 along a narrow strip of land along the water 's edge. 
 
 "I can see boys playing down there," said Joe, 
 pointing toward the edge of a sharp cliff below. "I 
 suppose that tumble-down shack behind them is their 
 home. They ought to have practice enough climbing 
 about among the rocks to become good mountain 
 climbers." 
 
 1 * If you can tear yourself away from this view, ' ' 
 Senhor Vasco said laughingly to Miss Lee, "I will 
 promise you something still better which I dis- 
 covered in an early walk before breakfast." 
 
 When their kind guide had led the sightseers to 
 an open space beyond the hotel and they were able 
 to see, not only the great ocean at their feet, but the 
 snowclad summits of the Andes in the distant east, 
 they became silent with wonder. Carlos was the first 
 to speak. "It makes me feel small," he said in a 
 low voice, "to stand before the greatness of God's 
 works." 
 
 Before leaving the place, Senhor Vasco discovered 
 what he thought must be Aconcagua; it towered 
 above all the peaks around it, and as it was a clear 
 [180]
 
 THE VALE OF PARADISE 
 
 day, the Senhor knew it was quite possible to see 
 it, though it was far distant. 
 
 As the travelers walked on they met a man leading 
 a cow, and a donkey with its baby jumping along at 
 its side in the most laughable way. Its master was 
 calling out some words in Spanish which were so 
 much like Portuguese that the children understood 
 at once. ' ' He 's calling ' Donkeys ' and cows ' milk ! ' " 
 said Theresa, laughing. 
 
 "How funny! I didn't know people ever drank 
 donkeys' milk," said Lucy. "Look! a woman has 
 just called to the man from the house across the 
 street, and he has led the animals right up to her 
 door." 
 
 "He's started milking the cow," said Joe. "No 
 danger but what that milk will be fresh enough. ' ' 
 
 "There's another man with a donkey," said 
 Theresa. ' ' The poor beastie is loaded with panniers 
 full of vegetables. I s 'pose the man is peddling them 
 from door to door." 
 
 "Notice those two ladies ahead of us," said Joe, 
 turning around and speaking in a low tone. ' ' They 
 look a little like nuns in those hoods and long black 
 capes." 
 
 "They are wearing the national dress of Chilean 
 women," explained Senhor Vasco. "As we go on 
 our way, we shall doubtless see more of them in the 
 same kind of garments. ' ' 
 
 At one place in their walk, the party came so near 
 the edge of a sharp cliff that the boys pretended they 
 were going to jump off. 
 
 [181]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 "Don't, don't!" cried the little girls, and even 
 Miss Lee said, * * Do be careful. ' ' But Senhor Vasco 
 only laughed. 
 
 ' ' Never fear ! " he said. ' * You may trust Joe and 
 Carlos to take care of themselves." 
 
 "I'll tell you what!" cried Joe. "When we get 
 ready to visit the streets below us, where all the busi- 
 ness is done, Carlos and I will go down the crooked 
 roads by 'shank's mare.' The rest of you can take 
 one of the ascensors, as the people here call those 
 queer elevators." 
 
 "Let us go with the boys," pleaded Lucy; but 
 both Senhor Vasco and Miss Lee said, "No," de- 
 cidedly. 
 
 The upshot of it was that Joe and Carlos met the 
 others at the foot of the ascensor agreed upon, with 
 dusty shoes and perspiring faces, but happy from 
 what had seemed to them a good frolic. 
 
 "We passed two or three horses carrying up heavy 
 loads," said Joe, when he had got his breath, "and 
 their drivers were beating the poor beasts so cruelly, 
 I wanted to thrash them." 
 
 "Joe stumped me to run a part of the way," added 
 Carlos. "He said I was too dignified, and so" he 
 laughed "I had a tumble and a tear." 
 
 He pointed to a trouser leg of his white suit, the 
 sorry sight of which made Miss Lee look doleful for 
 a moment. "Oh dear!" she said. "I had four 
 snow-white birds to fly along at my side when we 
 started, and now " 
 
 "Two of them have apparently decided to change 
 [182]
 
 THE VALE OF PARADISE 
 
 into ravens," said Senhor Vasco cheerily. " Don't 
 mind, Miss Lee, we can have just as good a time, 
 whatever the color of the raiment." 
 
 "This city seems almost North American," said 
 Lucy, as they walked along. ' ' Paved streets, electric 
 lights, newsboys shouting, and signs with English 
 names over many of the stores ! ' ' 
 
 "It is rather English than American," replied 
 Senhor Vasco, who was walking beside her. ' ' There 
 are a great many Englishmen doing business in Val- 
 paraiso so many of them, that nearly every one 
 here can speak English, and the dress of a large 
 number of ladies is in the English style." 
 
 "Yet there are many queer sights," said Carlos. 
 "For instance, cows and donkeys going along the 
 streets to be milked, and chicken pedlers carrying 
 cratefuls of live fowls." 
 
 "And such odd cars," broke in Theresa. 
 
 "They are double-decked," cried Joe, coming up 
 with the rest of the party. 
 
 "The conductors are women," said Carlos, much 
 amused. ' ' I suppose their blue suits and sailor hats 
 make their uniforms." 
 
 "Suppose we take a short car ride," proposed Sen- 
 hor Vasco. "Shall we have seats inside or on the 
 roof!" 
 
 All agreed that the best way to see the city was 
 to sit up high, and when a car had been stopped and 
 they had climbed the narrow stairs to the roof, they 
 were in a merry mood. 
 
 "A penny apiece for every one up here," said 
 [183]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 Sennor Vasco after paying the fares. "And two 
 downstairs," he added. "That is the cheapest price 
 for a ride I ever heard of." 
 
 And now the sightseers were busy, first turning 
 their eyes out toward the beautiful bay with the 
 ships of many nations anchored there; and again 
 looking at the city, with its hustling people, its stores 
 and business blocks. 
 
 "Valparaiso was once destroyed by an earth- 
 quake." These words came from an English gentle- 
 man sitting with his son close to the twins. 
 
 Lucy's face puckered at what she heard. She 
 had not forgotten her feeling at Mendoza that the 
 earth might swallow her up at any moment. Be- 
 sides, she was hoping that Theresa did not hear. 
 
 "The people often feel little quakes," the gentle- 
 man went on, "which make them dizzy and light- 
 headed for a moment or two. But the shock of 1906 
 was a different matter. It happened only four 
 months after the great city of San Francisco in the 
 United States was almost destroyed by an earth- 
 quake. Odd, wasn 't it San Francisco has the finest 
 harbor on this side of the Pacific Coast, and Val- 
 paraiso has the next finest one." 
 
 "I'd like to feel a little quake," Joe whispered to 
 his sister. "It would be one more experience to 
 tell about when we get home. ' ' 
 
 ' ' I wouldn 't I 'd just be scared. But listen, Joe. ' ' 
 
 The strange gentleman had begun to describe the 
 great earthquake. "It was early evening," he said, 
 "after a beautiful day, when suddenly the whole 
 [184]
 
 THE VALE OF PARADISE 
 
 city began to swing back and forth. Then came 
 such a terrific jolt, that building after building fell 
 crashing to the ground. Water-pipes burst, and the 
 electric light wires broke apart; the screams of in- 
 jured people rang out through the darkness; fires 
 sprang up here and there, and the whole city was 
 soon ablaze. When morning came, nearly the whole 
 of the lower town had been destroyed. ' ' 
 
 ''Were the ships in the harbor destroyed?" asked 
 Joe, suddenly leaning over toward the story-teller. 
 
 The gentleman smiled at the young stranger's in- 
 terest. * ' No, my little friend, ' ' he answered. ' * Odd 
 as it may seem, the water had been little disturbed. 
 I have seen times myself, however, when terrific 
 storms have done great damage to the shipping in 
 this harbor." 
 
 "We are going out in a launch this afternoon," 
 volunteered Joe, who was always ready to make new 
 acquaintances. 
 
 "I am going to take my son for a boat-ride also," 
 said the stranger pleasantly. "Perhaps we will 
 meet again." 
 
 "Senhor Vasco is motioning to us," whispered 
 Lucy. "I guess we are to get out at the next 
 corner. ' ' 
 
 As the children left the car, their quick ears caught 
 the sound of a fire alarm. 
 
 "Senhor Vasco, let's go to the fire. Please," 
 begged Joe, as a crowd of excited people rushed past 
 them down the street. 
 
 "But Miss Lee and the little girls!" 
 [185]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 "We will step inside that drug-store and wait 
 for you," proposed the young girl. 
 
 The next minute, Carlos and Joe, with hands 
 clutching Senhor Vasco's, were hurrying with him 
 down the street. 
 
 When they returned a half -hour later they were 
 laughing gaily. 
 
 "It was great sport," explained Joe, "seeing the 
 firemen fight the flames. A procession of them had 
 arrived just ahead of us. They wore big helmets 
 and seemed as happy as could be smashing windows 
 and playing hose lines. I wished I could join in." 
 
 "Father had to hold Joe back," said Carlos, his 
 black eyes shining with merriment. "But the ex- 
 citement didn't last long; there were so many firemen 
 and they worked so fast that the fire was quickly 
 put out." 
 
 "It seems," said Senhor Vaco, "that there is no 
 fire department such as we are used to. A large 
 number of men in the city hundreds of them have 
 formed a club for fighting fires, which are rarely big 
 in this city, as there are few high buildings. When 
 an alarm is given, they rush away from their places 
 of business to have a little pleasant excitement in 
 fire-fighting. ' * 
 
 "And now what are we to do?" asked Theresa, 
 patting her father's hand. 
 
 "Have lunch at yonder restaurant; then take our 
 first ride on the Pacific. ' ' 
 
 This proposal pleased every one. The lunch was 
 eaten as quickly as possible, and the party made 
 [186]

 
 THE VALE OF PARADISE 
 
 their way down to a pier in search of a steam launch 
 that should take them around the bay. 
 
 Close to the shore all was bustle and confusion, as 
 loads were being brought to and from the ships. 
 
 11 Those big-wheeled, creaking carts are clumsy 
 looking things," Lucy said to Miss Lee. "We see 
 them everywhere. It seems queer for the driver to 
 sit astride one horse at the side of the others, and 
 all three fastened to the cart. ' ' 
 
 "I wish the drivers could be beaten instead of the 
 animals, ' ' replied the young girl. * ' They treat their 
 horses cruelly. There ! did you see that fellow lash 
 the poor creatures struggling their best to draw their 
 load?" 
 
 "He'd be arrested in New York," declared Joe, 
 who had heard Miss Lee's last words. 
 
 As the sightseers went out on the pier to engage 
 passage on a launch, whom should they find but the 
 Englishman and his son with whom Joe had talked 
 in the morning. 
 
 The gentleman nodded pleasantly to the twins and 
 afterward, when he found Senhor Vasco and his 
 party seated close by, he spoke to him. "My boy 
 and I," he said, "enjoy being in Valparaiso all the 
 more because in my desert home in northern Chile 
 it is our business to dislike water. The smallest rain- 
 storm is unfortunate there." 
 
 Joe looked at his sister in astonishment, but Sen- 
 hor Vasco seemed to understand. 
 
 "Of course, of course," he said. "You must live 
 in the nitrate desert." 
 
 [187]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 "Yes, at Iquique, the chief nitrate port of the 
 world. The desert stretches all about us; we have 
 not seen a rainfall there in years. ' ' 
 
 ''But why,'* Joe asked the English lad who had 
 nodded sociably on finding him at his side, "don't 
 you want rain to fall up there? Excuse me, but it 
 must be a dreary place to live in. ' ' 
 
 "It is dreary, but we get used to being without 
 trees and flowers, and not even a blade of grass in 
 sight. We love the ocean all the more, perhaps. 
 You see, rain would injure the nitrate of soda which 
 lies in big beds under the sands for miles and miles. 
 Almost every workman in the country back of 
 Iquique is busy digging up the nitrate; immense 
 quantities of it are sent to the United States and 
 Europe." 
 
 "I'm an American boy; yet I never heard before 
 about your nitrate desert, ' ' said Joe, rather ashamed 
 of his ignorance. 
 
 "But what is this nitrate? How did it come 
 there ? ' ' asked Lucy, who could keep silent no longer. 
 
 "It's a kind of salt, but nobody knows just how it 
 got there. Some people think there was once an 
 inland sea where there were quantities of seaweed, 
 and that this rotted in time, and in the hot, dry air, 
 changed into nitrate of soda. ' ' 
 
 "Is it on top of the ground so it is easy to get it?" 
 asked Carlos, who had changed his seat to one nearer 
 the English lad. 
 
 "Not very. It lies under layers of rock and sand. 
 A small hole has to be dug away down underneath. 
 [188]
 
 THE VALE OF PARADISE 
 
 Then a small boy with a fuse is let down into the 
 .hole in the bottom of which he leaves the fuse. After 
 he has been drawn up, the fuse is lighted. Then 
 whiff! bang! come sand and pieces of rock and the 
 way is opened up for the digging. 
 
 * ' My father owns a big stretch of nitrate beds ; he 
 has an easy time managing the business and tending 
 to the shipping of the nitrate," the boy went on, 
 "but the poor workmen have a hard life. Some- 
 times I feel sorry for their children because they 
 have to live in the desert all the time, while I can 
 travel about with Mother or Father whenever we 
 wish." 
 
 "I think he's a very nice boy," Lucy whispered to 
 Theresa, when Joe and Carlos had gone on to talk 
 with the strange lad about their favorite sports. 
 " Pie isn't stuck up a bit." 
 
 "Stuck up?" Theresa's pretty eyes looked puz- 
 zled. 
 
 Lucy giggled. ' ' That 's American slang, ' ' she ex- 
 plained, "for acting as if you thought yourself better 
 than most people. Mummie says that ladies should 
 not use slang. So I s'pose I wasn't very nice to do 
 it." 
 
 All the time Lucy was speaking, the dimples were 
 trying to show themselves. Theresa had looked so 
 serious, it made her want to laugh. 
 
 "Lucy, Lucy," interrupted Joe, "while you were 
 talking to Theresa, we passed two ships with the 
 Stars and Stripes flying from the mastheads. And 
 you didn 't salute ! Shame on you ! ' ' 
 [189]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 "My own flag of Chile is also flying among the 
 many belonging to other nations. Is it not a beauti- 
 ful one?" said the English lad, catching Joe's words. 
 "It speaks of the brave men who died that the 
 country should be free from the yoke of Spain. ' ' 
 
 "It is a pretty one," said Joe, looking critically 
 at Chile's flying colors. "I like it because it has the 
 same colors as ours. But it has one star, while ours 
 has as many as there are States in the Union." 
 
 "Far out in the ocean beyond us, many miles from 
 shore," said the English gentleman, "lies one of the 
 most famous islands in the world." 
 
 "What can it be?" asked one child after another, 
 as they caught the words all except the English lad, 
 who looked as if he would say, "I know." 
 
 1 ' This island is not famous for any product one 
 side, in fact, is a desert of rocks and sand," the 
 gentleman went on. "On the other side you may 
 find some fruit trees, and scanty grass on which wild 
 sheep and goats are feeding. I once sailed to the 
 island with some fishermen who were going there to 
 get lobsters that are plentiful along its shores. But 
 the fame of this island, which is world-wide, is not 
 due to a few wild goats and lobsters. You all have 
 read a great deal about it, I feel sure. ' ' 
 
 Miss Lee, as well as her charges, looked puzzled. 
 
 "I wonder" the gentleman went on with a smile 
 "if you ever heard the lines, 
 
 Poor old Robinson Crusoe ! Poor old Robinson Crusoe ! 
 They made him a coat of an old nanny-goat " 
 [190]
 
 THE VALE OF PARADISE 
 
 "I know I I know!" cried Joe. "It's the island 
 where Robinson Crusoe lived and had so many ad- 
 ventures." 
 
 "It's the island," the gentleman said slowly, 
 "where Alexander Selkirk was shipwrecked and 
 lived his lonely life. At last, after four years, a 
 passing ship discovered his watch-fire, and sailors 
 were sent ashore to find a strange-looking man clad 
 in the skins of goats and running wildly about as if 
 he had almost lost his mind. Selkirk was carried to 
 England, where he was made a hero. People came 
 in flocks to look upon one who had lived so strangely 
 and borne so much. ' ' 
 
 ' ' Oh-h ! ' ' Joe, as well as the rest of the children, 
 was disappointed. "I hoped it was the real home 
 of Eobinson Crusoe." 
 
 "It was, my dear boy, so far as Robinson Crusoe 
 was himself real. Defoe, the writer of the book we 
 love so much, made the adventures of Selkirk on that 
 very island, Juan Fernandez, the groundwork of his 
 story." 
 
 "Father, won't you now tell the folks about Eas- 
 ter Island?" The English lad seemed proud that 
 there was so much of interest off the coast of his 
 country. 
 
 "Easter Island is indeed remarkable," the story- 
 teller went on. "It lies still farther out in the ocean 
 and northwest of us, and was not explored till 1722. 
 Yet on that dot of earth in the Pacific are wonderful 
 monuments and statues, and carvings on gigantic 
 stones, that show a great and wise people must once 
 [191]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 have lived there. They may have been giants ; their 
 home may be the remains of a continent now lying at 
 the bottom of the ocean ; no one knows or ever will 
 know what kind of children played along the shore 
 or watched their fathers carving the mighty rocks. ' ' 
 
 As the gentleman ended, he looked down at The- 
 resa's dreamy face. The little girl was wondering 
 about those boys and girls who lived so long ago 
 that no one knew anything about them. 
 
 In the meantime, the launch had been steaming 
 around the pretty harbor, and giving the passengers 
 a good view of the city rising up out of the water. 
 
 "Do you know how late it is getting?" suddenly 
 asked Senhor Vasco as he looked at his watch. 
 
 "It must be near supper-time," said Carlos. "I'm 
 hungry." 
 
 "The lights are beginning to shine in the lower 
 town, ' ' said Joe. ' ' Yes, and they are coming out like 
 stars on the slopes above. There are also long lines 
 of lights moving up the hillside. How pretty it 
 looks!" 
 
 "The lights must come from the ascensors as they 
 travel up and down," said Miss Lee. 
 
 "More and more lights!" exclaimed Lucy. "I'm 
 glad we stayed out long enough to see the city in the 
 evening. ' ' 
 
 "And I," echoed Theresa. "But I'm glad the 
 launch is taking us in. I'm tired and sleepy and 
 hungry as Carlos." 
 
 [192]
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 UNDER THE OCEAN 
 
 T WONDER what we'll do to-day," Carlos said to 
 -*- Joe. The two boys' were taking a short prome- 
 nade in front of the hotel. ^ 
 
 "It's a heap of fun for your father to keep sur- 
 prising us we don't know from day to day what is 
 coming next." Joe chuckled. " Maybe we'll go to 
 Mr. Arnold's country home." 
 
 Just then Miss Lee and the little girls came rapid- 
 ly toward the boys from the direction of the hotel. 
 
 "Senhor Vasco is waiting to go with us to break- 
 fast, ' ' said the young girl as she drew near. ' ' There 
 is no time to lose if we are to take a trolley ride 
 to Vina del Mar and then come back to start out on 
 an ocean trip. ' ' 
 
 "Hurrah!" cried Joe, and though Carlos said 
 nothing he looked as pleased as his young friend. 
 
 There was no loitering at breakfast that morning ; 
 and every one was in gay spirits when all were 
 seated in the trolley car on the way to the charming 
 suburb of Valparaiso. The fresh air, neither too 
 hot nor too cold, blew pleasantly; the sky had 
 scarcely a cloud, and the orchards and gardens on 
 the way looked so tempting that Joe declared he 
 would like to jump out and land in their midst. 
 [193]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 "Once upon a time," Senhor Vasco told the chil- 
 dren, "the people of Chile, as well as Brazil, en- 
 joyed bull and cock fights. But these cruel sports 
 have passed by. At Vina del Mar the horse-races 
 furnish the principal excitement. The boys and 
 girls, however, as well as the older folk, pass many 
 gay hours playing golf, tennis and polo, as well as 
 in taking long drives. ' ' 
 
 "There are so many beautiful houses here," re- 
 marked Miss Lee, "that many rich people must 
 spend their summers at this resort. ' ' 
 
 "Do you see that fine tennis court?" Joe asked 
 Carlos as the car brought them near the heart of the 
 town. "I believe I'd rather have a game of polo, 
 though. What do you say?" 
 
 Carlos, who was lazily enjoying the sight of the 
 beautiful horses and the carriages filled with richly 
 dressed people that were passing, declared that he 
 was perfectly contented where he was. 
 
 On the way back to Valparaiso he began to be 
 talkative and told the other children about the com- 
 ing of the white men to Chile ; he had read about it 
 at school. 
 
 "Ever so long ago," he said, "the great Spaniard, 
 Pizarro, who conquered Peru with its rich mines, got 
 dissatisfied. He wanted to be still more powerful. 
 So he said to one of his lieutenants, 'I want you to 
 explore the country south of us and seize it in the 
 name of our Spanish king.' 
 
 "So Diego de Almagro that was the man's name 
 crossed the nitrate desert and traveled south till 
 [194]
 
 UNDER THE OCEAN 
 
 he met great numbers of fierce Indian warriors who 
 drove them back into Peru. 
 
 "A few years after that, another Spaniard, Cap- 
 tain Valdivia, entered Chile with a bold band. There 
 was hot fighting with the red men. Valdivia man- 
 aged to get as far south as Santiago and founded the 
 city. There he kept his hold, though the Indians 
 made one attack after another. Between the cruelty 
 of the white men and the brave deeds of the savages, 
 those were exciting days." 
 
 "The savages, of whom Carlos has been telling 
 you," interrupted Senhor Vasco, "were the famous 
 Araucanians. I hope to visit one of their settle- 
 ments while we are in Chile. I believe few nobler 
 Indians ever lived. Now please go on, Carlos." 
 
 "At last, the Spaniards came to terms," continued 
 the boy. "The land north of a certain river " 
 
 "The Biobio," helped out Senhor Vasco. 
 
 1 1 Yes, that was it, Father anyway, the Spaniards' 
 were to hold all Chile as far down as that, while the 
 natives were to own all the country south of it. But 
 there was one condition the Indians had to prom- 
 ise to fight against the English and Dutch who had 
 begun to appear on the coast." 
 
 "Well?" said Senhor Vasco, for Carlos was at a 
 standstill. 
 
 "Won't you go on? I don't remember the rest 
 very clearly." 
 
 "Very well." Senhor Vasco smiled. "As years 
 went by, there were fresh troubles not with the 
 Indians, but among the Spaniards themselves, who 
 [195]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 suffered under the hard rule of Spain. We can imag- 
 ine troops of soldiers sent by the king to put down 
 his rebel subjects. In vain! Matters only grew 
 worse. At last, however, after a fierce battle in 
 1818, Chile was able to say, 'I am a free republic.' 
 Who do you children suppose won that battle and 
 gave the country her freedom?" 
 
 "Not San Martin, who freed Argentina?" asked 
 Joe instantly. 
 
 "That very man. Shortly afterward, a brave 
 patriot, and as it happened, an Irishman, was chosen 
 to be Chile's first President. His name was Gen- 
 eral .O'Higgins, and he governed the country wisely. 
 Chile 's troubles were not yet over, however. There 
 was a war with Spain, another one with Peru, and 
 some differences with Bolivia and Argentina. But 
 the Chileans are brave, and devoted to their country. 
 They are of good stock, for their ancestors came 
 mostly from the northern part of Spain, and some 
 of them married among the strong 1 , work-loving 
 Araucanian Indians. So they have stood their 
 ground, and now this country is a very important 
 one." 
 
 "Father told me," said Lucy thoughtfully, "that 
 Argentina, Brazil, and Chile are called the ABC 
 countries. I didn't understand why, till he pointed 
 out the letters with which their names begin." 
 
 Senhor Vasco nodded. "Yes; and as A B C are 
 the first letters of the alphabet, so Argentina, Brazil, 
 and Chile are the leading countries in South Amer- 
 ica." 
 
 [196]
 
 UNDER THE OCEAN 
 
 "Here we are back again in Valparaiso," said 
 Carlos suddenly. 
 
 "And we must get out at the next stop, hasten to 
 the hotel, get dinner and be off on our wanderings, ' ' 
 added his father. 
 
 Two hours afterward the party was seated on the 
 upper deck of a coast steamer sailing out of the 
 harbor of Valparaiso. 
 
 There was not much excitement on the trip south ; 
 the coast was little broken, the breezes soft, and the 
 waters smooth. 
 
 "This sail gives us a chance to get rested," Miss 
 Lee told the children, who were happy in simply 
 being on the water. Before they had time to become 
 restless, they sailed into a fine bay, on one side of 
 which stood the mining town of Lota. 
 
 "There's a whaler, as I'm alive!" declared Joe, 
 calling the other children around him. "It's a regu- 
 lar old veteran! I bet it's seen some storms on its 
 way down to the Antarctic!" 
 
 "How would you like a trip on that ship to the 
 Strait of Magellan or say, around Cape Horn?" 
 asked Senhor Vasco, coming up just then. 
 
 "Of course, it would be a great adventure." Joe 
 spoke more slowly than usual. "Sometime I'd like 
 to go, but just now " 
 
 "You'd rather stay with us," suggested Carlos. 
 
 "Yes, because I'd miss the surprises your father 
 has in store for us." 
 
 "It's about time to hear about the next one," said 
 Theresa, patting her father's shoulder. 
 [197]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 "Do you see that coal steamer bound for Eu- 
 rope ? ' ' was his only answer. 
 
 "Yes,'* came a chorus of voices, followed by 
 Joe's: "That ocean steamer with coal barges drawn 
 up beside it, can't have anything to do with our next 
 adventure." 
 
 "It has a great deal. It makes us think that there 
 must be rich coal mines along this shore, else a 
 sieamer from distant Germany would not be loading 
 here. In the next place, it makes us consider a visit 
 to one of these mines, which will be different from 
 such visits elsewhere. ' ' 
 
 "Howl How?" cried one after another. 
 
 "It reaches down under the ocean, so that if we 
 wish to go through it, we shall have the Pacific for 
 our roof." 
 
 "That would be a great adventure, Senhor Vasco. 
 Can't we go! "Will you take us there?" Joe piled 
 one question on another. 
 
 ' ' That 's why I brought you here. ' ' The kind gen- 
 tleman looked as pleased as the children. "We will 
 spend a day or two at Lota a few miles from here ; 
 while there, we can travel into the strange under- 
 ocean world of the miners." 
 
 To the eager children, time now seemed to drag 
 till they had landed, got settled at a comfortable 
 hotel at the mining town of Lota, and had made their 
 plans for a visit to a! neighboring mine. 
 
 All started for the mine in great glee, but when 
 they reached the big buildings at its entrance, Lucy 
 and Theresa began to feel a little shaky they heard 
 [198]
 
 UNDER THE OCEAN 
 
 strange noises and could not see where they came 
 from. The manager smiled at the bright, timid faces 
 and said, "If you will come with me you shall see 
 how the coal is lifted up from its dark bed." 
 
 He led the way to a big well, up which, by means 
 of pulleys and a steam-engine, heavily laden cars on 
 elevators were being raised to the surface. 
 
 "May we visit the mine?" asked Senhor Vasco. 
 
 "Certainly," said the manager. "You can enter 
 one of the elevators about to go down. ' ' 
 
 The boys lost no time in entering; the little girls 
 followed with hands held tightly by their elders. 
 Down, down, they dropped through the dark well 
 till the elevator began to slow up as it approached a 
 tunnel, in which long rows of electric lights broke 
 the darkness. 
 
 "We get out here," said the man whom the man- 
 ager had directed to guide the party. "We will 
 change," he added, "to yonder train about to run 
 out to the mines. A special car will be hitched on 
 for us." 
 
 The sightseers were soon settled on the platform 
 of the car and moving fast along the underground 
 and underwater track. Here and there they passed 
 openings into tunnels which led to other parts of 
 the mine. Joe was brimming over with delight over 
 this new experience. "Big steamers sailing over 
 our heads," he cried, "and the Pacific pressing down 
 on the rocky roof the only thing between the big 
 waters and ourselves!" 
 
 Lucy and Theresa had already begun to feel 
 [199]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 scared at the strangeness of all around them, but 
 at Joe's words they began to shiver. 
 
 "Suppose," said Theresa, "the jar of the train 
 makes the roof of the tunnel tumble in and we are 
 all drowned. ' ' 
 
 "Never fear, little daughter," said Senhor Vasco 
 comfortingly. "The roof over our heads is a bed 
 of solid stone. Look up and see how dry it is. not 
 a drop of water can push its way through. ' ' 
 
 Other trains passed the one which bore the sight- 
 seers trains loaded with coal. Here and there the 
 children caught glimpses of dirty, nearly naked min- 
 ers digging coal in the side tunnels. 
 
 Suddenly every one started at the sound of an 
 explosion. 
 
 "What's that?" cried Miss Lee. 
 
 "There is blasting not far away," explained the 
 guide. He added, "You are safe." 
 
 Though all were glad to visit a coal mine stretch- 
 ing under the ocean, yet they were perfectly satisfied 
 when the time came to turn about. 
 
 "How beautiful the sunshine is!" cried Lucy 
 when she reached the upper world. 
 
 "And the fresh air " said Theresa, taking long 
 sniffs "isn't it good!" 
 
 "But those poor miners!" said Miss Lee. "What 
 a hard, hard life theirs is ! I saw boys like you and 
 Joe, Carlos, working in the darkness. How I pity 
 them!" 
 
 "As we can't help them, let's change the sub- 
 ject," proposed Senhor Vasco. "What do you all 
 [200]
 
 UNDER THE OCEAN 
 
 say to a visit among the Indians? There is an 
 Araucanian village a little ways from here. If we 
 go there we can see just how red people live, who 
 are half civilized." 
 
 "Good!" cried Miss Lee and the children. 
 
 As they went to prepare for this next trip, Carlos 
 spoke of having met a number of Indians already. 
 
 "We are likely to see many more," replied his 
 father. "This part of Chile has been the chief home 
 of the Araucanians ever since they agreed on the 
 Biobio River as a boundary between themselves and 
 the Spaniards. We will meet many Germans too; 
 they have come here to farm the land. ' ' 
 
 Later on in the day, the children had their hap- 
 piest time riding out to visit the village of Arau- 
 canians. 
 
 "They look brave as well as strong," Joe said to 
 Carlos as the boys passed a group of the natives 
 working in a corn-field by the road-side. "What 
 bright-colored ponchos the men wear ! And striped 
 too!" 
 
 "I wonder if their wives made them," returned 
 Carlos. "The women surely wove the handsome 
 blankets that are wound around their bodies. Don't 
 they look gay in their silver ornaments?" 
 
 "I never saw any one wear so much silver be- 
 fore," whispered Lucy, who had skipped up to her 
 brother's side. "Immense ear-rings that pull down 
 the ears with their weight, big silver plates on their 
 breasts, and chains around their necks and ankles! 
 My, but they are grcmd!" 
 
 [201]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 "We can stop at one of the Indian homes," said 
 Senhor Vasco, who had been leading the way. "It 
 will give us a good chance to buy some baskets." 
 
 "I'll get a blue and white one for Mummie," de- 
 cided Lucy immediately. Theresa was equally cer- 
 tain she would buy a basket of yellow straw, because 
 yellow was her dainty little grandmother's favorite 
 color. 
 
 "Let's stop at that house over there," proposed 
 Joe. " It is really a shed, ' ' he added, * * because there 
 is no front to it." 
 
 "The roof, for that matter, consists only of skins 
 with a straw thatching," said Miss Lee. "All the 
 homes we have seen, however, are no better." 
 
 As the sightseers drew near the hut, an old squaw 
 looked up from her work ; she was finishing a beau- 
 tifully shaped basket which Miss Lee admired great- 
 ly. A young squaw, with a tiny papoose strapped 
 on her back, was weaving a striped red and black 
 blanket. The black-eyed baby looked solemnly down 
 at the strangers. 
 
 "It doesn't talk any more than the big folks," 
 Lucy whispered to Theresa. 
 
 At that very moment the baby began to speak in 
 "goos" so deep that the little girls were taken by 
 surprise. They shortly discovered the reason; it 
 had caught sight of some other papooses who came 
 running into the hut in great glee. They had been 
 picking wild strawberries, and were bringing them 
 to their mother. 
 
 While Senhor Vasco and Miss Lee were busy se- 
 [202]
 
 UNDER THE OCEAN 
 
 lecting baskets, their charges had a chance to ex- 
 amine the red children's home. The walls were 
 black with smoke from fires that had been made in 
 two fireplaces, for there were no chimneys. Heavy 
 skins were drawn back on each side of the open 
 house-front; when storms came these could be let 
 down. In two different corners low beds were nearly 
 shut off from the rest of the hut by rugs or blankets. 
 These beds belonged to the different families of the 
 master of the home. As he had two wives, each one 
 had a separate corner for herself and her children 
 to sleep in, while each one cooked the meals for her 
 family over a separate fireplace. Moreover, as the 
 visitors afterward found out, the Indian who owned 
 this hut was known among his people as "a man of 
 two fires," because he had two wives. If he had had 
 three wives, he would have been called "a man of 
 three fires," and so on. 
 
 As the party left the hut, Carlos whispered to 
 his sister, * ' Did you notice the master when he came 
 in ? He squatted down at once before a big bowl of 
 mutton stew which one of the women had just cooked 
 for him." 
 
 "Yes, and I could smell the pepper in it, far away 
 as I was." 
 
 "His wife acted like a slave," said Theresa. 
 "After she set the dish before her husband, she 
 stood at his back to wait upon him. So did her 
 little girl." 
 
 ".Poor things! I wonder if they always have to 
 eat the left-overs," replied Lucy; while Joe finished 
 [203]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 the subject by declaring that this Indian brave, 
 even if he were a descendant of the famed Araucan- 
 ians, could be taught better manners. 
 
 "And now, little folks," said Senhor Vasco, as 
 they left the Indian village, "we must certainly take 
 a peep at Concepcion, because it is one of the most 
 important cities of Chile. It is on the Biobio, only 
 a short distance away." 
 
 A few hours later, as the travelers found them- 
 selves in the busy city of Concepcion, they decided 
 they were glad they had come. They had an excel- 
 lent dinner at the hotel, where they ate delicious 
 fruits and vegetables to their hearts ' content. They 
 walked past orchards loaded with pear and cherry 
 blossoms. They listened to a band concert in the 
 plaza. They watched the people going along the 
 streets, many of them being Germans or English; 
 but the ones that interested them most were the In- 
 dians. Some of these were fishermen; others were 
 farmers who had brought their wives to trade at the 
 stores ; a few were hunters, just returned from the 
 forests of the country south of the city. Some of 
 the Indians were gaily dressed and the squaws were 
 decked in heavy silver jewelry. 
 
 Lucy and Theresa fell in love with two little girls 
 who were trotting along by their mother's side. 
 They were barefooted and wore loose dresses of 
 bright red. Their hair hung down in long braids, 
 and their eyes shone like black diamonds, so Lucy 
 said, as they listened to the band music. 
 
 From Concepcion, which, as Joe said afterward, 
 [204]
 
 UNDER THE OCEAN 
 
 wasn't a very pretty city because it was so flat and 
 there were so many homely sheet-iron houses in it, 
 the travelers paid a flying visit to its port at the 
 mouth of the river. There they saw the principal 
 naval school of Chile, and big whaling ships just re- 
 turned from the Antarctic; they also visited a fac- 
 tory where whale oil was tried out to be sent to other 
 countries. 
 
 "My head is in a whirl, " declared Lucy, as the 
 travelers once more started ^on their way north- 
 ward now, as they were to spend a week in Santiago. 
 
 [205]
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 THE ROUND ROBIN 
 
 T DON'T mind this rain one bit," said Joe. 
 -* "Nor I," said one after another. 
 
 The travelers had been busy seeing the sights 
 of Santiago for six days, and though they had tried 
 to "go slow," there were so many rides and walks 
 to take and so many places to visit, they had really 
 had little rest. So it was not strange that none of 
 the children minded spending the afternoon in their 
 private sitting-room at the hotel where they were 
 stopping. 
 
 "What shall we do with ourselves!" Joe now 
 asked. 
 
 "Why not prepare a * round robin' to send to the 
 dear folks at Rio?" proposed Miss Lee. 
 
 Joe and Lucy clapped their hands, as they in- 
 stantly understood Miss Lee's words. Their young 
 Portuguese friends, however, only looked puzzled. 
 
 "A round robin?" questioned Carlos after a mo- 
 ment's silence. 
 
 "Just this, Carlos" Miss Lee smiled "if every 
 one of us writes to the home folks and we send all 
 that is written in one envelope, we shall have to- 
 gether made a ' round robin. ' ' ' 
 [207]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 * ' Good ! But shouldn't each one choose a different 
 thing to tell about, so there won't be any repeat- 
 ing?" 
 
 ' ' A happy thought ! Of course the general subject 
 will be " 
 
 "Santiago," sounded a chorus of voices. 
 
 "And now, what will each one of you describe?" 
 
 "I'll take Independence Day and the visit to the 
 grand house," declared Joe. 
 
 "I'll write about the street-car rides and the 
 lovely park," followed Lucy. 
 
 "And I choose the beautiful hill of Santa Lucia," 
 said Theresa, 
 
 "Well then, I'll have to choose the city of Saint 
 James itself. I think I'd rather, anyway," said 
 Carlos. 
 
 "But you haven't spoken yet, Miss Lee," said 
 Theresa. 
 
 "When we have all finished writing, you shall 
 know my choice," said the young girl. "Now then, 
 get your fountain pens and paper, and we will begin 
 our joint letter to the dear ones in Eio. ' ' 
 
 Five minutes afterward the fall of a pin might 
 have been heard, as five earnest faces were bent 
 over the messages to the loved ones on the other side 
 of the continent. 
 
 About an hour later Senhor Vasco .entered the 
 room in time to find lots being drawn as to who 
 should read his letter first. It fell to Carlos, who, 
 after a smiling glance at his father, began without 
 delay. 
 
 [208]
 
 THE ROUND ROBIN 
 
 Dear Everybody [ so the letter ran] : We have been 
 having a fine time in this city of Santiago. The Spaniard 
 Valdivia named it so in honor of Saint James who, he 
 believed, had guided him in his expedition here from 
 Peru. I want you first to see the place as Valdivia did 
 in the long ago, because sometimes I shut my eyes and 
 imagine myself among the brave, proud Indians who were 
 once so happy here. To begin with, look at that high, 
 rocky hill which was probably made by the pouring out 
 of a volcano. In the country round are the farms of red 
 men, who are busy people, and love work. The boys and 
 girls are happy ; they play and laugh and dance and sing, 
 for they have no fear. 
 
 But look! a messenger enters the village. He tells of 
 strange looking white men riding strange animals (horses, 
 you know) and shooting fearful fire-arms. They are draw- 
 ing near. Already they have attacked other Indian vil- 
 lages, have killed many who went out against them, and 
 have taken others prisoners. 
 
 The news spreads terror. Well it may, for the red men 
 have only wooden lances and clubs, and roughly made 
 arrows. Besides, they have never seen horses before they 
 imagine them to be terrible monsters. 
 
 Onward press the Spaniards, shining in their coats of 
 mail, and striking right and left with flashing swords and 
 spears. The air is filled with the war-cry of the Indians 
 and the shouts of their enemies. Nobly as the red men 
 fight, the ground is soon strewn with their dead bodies. 
 Valdivia is victor! 
 
 And now, dear Everybody, look with me at Santiago to- 
 day. The rocky hill on which the Spaniards built a fort in 
 the long-ago is now one of the most beautiful places in the 
 world. The rocks are almost hidden by bushes loaded, with 
 blossoms, lovely plants and ferns. And from the summit, 
 where the fort used to stand, you can look down over the 
 streets dividing the city into big blocks. There are many 
 fine homes as grand as palaces. From the top of this hill, 
 Santa Lucia, it seems as if trees and flowers were growing 
 up out of the flat roofs of the houses below. This is because 
 [209]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 many of them are built around court-yards where the own- 
 ers have lovely gardens. 
 
 We have visited the handsome Palace of Congress, the 
 National Library, the Cathedral, and other grand build- 
 ings, about which we will have much to tell you when we 
 get back. Now, however, I must stop because Miss Lee 
 says the time is up. 
 
 With great love to you all. 
 
 CAELOS. 
 
 It fell to Lucy to read next. Clearing her throat, 
 she began: 
 
 My dearest Mummie and all the other dear Folks: Here 
 we are in a cosy sitting-room of this grand hotel, busy with 
 a round robin to let you know what we have been seeing 
 the last few days. How I have enjoyed the street-car rides, 
 sitting on the upper deck, and with women conductors to 
 take the fares just as in Valparaiso. I know now why it 
 is a woman: Chile has had a great number of wars, in 
 which so many men fought and got killed that there were 
 not enough to do all the other work. So the women took 
 their places in ever so many ways ; and they ran the cars 
 so well that they have kept on running them ever since. 
 
 From our high seats on top we can often look over the 
 tops of the low, flat-roofed houses. It's fun to feel so 
 "way up." One day, as we were riding along, we met a 
 grand procession: it was the President of Chile and his 
 company of officers in elegant uniforms. We saluted, of 
 course. 
 
 Another time when we were out walking in the Alamedo, 
 the principal avenue of Santiago, many fine carriages and 
 motor cars passed us with richly dressed people in them. 
 Once or twice little girls smiled at me as if they would 
 like to get acquainted. There are long rows of poplars 
 along the Alameda, and people sitting on stone slabs here 
 and there under the trees. 
 
 It was very pleasant there, but I like Cousino Park the 
 best. A very rich lady gave it to the city. It has merry- 
 go-rounds, and candy and fruit-stalls and dancing-stands. 
 [210]
 
 THE ROUND ROBIN 
 
 "We stood and watched the people at one of these stands. 
 They were dancing the national dance to the music of 
 guitars and mandolins. It was so pretty that Theresa and 
 I have been practising it in our room at the hotel. The 
 dancers pair off, every one holding a handkerchief; and 
 as each couple moves around, always face to face, they 
 swing their handkerchiefs and bend and bow in all sorts 
 of pretty ways. 
 
 Dear me ! I must stop now, so good-by from 
 Your very loving 
 
 LUCY. 
 
 "My turn next,'* announced Joe, who had been 
 getting a little impatient, "so here goes," 
 
 Dear Daddie, [the letter ran] Mummie Darling, and 
 Adorable Senhora Vasco. 
 
 Joe's listeners broke out into a laugh at the word 
 adorable. 
 
 "Well, I meant just that, anyway," he declared 
 stoutly, but with reddened cheeks. Then he went on : 
 
 I want to tell you about a visit to a grand house where 
 there were rooms and rooms, and then more rooms. It 
 was a regular palace, with wonderful paintings and elegant 
 furniture and rugs, but not a, single chimney! I suppose 
 the people who live there wrap themselves up in furs and 
 heavy robes when they receive callers on winter days else 
 they might speak frozen words. We were invited to this 
 grand house because Senhor Vasco had a card of intro- 
 duction to the family from one of his Rio friends. 
 
 We were entertained finely. While the big folks were 
 talking, their children took us out to see the beautiful in- 
 side court. There was a fountain there, and some marble 
 statues and flower beds, and a stiff eucalyptus tree under 
 which we sat down at a little table to eat plums and pears 
 and rich cakes that a maid brought out to us. 
 [211]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 One of the boys in the family told us about the holidays 
 of Chile. There are ever so many church festivals. In 
 one of them, that of Corpus Christi, there is a procession 
 through the city, when the troops are splendid in bright- 
 colored uniforms and waving plumes. There are also dif- 
 ferent bodies of priests, led by the Archbishop. The streets 
 are lined with people who kneel as the procession passes 
 them. 
 
 The best festival of all, I think, is that of Independence 
 Day. It is celebrated on the 18th of September, and not 
 on the Fourth of July like ours. So hurrah ! I say, -for 
 the brave Chilenos! The children here say it's a great 
 time entertainments in every park and plaza, and all sorts 
 of good things. Even the poorest people have a deal of 
 fun; they save up money for weeks beforehand to spend 
 then. 
 
 I wish you were all here to enjoy Chile with us. It's a 
 great country. 
 
 Good-by till my next, 
 
 JOE. 
 
 As Joe laid down his letter, Miss Lee said, "And 
 now we must hear from our little Theresa." 
 
 The little girl looked shyly around. Then at a 
 smiling nod from her father, she began: 
 
 Most precious Grandma and dear Friends: I can't write 
 as well or as fast as the others. So I will tell about just 
 one beautiful sight I have seen here in this big city. Please 
 shut your eyes and think yourselves up on top of the hill 
 of Santa Lucia at sunset time. We look down at the city 
 getting ready for its night's sleep. We see boys and girls 
 running home along the paths that wind so prettily round 
 and round the hill with flowers and vines along the way. 
 And then, dear folks, we look off, off, ever so far, at the 
 mountains around us. Their snowy tops look rosy now in 
 the sunset light which is spreading in wonderful colors 
 over the sky in the west. I hold my breath. It seems as 
 if I were in fairyland. And so, when we have to go down 
 [212]
 
 THE ROUND ROBIN 
 
 the hill, and the tiled roofs of the houses are still shining 
 with the sun-glow upon them, I want to keep still. It seems 
 as if God were speaking in the beautiful colors. 
 Your own loving 
 
 THERESA. 
 
 Senhor Vasco *s eyes were dim as his little daugh- 
 ter finished. All he said, however, was "Good, little 
 Theresa." And then, "It is clearing off, children. 
 After the round robin is mailed, we might take a 
 little walk before packing for our journey to-mor- 
 row." 
 
 "You haven't read your letter yet, Miss Lee," 
 cried Joe. 
 
 "Please, please," came from the others, includ- 
 ing Senhor Vasco. 
 
 "If I must, then," the young girl smiled "but 
 I fear you won 't be interested. ' ' Then she began : 
 
 Dewr Friends in Rio: While our little folks are telling 
 you about the beauties of Santiago, I will write a few 
 words about the very poor boys and girls whom I have 
 seen on the streets here. Their parents work hard, but 
 their pay is so small that many of them live in mud huts 
 and dress in the cheapest garments. I saw two little 
 urchins in the market-place one day. I was out walking 
 alone. They were barefooted, and shouting the names of 
 the newspapers they had to sell. Their skins were dark 
 and their eyes black, so I think they were part Spanish and 
 part Indian. Though their trousers were ragged and their 
 hats torn, I must say they looked happy. 
 
 Afterward I went to the poor quarter of Santiago on the 
 other side of the river. How dirty and ugly the little low 
 huts looked ! How different from the grand homes of the 
 rich people in the part of the city where we are staying! 
 I hope that these rich people will soon do more to make the 
 [213]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 poor have better homes, and give them better pay, so that 
 their children will grow up to be wise and healthy. 
 
 Our own little folks are very well and happy. As we go 
 so fast from one place to another, they have no time for 
 study, but I am sure they are learning a great deal, never- 
 theless. 
 
 Faithfully yours, 
 
 ANNA LEE. 
 
 When Senhor Vasco had taken the round robin 
 to be mailed, he had added a short note of his own 
 in which he wrote : 
 
 We are having a jolly time and learning much of the 
 world. But this is not all: we are learning from each 
 other. My own children, for instance, are waking up 
 more and more from being constantly with wide-awake Joe 
 and Lucy. Carlos is becoming less selfish and has a better 
 hold of his temper than he used to have, while my little 
 Theresa is changing into a merry, healthy little body with 
 roses in her cheeks where lilies used to be. I am sure Miss 
 Lee, after tiresome years as a poor teacher, is having a 
 joyful rest, while I yes, I confess it am becoming young 
 again. 
 
 You all will be glad to know that, wherever we go, our 
 children win friends. 
 
 Sincerely yours, 
 
 PEDRO VASCO, 
 
 [214]
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 ON A CHILEAN FARM 
 
 '\\7'HAT a beautiful place to live in!" said Lucy 
 * * in her outspoken, childish way. 
 
 The little girl was swinging in a hammock on a 
 wide porch facing the inner court of Mr. Arnold's 
 home. Beds of flowering plants spread out in front 
 of her admiring eyes. Tall palm trees gave a pleas- 
 ant shade. Children were flitting here and there 
 among the flowers. 
 
 1 'Wait till you have been around the estate," re- 
 plied a tall, handsome boy a little older than Joe. 
 "We will get up a riding party by and by, and then 
 we will have some fun. But tell me, did you enjoy 
 your trip here from the Capital?" 
 
 "Yes, indeed. I shall never forget the lovely or- 
 chards and vineyards we passed as we left the city 
 behind us, nor the pretty river that kept us company 
 for a while, nor the big ox-teams and pack-mules 
 drawn up at the stations. And then the elegant 
 homes we caught peeks at from the car windows! 
 They stood in the midst of big grain fields and or- 
 chards, like queens among their subjects. Oh, but 
 there were some things I didn't like!" Lucy sud- 
 denly sat upright. "It was the peeps I got of the 
 [215]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 smoking volcanoes away off among the other moun- 
 tains. I've seen them before on our way over the 
 Andes from Argentina." 
 
 ' 'If you lived here" Arthur smiled "you would 
 soon get used to them. I never think about them. 
 So let's come back to our valley. Perhaps you don't 
 know that at least one-half of the people of Chile 
 live in this big central valley and have enough work 
 to keep them busy, too." 
 
 1 ' Oh-h ! ' ' Lucy seemed surprised. 
 
 "Yes. Father owns two thousand acres, and his 
 estate isn't one of the largest ones in the country, 
 by any means. Of course, he doesn't work. He has 
 a manager, and under the manager are ever so many 
 superintendents, and under them are hundreds of 
 workmen we call them peons." 
 
 * ' Your father must be very rich. ' ' As Lucy spoke, 
 she thought of the dozens of rooms in this beautiful 
 home, of the many servants, of the elegant clothing 
 and jewels of Arthur's mother who she had decided 
 must be Spanish, and the great number of guests in 
 the house. 
 
 "I bet there are thirty visitors here besides our- 
 selves," Joe had whispered to his sister soon after 
 their arrival. "It seems more like a hotel than a 
 house party." 
 
 "Ye-es. At any rate, we are all very happy," 
 said Arthur. "We have a big home in Santiago, 
 too, where we go for the winter." 
 
 "But if a few people own such big estates, I sup- 
 pose the thousands and thousands who do the work 
 [216]
 
 ON A CHILEAN FARM 
 
 are poor." Lucy did not mean to be rude. She was 
 simply trying to understand. 
 
 " Of course." Arthur yawned. " Our peons have 
 little more pay than I have pocket money. They 
 work hard, too ; they live in mud huts and don't have 
 much to eat besides beans, and meal stirred up in 
 flour. I'd starve on such food." The boy laughed 
 good-naturedly. Then his face grew sober as he 
 added : "I heard the manager tell father the other 
 day that many of the babies on the farm die because 
 they don't have as good food as they ought. I hope 
 father will make it all right. The workmen love 
 him, even though every one of them carries a knife 
 at his belt to use if he gets angry." 
 
 Lucy shuddered. Arthur did not notice it, how- 
 ever, because, just then, a group of his young guests 
 came running up. Carlos, Joe and Theresa were 
 with them. 
 
 " Isn't it time for our ride?" cried Maria, one of 
 Arthur's sisters, who was dark like her Spanish 
 mother. 
 
 "If you are all ready," the young host answered, 
 "we'll start at once." 
 
 Leading the way to an outer court-yard, Arthur 
 directed some grooms to bring up horses and ponies 
 for the party. The animals were well-trained ; their 
 sides were glossy as silk ; their trappings were richly 
 trimmed with silver. 
 
 "I feel like a queen," Lucy told Theresa, when 
 the two little girls were seated on jet black ponies, 
 and sat waiting for the word to start. 
 [217]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 "And I," was the reply, as with laughs and merry 
 calls, the party of young folks prepared to follow 
 their leader. His two favorite dogs were already 
 leaping about Arthur in delight, as they were to go 
 with the party. 
 
 At a sign from him, the riders cantered off through 
 the country, now past broad fields of waving grain, 
 now beside orchards and vineyards ; and again past 
 meadows in which sleek horses and cattle were feed- 
 ing. Sometimes the children caught sight of groups 
 of mud huts around which barefooted, dark-eyed 
 boys and girls were playing, or working among 
 patches of vegetables. Sometimes one of these 
 would look up wonderingly at the gay, prettily 
 dressed horseback riders who had come from the 
 grand palace they had never perhaps entered. 
 
 Before turning homeward Arthur and his guests 
 met one of the overseers riding on horseback among 
 the workmen. He wore a broad-brimmed hat and 
 a handsomely trimmed cloak. His dogs were with 
 him, keeping close to his side whenever he stopped 
 to give an order. 
 
 "Oxen, instead of horses, seem to do the plowing 
 and other hard work," Joe told Carlos as they re- 
 turned to the house. ' ' What patient beasts they are ! 
 With such heavy yokes on their necks, I can't help 
 pitying them as they plod along." 
 
 That evening the children of the household gath- 
 ered in one of the big rooms for games and dances. 
 During one of these dances Joe and Carlos stopped 
 to rest. They chanced to find themselves sitting be- 
 [218]
 
 ON A CHILEAN FARM 
 
 side a handsome girl of fourteen whom Arthur had 
 introduced as his sister Maria. They began talk- 
 ing together and Carlos told of the coast trip to the 
 coal mines and Concepcion. 
 
 "I have been there," Maria said quickly, "but 
 also far beyond, for I was born in the most southern 
 city of the world. ' ' 
 
 The boys looked at Maria almost enviously. "Do 
 tell us about it," begged Joe. "Where is it?" 
 
 "Why! don't you know about Punta Arenas?" 
 Maria seemed surprised: "It is on the coast of this 
 country, but far south, almost down to the Straits 
 of Magellan. And it is an important city too big 
 ships are continually entering the harbor to receive 
 cargoes for other lands. ' ' 
 
 "What can they get down there where it is so 
 cold? Why, icebergs must be in sight most of the 
 time!" Carlos was wide awake with curiosity. 
 
 "Ever so many things." Maria's dark eyes 
 twinkled. "Just remember that in the country back 
 of us reaching through Argentine Patagonia we 
 were in Chilean Patagonia, you know, and that is 
 narrow there are big sheep ranches and ostrich 
 farms. The Indians, as well as white men, down 
 there are coming to Punta Arenas every day with 
 furs and wool to sell. Sometimes one of them brings 
 a beautiful robe made out of the feathers from the 
 breasts of young ostriches. My mother had one of 
 those robes." 
 
 The girl's eyes filled with tears as she spoke of 
 her mother. Joe and Carlos could not understand 
 [219]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 the reason, till Arthur explained afterward that 
 Maria was only his adopted sister and had lived 
 with him and his parents only a few months. She 
 was an orphan and his parents had taken pity on 
 her. 
 
 "Oh!" Maria went on quickly, "another reason 
 Punta Arenas is such a busy place is that it has 
 stores of coal always ready for the steamers that 
 pass by. That is where they get loaded up so they 
 can keep on with long voyages." 
 
 "Weren't the Indians you saw very wild!" asked 
 Joe. 
 
 "No, indeed! they were quite civilized. But if I 
 had wished to see wild ones, I would have gone down 
 to Tierra del Fuego. There are some there still, and 
 a great many on the neighboring islands. We had 
 a friend who had a sheep ranch on Tierra del Fuego. 
 It is pretty cold there a strange country. One can 
 find grass and ferns, and trees, and yet see glaciers 
 and snow at the same time. Not so very many years 
 ago there was no one on the island but Indians, just 
 as in the days when Magellan sailed through the 
 Strait and they built signal fires in their canoes. 
 That was why he called the island the Land of the 
 Fires, or Tierra del Fuego." 
 
 "How funny! but you say white men live there 
 now I suppose to get rich raising sheep." 
 
 "Yes, they went down and made war on the In- 
 dians because they wanted the land themselves. 
 When I was little our friend used to tell me stories 
 about those Indians. They don't know enough to 
 [220]
 
 ON A CHILEAN FARM 
 
 make themselves comfortable. Till lately they wore 
 scarcely any clothes, but greased their bodies to 
 keep them warm. They eat fish and ground rats and 
 penguins, mostly. Some of them paddle about in 
 the dangerous waters in dug-outs which they hollow 
 out of trees. Others have bark canoes. They spend 
 most of their time hunting the guanaco with bows 
 and arrows." 
 
 ' * Oh ! ' ' sighed Joe. He was wishing he could take 
 a voyage to the Straits of Magellan and see the wild 
 life there. 
 
 Maria seemed to catch his thought. "If you ever 
 should want to take a voyage down there, ' ' she said, 
 4 'don't try to round Cape Horn, that wicked rock 
 which has wrecked so many vessels. Few ships go 
 down there now. Their captains find it safer to sail 
 through the Straits. I've been to the southern edge 
 of the mainland myself, and looked out on Smith's 
 Channel. It is beautiful there." 
 
 Again her listeners looked at her enviously. 
 
 "What did you see?" asked Joe eagerly. 
 
 "Snowy mountain peaks, and blue glaciers sliding 
 down to the shore, and foaming cataracts falling 
 over the cliffs, and floating icebergs out in the wa- 
 ters, shining in the sunlight. Oh-h!" said the girl 
 breathlessly, as she thought of the wonders she had 
 looked upon. 
 
 "But you are glad to be here in this beautiful 
 valley now?" Carlos suggested. 
 
 "Oh, yes. Many of the people at Punta Arenas 
 are rough and so my mother seldom let me go about 
 [221]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 alone. And here, with these good friends, I feel safe 
 and free." 
 
 "Did you have a rough voyage up the coast?" 
 asked Joe. 
 
 "Not at all. All along the coast below Concep- 
 cion there are many islands Chiloe is the largest, 
 you probably know from there down they lie close 
 together; and with the pretty channels between 
 them, and the deep bays lined with high cliffs cut- 
 ting into the mainland, one is never tired of watch- 
 ing, watching, watching." 
 
 Maria closed her eyes dreamily, and the boys 
 turned to find themselves surrounded by a group 
 of merry youngsters. 
 
 "What have you been talking about so long?" 
 asked Lucy. "We just had a splendid game some- 
 thing new to me. " ' 
 
 "And we've been listening to a splendid story," 
 said Carlos, bowing gracefully to Maria. 
 
 "And now comes my turn," said Miss Lee, com- 
 ing toward the group. "I have to remind my 
 charges it is past bedtime and that to-morrow we 
 must make an early start. Senhor Vasco has been 
 telling me his plans : we are to leave this delightful 
 
 home and go to Valparaiso, and from there " she 
 
 stopped with a merry laugh. 
 
 "Do we take a coast steamer for Peru?" asked 
 Joe eagerly. 
 
 "Yes, but not to stay there not now, at any rate. 
 We are to visit Boh* via first." 
 
 "Hurrah for the country of wonders!" 
 [222]
 
 ON A CHILEAN FARM 
 
 At Joe's exclamation the Chilean children broke 
 into a laugh the American boy's excitable ways 
 amused them. Then away all scampered to bed, 
 after a good many words of disappointment that 
 the travelers from Bio could stay no longer.
 
 PART IV 
 
 THE LANDS OF GOLD, SILVER AND TIN 
 
 AND 
 THE BRIDGE OF WATER
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 BOLIVIA THE WONDERFUL 
 
 HOW shall we ever land?" Miss Lee's voice 
 was dismal indeed, but Senhor Vasco only 
 laughed in reply. 
 
 The ship bearing our travelers was entering the 
 port of Mollendo on the lower coast of Peru. On 
 either side were high rocks against which the surf 
 broke in mighty waves. 
 
 "The captain says it is not as wild to-day as it 
 often is," comforted Senhor Vasco when he had 
 stopped laughing. "We can make a safe landing, 
 without doubt. Of course," he continued, as the 
 children came up, "we might have landed at Arica, 
 the Chilean port near the border. From there, we 
 could have gone over the highway made by the Incas 
 centuries ago. But it is a hard, rough road and a 
 long one." 
 
 "This is a heap better," declared Joe. "It will 
 be an adventure worth having." 
 
 Carlos agreed with Joe, but the little girls were 
 even more fearful than Miss Lee. 
 
 However, when the landing had been safely made, 
 and the party had boarded the train that was to 
 carry them over the Andes to the wonderful sights 
 beyond, every one was ready to make merry. 
 [227]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 "This evening we shall reach Arequipa and still 
 be in Peru," said Senhor Vasco. "Then, after a 
 night's rest, we take the train once more; and at 
 sunset we will be standing on the shores of a lake 
 held sacred by the Incas the highest, and one of the 
 most wonderful in the world Lake Titicaca," 
 
 There was little for the travelers to enjoy from 
 the car windows that first day. Sand lay every- 
 where about them. Now it was in flat stretches; 
 again, where the wind could sweep freely, it was 
 piled up in shifting mounds. 
 
 But the children were happy because Senhor 
 Vasco told them stories of the countries they had 
 come to visit. Peru with its lofty mountains and 
 volcanoes held stores of gold, silver and copper. In 
 Bolivia, for the most part a high plateau, these were 
 also to be found, as well as rich mines of tin. Here, 
 in the long ago, lived the Incas, the most civilized 
 Indians known. Here they had their cities, their 
 palaces and temples. 
 
 Here, too, were the homes of the llama, the al- 
 paca, and the vicuna, which furnished the wool and 
 hair for the rich garments of the Incas. The llamas, 
 proud, patient creatures, were their beasts of bur- 
 den, and carried heavy loads of gold and silver over 
 the mountain passes ; they furnished milk and flesh 
 for the natives ' food ; their skins were used for gar- 
 ments, their wool was woven into rugs and fine 
 cloths ; their sinews were made into thread. 
 
 "Many an Indian boy in those olden days had his 
 pet llama, ' ' Senhor Vasco told the children. ' * I have 
 [228]
 
 BOLIVIA THE WONDERFUL 
 
 read how devoted the little creature was to his young 
 master and how it would follow him about like a 
 dog. And so sure-footed! "Why, in traveling over 
 the steep, narrow mountain passes, I doubt if any 
 other animal is so sure-footed. Besides, it can go, 
 like the camel, for days without food or water. It 
 is said to have the head of a camel, the body of a 
 sheep, and the legs of a deer. It is really a beautiful 
 creature. But there! I won't tell you any more 
 about llamas till you see them for yourselves." 
 
 * * Oh dear ! I 'm in one of my hurries again ! ' ' ex- 
 claimed Joe. "I want to get to Lake Titicaca 
 quick!" 
 
 "Only one more day!" said Theresa consolingly. 
 
 "And now, dear Senhor Vasco, please tell us about 
 the other animals you spoke of," begged Lucy. 
 1 ' The alpaca and the vicuna. They are sort of cous- 
 ins of the llama, aren't they?" 
 
 "Yes, they belong to the same family, as well as 
 the guanacos we saw in Patagonia. The vicuna is 
 smaller than the llama, and more beautiful. Its fur 
 is very handsome. It is getting scarce now. 
 
 "In the days of the Incas, the Indians were al- 
 lowed to hunt it only at certain times. Then, at the 
 order of the ruler, a great company would start out 
 in search of some flock grazing on the wild moun- 
 tain slopes. They must move softly, for the leader 
 of the flock would be on guard. His keen ears would 
 discover the slightest sound and he would give the 
 alarm by a shrill whistle and a pawing of his feet. 
 Then away the timid creatures would flee along nar- 
 [229]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 row ledges and down the sides of steep cliffs where 
 no man dare follow. ' ' 
 
 "But if the hunters succeeded," suggested Car- 
 los. 
 
 "If they managed to close in on their game, they 
 did not kill the whole flock. The great ruler would 
 not permit that. A certain number were killed for 
 their skins, and the flesh which they would cut in 
 strips and dry for food. Still others were made pris- 
 oners and shorn of their heavy wool, but afterward 
 allowed to go free. The babies of the flock, however, 
 beautiful little creatures with soft, white breasts, 
 were seldom touched. "Why? Because if left to 
 themselves, they would become full-sized vicunas 
 that would furnish food and fur for thousands of 
 the Inca's subjects." 
 
 "And now, Papa, please tell us something about 
 the alpacas," said Theresa. 
 
 "We may possibly see some of them in our wan- 
 derings," was the reply. "They are smaller than 
 vicunas and are tended by their masters like sheep. 
 Their wool is almost as fine as silk. You all, prob- 
 ably, have seen cloth made from it it wears 'like 
 iron,' as Mrs. Grayson would say. And now," he 
 continued, "I'm going to take a snooze behind my 
 paper while Miss Lee, perhaps, will play dominoes 
 with you. ' ' 
 
 The rest of the day went by much faster than the 
 children expected; but when night came and they 
 reached the city of Arequipa they were so tired that 
 [230]
 
 BOLIVIA THE WONDERFUL 
 
 they were glad to tumble into bed at the hotel with 
 scarcely a peek at the city. 
 
 "To-day we may have another adventure, Joe," 
 Senhor Vasco said the next morning with a smile. 
 " On our journey over the Andes you will find your- 
 selves higher up than on any other railroad in the 
 world except one." 
 
 "And that one?" asked Joe quickly. 
 
 ' * Is north of us, and starting from Lima, the capi- 
 tal of Peru, also crosses the Andes. But never fear, 
 you will all think yourselves high enough before we 
 reach Lake Titicaca." 
 
 Later on in the day every one was quite ready to 
 agree with the Senhor. The train was moving 
 through a high pass in the mountains. Banks of 
 clouds lay below. In all directions the travelers 
 found themselves neighbors to snowy cliffs. Their 
 breath came fast as they realized that they were 
 indeed riding over the roof of South America. 
 Then, suddenly, as Carlos caught sight of a mother 
 vicuna with two snow-white little ones at her side, 
 Theresa cried out, "My nose is bleeding!" 
 
 "Here, dear, take this it is bigger than yours," 
 said her father, handing her his handkerchief. As 
 he did so, he discovered that Miss Lee's face was 
 very pale. She was leaning her head against the 
 side of the car. The next minute Lucy exclaimed 
 in a frightened tone, "I'm dizzy!" 
 
 "Don't be scared. You will all feel right in a few 
 minutes," comforted Senhor Vasco, who did not 
 seem the least disturbed. * * Your bad feelings come 
 [231] 
 
 ..
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 from our being up so high. They will go just as 
 soon as we reach a lower level." 
 
 So it proved. A half -hour afterward the children 
 were gaily planning what they would do when they 
 reached Lake Titicaca. 
 
 All their imaginings were as nothing, however, 
 when the lake itself lay spread before their eyes. 
 They left the train at Puno, Peru's western port, 
 and went on board a steamboat that would carry 
 them through the lake 's beautiful waters to the Bo- 
 livian port on the other side. 
 
 As they moved out of the little harbor, they were 
 filled more and more with wonder "and bursting 
 with questions," as Joe said afterward. 
 
 How could there be such a steamboat up among 
 mountain peaks? Had it been brought there? Im- 
 possible ! And whence came the deep waters of this 
 lake that Senhor Vasco said was bottomless? Such 
 a big lake too, the highest in the world, larger than 
 all the Swiss lakes together ! And so strange why, 
 it was so near the sky, it seemed as if one might al- 
 most stretch out one 's hand and touch it ! At first, 
 even Joe, chatterer that he was, and with questions 
 piling up in his mind, had no thought of asking them 
 not now, at least. But by and by, as the travelers 
 got used to the idea of looking across at mountain 
 summits instead of lifting their eyes up toward 
 them, they began to talk. 
 
 "The steamer had a longer journey before it 
 reached this lake than we did," Senhor Vasco told 
 the children. "Moreover, it came in parts, which 
 [232]
 
 BOLIVIA THE WONDERFUL 
 
 were put together after this great height was 
 reached. ' ' 
 
 "Where were the different parts made?" asked 
 Carlos. 
 
 "I suppose in Scotland, after which they crossed 
 the Atlantic, passed through the Straits of Magellan, 
 sailed up the Pacific, were landed at Mollendo, and 
 then climbed the Andes as we did." 
 
 "Whew! that was a long way to come," declared 
 Joe. "I should think the people would rather do all 
 the building here. ' ' 
 
 "They can't, my dear boy. This is not a machine- 
 making country. From the rich mines in the moun- 
 tains about us copper and silver, gold and tin are 
 taken out, and shipped to other lands. They in re- 
 turn send back manufactured goods that are needed 
 here. Turn and turn about, you see." 
 
 "What makes this lake?" now asked Lucy. 
 
 "Look around you at the glaciers and snow-cov- 
 ered peaks. The snow and ice are continually melt- 
 ing and forming rivers. It is said that nine of these 
 rivers form this deep and beautiful lake. But lis- 
 ten!" Senhor Vasco had caught the words of a fel- 
 low passenger who was pointing out certain moun- 
 tain peaks. 
 
 * * Those two mountains were worshiped as gods by 
 the Incas," the gentleman was saying. "That one 
 over there is Illimani, the highest in Bolivia. The 
 word means * Bright condor/ The other is Mt. So- 
 rata." 
 
 As the steamer moved on its way, it passed sev- 
 [233]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 era! large islands on which mud huts, with patches 
 of potatoes and barley near by, could be plainly 
 seen. Indian boys and girls were playing along 
 the shore. 
 
 "We have reached the home of the potato," the 
 strange gentleman was telling his friends. "Many 
 of us living in other lands owe a debt to Bolivia for 
 the vegetable we like so much. And, by the way, 
 the natives, both of this country and Peru, like them 
 best when prepared in a way you probably never 
 heard of. The raw potatoes are soaked in water 
 and left outdoors during the night to freeze. After 
 that, people tread on them with bare feet till the 
 skins are rubbed off. Last of all, they are dried in 
 the air till they become very white, and as hard as 
 stbnes. Before they are cooked they must be soaked 
 in water. I must say I don't care for chuno, as such 
 potatoes are called, because they seem tasteless, but 
 nearly every one I know here thinks chuno deli- 
 cious." 
 
 "I, for one, don't care to try the queer dish," 
 said Miss Lee. "The idea of the potatoes being 
 trodden upon by bare feet is not a pleasant one." 
 
 As the steamer neared the Bolivian port, Chili- 
 laya, the children were much interested in the queer 
 boats along the shore. They were made of reeds 
 bound into tight rolls, and then woven together. 
 Their sails were of straw. The men on board were 
 either Indians or cholos, as those who belong to the 
 mixed race of Indians and Spaniards are called in 
 [234]
 
 BOLIVIA THE WONDERFUL 
 
 Bolivia. These boats were made exactly in the same 
 way as in the time of the Incas. 
 
 ''Look, look, everybody!" cried Joe, as one of 
 them came up alongside the steamer. A barefooted 
 Indian boy was poling it along. In front of him was 
 a pet llama which stretched its neck proudly as it 
 looked up toward the big noisy steamer. 
 
 * ' I never ! ' ' exclaimed Lucy. ' * That llama 's wool 
 never took on such colors by itself!'* 
 
 "Indeed not!" said Senhor Vasco, laughing. "A 
 paint-brush dipped into bright reds and blues has 
 laid those stripes on the creature's back." 
 
 "And see!" put in Theresa. "Kibbons are tied 
 through holes in its ears. How funny!" 
 
 By this time the passengers were making their 
 way to the gangplank. 
 
 "Bolivia the wonderful!" said Miss Lee, as the 
 party entered the crowd pressing forward to go 
 ashore. 
 
 During the next three days the children were kept 
 busy seeing new and strange sights. They visited 
 the ruins of old Inca palaces on the shore of the 
 lake. They took a boat ride, stopping at the island 
 of Titicaca where once stood a temple sacred to the 
 sun. There, they were told, in the long ago, the red 
 men made pilgrimages, each one carrying gold and 
 other precious gifts to the sun-god. . Then came the 
 cruel Spaniards. 
 
 ' ' Though they kill us or make us their slaves they 
 shall not have the treasures in our temple ! ' ' vowed 
 [235]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 the people. So they tore it down and cast its wealth 
 into the lake. 
 
 Once, as Theresa looked over the boat's edge, she 
 fancied she saw something shining like gold far be- 
 low. But when her father reminded her of the un- 
 known depth, she joined with the others in a laugh 
 at herself. 
 
 The travelers also went on mule-back with a guide 
 through the wild country. They passed several 
 trains of llamas loaded with silver on their way to 
 the port for shipment. The loads seemed nearly 
 even in size. 
 
 "The llamas are sensible creatures,'* said Senhor 
 Vasco. "If their masters place too heavy burdens 
 on their backs they do not kick or cry out. They 
 simply lie down and refuse to get up till the load is 
 lightened." 
 
 "Will they bite?" asked Lucy. 
 
 "No, but if they are angry they will do something 
 far worse they spit." 
 
 "Spit!" cried Miss Lee. 
 
 "Yes, and the spittle has a most unpleasant odor. 
 So, in our wanderings, we had best not venture near 
 a llama that shakes its head at us in an unfriendly 
 way." 
 
 "I suppose that Indian's poncho is made of llama 
 wool." As Carlos spoke, he looked in the direction 
 of the leader of the train they were passing. 
 
 "I think so," replied his father. "It looks warm 
 and comfortable even though the cloth is coarse. 
 What beautiful colors it has!" 
 [236]
 
 BOLIVIA THE WONDERFUL 
 
 1 'Every few minutes the man takes something 
 out of a little embroidered bag at his belt. Our 
 guide does the same thing," whispered Joe. "What- 
 ever it is, they put it in their mouths. I wonder if 
 it is tobacco. ' ' 
 
 ' * No, it must be coca, which the people here chew 
 continually. It refreshes them. With its help, they 
 can keep working or walking for hours without food, 
 or feeling tired. And now I think of it, the cocaine 
 which the dentist used last year to deaden the pain 
 when he pulled out one of my teeth, may have come 
 from a coca plant that grew in Bolivia." 
 
 "I wonder if those little children are gathering 
 coca." Carlos pointed toward a field where several 
 boys and girls were picking long thin leaves from 
 some tall plants. 
 
 The guide heard him and nodded yes. 
 
 ' * I wish we had time to take a side trip from here 
 to Cuzco. It is just over the border, in Peru, ' ' said 
 Senhor Vasco, as the party turned back toward the 
 hotel. 
 
 "Why, Papa?" asked Theresa. 
 
 "Because that was once the capital of the Inca 
 kingdom. It was there that the great ruler himself, 
 the Child of the Sun, so his people believed, held 
 his court. In those days there were temples in the 
 city lined with gold ; there, too, was the royal palace 
 where the Inca dined off dishes of solid gold and 
 silver. There, when he so pleased, he rode through 
 the streets in a litter resplendent in gold and emer- 
 alds, and borne by richly-clad attendants. Ah ! those 
 [237]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 were happy days for his subjects, before Pizarro 
 came to torture and make slaves of the red men." 
 Senhor Vasco sighed with pity. 
 
 When the sightseers reached the hotel all but Sen- 
 hor Vasco went to their rooms to get ready for din- 
 ner. He stayed behind in the lobby to talk with a 
 gentleman whom he had not seen there before, but 
 whose face seemed familiar. 
 
 When he joined Miss Lee and the children his face 
 was bright with smiles. 
 
 "To-morrow morning," he said gaily, "we can 
 wake up in Cuzco." 
 
 "What!" cried Joe. 
 
 "It can't be possible!" exclaimed Miss Lee. 
 
 "But it is possible!" Senhor Vasco laughed like 
 a boy. ' ' The gentleman whom I met when we came 
 back from our walk is Senor Valdo, a Spaniard with 
 whom I became acquainted years ago. He is a gov- 
 ernment official at Cuzco. He leaves Lake Titicaca 
 for home to-night in his private car, and he invites 
 us to go with him. We can see Cuzco pretty well in 
 two days, and another night's ride will bring us back 
 again." 
 
 "Splendid!" cried Lucy, who had heard that 
 Cuzco was the most interesting city of South Amer- 
 ica, as far as history went. 
 
 The upshot of the matter was that everything took 
 place quite as Senhor Vasco said it would. There 
 was a night's ride in a comfortable private car, and 
 there was a waking up when Cuzco was reached. 
 [238]
 
 BOLIVIA THE WONDERFUL 
 
 As the morning sun rose a merry party left the 
 train, ready for wonderful sights. 
 
 "How strange!" said Theresa. She was looking 
 up at the top of the fortress-hill behind the city, on 
 whose edge stood a gigantic wooden crucifix. 
 
 "One of the first things the Spaniards did after 
 seizing Cuzco was to place that crucifix there," ex- 
 plained Senor Valdo. "It marks the spot where 
 the Incas had built an altar to the sun which they 
 worshiped." 
 
 As the travelers walked on through a dirty, nar- 
 row street, they felt disappointed. The houses on 
 either side looked cheap and common and the open 
 drains were full of refuse. 
 
 "Ugh*' they thought, "can this be the wonderful 
 city I have come to see f ' ' 
 
 But their disappointment did not last long. On a 
 sudden, the street opened upon a beautiful public 
 square. 
 
 There were shade trees and clover beds in the 
 square, and an odd fountain standing on a stone 
 column. It was a bronze head of the Christ, from 
 whose mouth a stream of clear, sparkling water was 
 constantly flowing. 
 
 * ' Oh-h ! ' ' now cried every one in delight. In every 
 direction was something interesting old buildings 
 hundreds and hundreds of years old, and openings 
 into narrow streets where toll houses stood on stone 
 foundations laid by the Incas centuries ago. 
 
 On one side of the square was a church and con- 
 vent. On another was an old palace fortress in 
 [2391
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 whose sides were loop holes for firing. Senor Valdo 
 lived only a short distance from this square. A 
 housekeeper had charge of his home, as he had no 
 family. 
 
 "It is very quiet, but my housekeeper will do her 
 best to make you comfortable," he told Senhor Vas- 
 co. "I am sorry," he added, ''that I shall be too 
 busy to go about the city with you. I will get you a 
 good guide, however." 
 
 Little time was spent that day, or the next, at 
 the kind official's home, as there was so much outside 
 to be seen. 
 
 "Let us first see what the Spaniards have done 
 for the town," proposed Senhor Vasco. 
 
 The guide, who was a young soldier, heard the 
 words. "You should first see our wonderful cathe- 
 dral," he said, and he led the way to the principal 
 square of the city on which the cathedral faced. 
 
 ' * How big and strong it is ! " exclaimed Joe. ' * It 
 looks like a fortress." 
 
 "No fortress would have belfry towers like those, 
 nor would it have a doorway rich with pillars and 
 fine carving," said Miss Lee, feasting her eyes on 
 the beauty of the doorway. 
 
 By this time the guide had unlocked the massive 
 door and the visitors entered the cathedral. They 
 stood still for a minute to get used to the dim light 
 inside. Gradually everything around them became 
 clear. Pictured knights and bishops and grand 
 church processions stared down at them from the 
 walls. Far down in front shone the high altar of 
 [240]
 
 BOLIVIA THE WONDERFUL 
 
 solid silver, richly carved and embossed. Around 
 it were a pulpit and stalls of dark wood, also richly 
 ornamented. The children held their breath as they 
 caught sight of statues, large as life, of Jesus and 
 His disciples, all of solid silver. 
 
 A fresh surprise was in store when they visited 
 the choir. Here were life size statues of saints and 
 apostles, and more rich carvings. 
 
 The guide now described other treasures belong- 
 ing to the cathedral gold and silver dishes and sa- 
 cred vessels set with precious gems. No one might 
 say what was their value. 
 
 On leaving the building the visitors were taken to 
 see an old inn, and some noted churches which they 
 found rich in carving and gold and silver. After- 
 wards they made a flying call at the university 
 whose president was an American. 
 
 "Only think!" said Lucy, when the party had re- 
 turned to their host's for lunch, "that university is 
 the oldest one in the whole western continent. I'm 
 glad I saw it." 
 
 "I too!" said Joe, "and I'm glad of the nice talk 
 with the president. He told me something I had 
 not heard before, that every one believes there are 
 rich stores of gold and jewels hidden in the ground 
 of this city by the old Incas. I'd like to stay here 
 a while and do some digging." 
 
 Joe looked so earnest, it made the others laugh. 
 
 "Next time you come here, you may be able to 
 stay longer and carry out your wish," said Senhor 
 [241]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 Vasco. "In the meantime who would like to go with 
 me to the museum this afternoon?" 
 
 "I," "I," "I," cried one after another. 
 
 An hour later the sightseers climbed a hillside to 
 the house which contained the museum. On the way 
 they passed a fountain around which a crowd of In- 
 dians were gathered with their trains of llamas. 
 They had stopped to drink the cool mountain water. 
 
 When the party reached the museum they were 
 tired and hot, but all felt satisfied at having come 
 when they had looked at the curiosities there. 
 
 First of all, a row of mummies stared down at 
 them from shelves against the walls. Lucy and 
 Theresa shuddered when they discovered them, their 
 elbows resting on their knees, and their bony hands 
 clasping their heads. Their skin was dark and 
 shrivelled, and their hair long and black. 
 
 " Those are the mummies of Incas," explained the 
 old Spaniard who had charge of the museum. "In 
 the long ago the Indians took the bodies of their 
 dead friends to the top of a high mountain and left 
 them to wither in the rare air till they became mum- 
 mies. Then they were brought down and placed in 
 baskets, together with their richest clothing." 
 
 "Did everything in this place once belong to the 
 Incas ? ' ' Lucy asked. She had turned from the mum- 
 mies to examine some beautiful baskets, and pieces 
 of finely woven cloth. The colors of the cloth were 
 as bright as if they had been woven that very day. 
 
 ' ' Everything, ' ' said the man. He now pointed out 
 [242]
 
 BOLIVIA THE WONDERFUL 
 
 some fine carvings in stone, and held up a bundle of 
 silk threads of different colors and lengths. 
 
 "Every thread in such a bundle told a story to 
 the Incas, ' ' he explained. * ' They kept their records 
 in this way. But no one to-day can read such a 
 bundle no one." 
 
 That night the travelers went to bed "with the 
 birds." But when the sun rose over the mountain 
 tops next morning it found them dressed, and eager 
 to start for the remains of the fortress of the Incas 
 on the hill back of the city. 
 
 "Now you shall have a chance to sit in the Seats 
 of the Mighty, ' ' Senhor Vasco told the children, but 
 he would not explain what he meant. 
 
 The way to the fortress led up out of the town 
 along a road built against the side of a narrow ledge. 
 A steep bank on the right reached down to a pretty 
 stream far below. 
 
 1 ' The wall at our left was once a part of the fort- 
 ress of the Incas," explained the guide. "You will 
 soon see still more powerful walls. ' ' 
 
 After an hour's hard climb the party reached the 
 top of the hill and found it was almost level. They 
 were on the summit of a fortress temple that had 
 once been protected by three immense walls. They 
 had already wondered at the greatness of the walls 
 they had seen on the way up, but before them was 
 one still more wonderful. It was made of blocks of 
 stone, some of them as large as houses, and fitted 
 together as closely as bricks in any fine city build- 
 ing, yet no mortar had been used. How had these 
 [243]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 immense rocks been brought here? How had they 
 been set in place? 
 
 "No one will ever be able to tell us," said Senhor 
 Vasco, thoughtfully. 
 
 All around stretched the great wall in a half-circle. 
 Inside it stood the remains of two other walls some- 
 what smaller. 
 
 On the open side, far behind, lay Cuzco with its 
 narrow streets and churches. The guide led the way 
 to the edge of the plain not far from the large cruci- 
 fix which the travelers had noted when they arrived 
 in the city. All stood for a while looking down at the 
 sight below; then across the valley to the snow- 
 topped mountains beyond. 
 
 "The Incas must have felt safe with such a fort- 
 ress to guard their city," said Carlos. 
 
 "Nothing could be safe from the Spaniards with 
 their greed of gold, ' ' said his father. 
 
 "But we have not yet seen the Seats of the 
 Mighty, ' ' he added gaily. ' * Come, our guide is ready 
 to lead us there." 
 
 Leaving the temple fortress the party went to the 
 plain behind it where they found immense stone 
 seats cut out of the solid rock. Some were single, 
 some in pairs, some were in rows, one above the 
 other. 
 
 1 * The seats of the Incas, ' ' said the guide. ' ' No one 
 knows why they were built. ' ' 
 
 The children had great sport springing from one 
 seat to another, and sitting down to try their size. 
 
 "I'm ready to leave this lonely place," said The- 
 [244]
 
 ,
 
 BOLIVIA THE WONDERFUL 
 
 resa, after a while. "I feel queer, just as if there 
 were ghosts around. Come, let's go down." 
 
 "All ready to follow Theresa," said her father 
 with a smile, and the party started on the tramp 
 back to the city. 
 
 After the visitors had reached their host's house 
 and enjoyed baths and a hearty meal, there was just 
 time enough, before the train should leave, for a 
 walk past some of the city shops. On the way the 
 sightseers passed groups of gaily dressed Indians. 
 
 " There can't be many white people in Cuzco," 
 Lucy said afterwards when all were settled for their 
 night ride back to Lake Titicaca. 
 
 "Only a small numbei," said Senhor Vasco. 
 "But the Indians are gentle and happy, and there 
 is nothing to fear from them." 
 
 "What shall we do to-morrow?" asked Carlos 
 sleepily. 
 
 "Soon after we arrive in Bolivia we might start 
 for La Paz, its principal city; that is, if you are all 
 well rested." 
 
 "Of course we'll be rested," said Joe indignantly. 
 
 "The journey I am planning will be only forty-five 
 miles," continued Senhor Vasco. "We could go 
 there in a wagon drawn by six or eight mules. But 
 it would be a rough and tiresome trip for you all, 
 so I think we had best travel by train. To-morrow 
 then, wake up with the thought of a fresh start. ' ' 
 
 [245]
 
 CHAPTER H 
 
 THE CITY OF THE TRUE CROSS 
 
 '117E left Lake Titicaca the day before you did and 
 * * came by mule-train. ' ' 
 
 The gentleman who was saying these words to 
 Senhor Vasco in the hotel corridor at Vera Cruz was 
 no other than the fellow traveler whose words our 
 little friends had heard when aboard a steamer 
 on Lake Titicaca. A lady and two blue-eyed little 
 girls stood beside him. As he introduced them, he 
 explained that they were his sister and nieces who 
 had come from America to visit him, for he had 
 made Bolivia his home many years ago. 
 
 ' ' I almost regret we did not follow your example, 
 instead of taking the train," said Senhor Vasco. 
 
 "I am sorry that you missed the experience,'* re- 
 plied the gentleman. "Sometimes we rode close to 
 the edge of precipices; sometimes we came upon 
 flocks of llamas or alpacas, and set them scurrying 
 down the slopes in a jiffy. And the air from the 
 mountains around us ! Clear as crystal ! Why, sir, 
 I have become a new man since I came to live on this 
 plateau." 
 
 Joe stood listening greedily. He almost groaned 
 with envy. But he soon forgot what might have 
 [246]
 
 THE CITY OF THE TRUE CROSS 
 
 been when he began to eat the good dinner in the 
 hotel dining-room. There were the dearest little 
 pink potatoes with other fresh vegetables and roast 
 mutton. And at dessert the children had not only 
 oranges and pineapples, but the strangest, most de- 
 licious fruit they had ever eaten at least, that was 
 what they said at the time. 
 
 "It's like ice-cream!" declared Joe, as he tasted 
 the cold, smooth pulp. "I can't quite tell the flavor 
 it's not like anything else, I know," he added. 
 
 Early next morning, when our travelers visited 
 the market, they saw piles of this very fruit that 
 looked like immense bean pods. 
 
 "I never would have believed without being told 
 that it isn't a vegetable," said Miss Lee. 
 
 The market-place was a mass of bright colors. 
 Gaily dressed women were squatting side by side 
 in front of mats on which were piles of lemons, 
 quinces, and tiny potatoes, some pink and some 
 purple. The fruits and vegetables of all climates 
 could be seen. 
 
 "They come from the slopes below us," explained 
 Senhor Vasco. "In Bolivia and Peru we travel, as 
 you know, from the hot lands at the foot of the 
 Andes to this cool plateau. Hence there are al- 
 ways feasts of good things here to be had for the 
 buying." 
 
 As he spoke, an Indian woman on the ground in 
 front of him called out her wares. A baby tucked 
 into her shawl at the back began to laugh and crow 
 at Lucy. 
 
 [247]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 "How fat the woman is!" Theresa whispered to 
 her brother. 
 
 "It's her many short skirts that make her look 
 so," he answered. "Can't you see she just bulges 
 with them? I shouldn't wonder if she has on half a 
 dozen. Don't you see, too, that all the women around 
 us wear many skirts?" 
 
 ' ' Oh, yes ! and their bright colors make this place 
 look like a kaleidoscope bright reds and blues and 
 greens and purples. What a funny sight ! ' ' 
 
 A minute afterward Lucy said to Miss Lee, "It 
 makes me feel queer to see here so few white people 
 like ourselves. They are almost all Indians." 
 
 "Or partly so, dear. A good many are cholos." 
 
 "Far more than half the people of Bolivia are 
 Indians, ' ' said a voice behind them. The gentleman 
 whom they had met the day before was speaking to 
 his nieces. "Nevei forget," he went on, "what a 
 wonderful country this is. It still holds untold 
 treasures in its mines ; its slopes furnish fruits and 
 vegetables of all climes ; it supplies the world with 
 quantities of the best quinine. It also probably ex- 
 ports more rubber than any other country of South 
 America except Brazil." 
 
 "How do they get quinine?" asked Josephine, the 
 older niece. "All I know about it -is that it is bitter, 
 and mother sometimes gives it to me when I'm 
 sick." 
 
 Her uncle laughed. "It is the white powder made 
 from the bark of the cinchona tree," he explained. 
 "No doubt, as we go back to the hotel, we shall meet 
 [248]
 
 THE CITY OF THE TRUE CROSS 
 
 donkeys loaded with cinchona bark. It is brought 
 in from the country every day to be packed here for 
 shipment. ' ' 
 
 As the two parties left the market at the same 
 time, the little girls walked together down the nar- 
 row street. 
 
 "Uncle says La Paz is a queer looking place on 
 Judas day,'' said Josephine. 
 
 "I think it's queer looking now, with the build- 
 ings painted all sorts of colors, like the women's 
 dresses," laughed Lucy. As she spoke she pointed 
 to a red house beside which was another of the 
 brightest green. "But what is Judas day?" she 
 asked curiously. 
 
 "It's the next one after Good Friday, and the 
 people here celebrate it in a funny way. They buy 
 effigies of Judas, and inside them is gunpowder. 
 When lighted matches are put to them they go off 
 like immense fire-crackers. The smallest, as well as 
 the biggest, boy thinks he must have a Judas to 
 burn up on that day. The town must be full of 
 noise." 
 
 "How funny! But look there," whispered The- 
 resa. 
 
 A sharp-faced cholo lad was running along the 
 street with a brown llama beside him. The boy's 
 face was held close to the llama's head, and he was 
 calling it pet names. 
 
 "How he loves it!" said Lucy. "I would, too, if 
 I had such a pet. I always longed for a lamb of 
 my own, and I think llamas must know more than 
 [249]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 lambs. That one understands what the boy says to 
 him, I'm sure." 
 
 "Its master probably lives in a mud hut without 
 a single window," continued Josephine; "maybe 
 with chickens on a roost beside the mat where he 
 sleeps or his pet llama," she added. "Uncle says 
 many of the Indians' homes in this country are 
 hardly better than pig-sties. Most of the cholos 
 live in the same way, too." 
 
 "And these very Indians," Senhor Vasco after- 
 ward reminded the children, "descended from the 
 wise Incas who had wealth and comfort untold till 
 Pizarro laid waste their kingdom." 
 
 [250]
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 PEBU THE GOLDEN 
 
 A ND now for the coast-land of Peru where we 
 -** shall have a chance to see somewhat of the 
 desert region of South America, ' ' said Senhor Vasco. 
 
 Our travelers were now in a train moving down 
 the Andes and carrying them back to Arequipa. 
 
 "Beautiful Lake Titicaca above the clouds seems 
 like a dream," said Miss Lee with half -closed eyes. 
 
 11 So does the dance of those Indians we watched 
 outdoors in the moonlight last evening," said 
 Theresa, 
 
 ' ' Wasn 't it great ! ' ' Lucy 's eyes sparkled. ' ' With 
 their gay ponchos swinging about their shoulders, 
 and their painted faces shining in the pale light, they 
 made a picture I '11 never forget. ' ' 
 
 "I wish we could have visited the rich tin and 
 silver mines near Lake Poopo," said Carlos regret- 
 fully. 
 
 "To do that we should have had to travel mule- 
 back from La Paz for three whole days," replied his 
 father. "For myself, I should have most liked to 
 see the tin after being brought from the mines and 
 melted in a hot furnace. Then, I am told, as it is 
 separated from the earth and rocks in which it has 
 [251]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 been bedded, it runs off in a silvery stream into 
 brick-shaped moulds. After cooling and hardening, 
 the bricks of tin are shipped to other lands. ' ' 
 
 "That American gentleman told me there are a 
 good many wild Indians in Bolivia yet," said Joe. 
 "But they live mostly near the eastern borders 
 where white men haven't ventured much." 
 
 "As poorly off as the Indians are," said Senhor 
 Vasco, "it is much better for them since the Spanish 
 rule over Peru and Bolivia was broken. Bolivia, by 
 the way, was once a part of Peru. ' ' 
 
 "All honor to General Bolivar !" cried Carlos with 
 flashing eyes. "The country was well named after 
 its brave founder." 
 
 "As we go on with our travels we shall still be 
 reminded of him," said his father. "As George 
 Washington was the father of your country," he 
 continued, turning to the twins, "so Simon Bolivar 
 brought about the independence of Peru and the 
 countries north of it Venezuela and Colombia 
 which we may possibly visit later." 
 
 There was so much to talk about on the journey 
 to Arequipa that the time passed quickly. But when 
 the coast was reached, the air seemed hot and stifling 
 after the cool breezes of the upland, and every one 
 was glad to go on board the steamer ready to sail up 
 the coast. 
 
 "We shall have just long enough a voyage to get 
 
 rested for more sightseeing," Senhor Vasco told the 
 
 children. "We will land at the busy port of Callao, 
 
 and then a short ride by train will take us to Lima." 
 
 [252]
 
 Copyright by Underwood <fc Underwood, N. Y. 
 
 THE USUAL METHOD OF TRAVEL IN THE PERUVIAN MOUNTAINS
 
 PERU THE GOLDEN 
 
 "And then more wonders!" said Joe gleefully. 
 
 "How much better this water trip is than if we 
 had to travel over the desert coast-land ! ' ' said Miss 
 Lee. 
 
 ''We should see little but sand around us, and be 
 dusty and uncomfortable all the time," was the an- 
 swer. ''Of course, to the eastward the foothills of 
 the Andes would always be in sight ; and on the west, 
 the great Pacific. But there would be little variety 
 except for two things." 
 
 At the last two words the children were ' ' all ears. ' ' 
 
 "In the first place," Senhor Vasco went on, "I 
 have heard that on the desert coast of Peru, hills 
 often travel." 
 
 ' ' Hills travel ! ' ' exclaimed Joe. 
 
 "Yes, the coast wind often sweeps the sand along 
 in such a way that the mounds keep the same shape 
 as they roll along somewhat like half -moons. Some 
 are quite small, others are as big as hills. It must 
 be a queer sight. ' ' 
 
 "What else would interest us?" asked Theresa. 
 
 "Crossing the mountain streams that flow down 
 through the desert to the ocean. There we would be 
 sure to find delightful oases where towns and vil- 
 lages have been built, gardens filled with flowers and 
 vegetables, and vineyards and orange orchards that 
 furnish many a feast. ' ' 
 
 "But this is ever so nice right here," said Lucy, 
 drawing in a deep breath of sea-air. As she spoke 
 she put her arm around Theresa, and the two little 
 girls started for a hop-skip around the deck. 
 [253]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 When the travelers reached Callao, they boarded 
 a train bound for the Peruvian capital at once. 
 
 "What a pretty ride!" cried one after another, as 
 they moved past cotton and sugar plantations which 
 could be seen on every hand. 
 
 ' ' And what a nice place for a city ! ' ' they declared 
 when they afterward reached Lima. 
 
 Senhor Vasco shook his head. * * One would think 
 so at first, ' ' he said. ' ' It lies in a fertile valley, with 
 the River Bimac flowing through its heart. But 
 though scarcely any rain falls, the air is damp and 
 heavy much of the time." 
 
 "It looks like a gay city, at any rate," said Miss 
 Lee, when the party had taken a carriage bound for 
 the hotel where they were to stay. 
 
 It was not odd for her to think so. The narrow 
 streets were crowded with carriages and people. 
 No one seemed in a hurry. Some were talking 
 merrily together, gesticulating in Spanish fashion. 
 Others were on their way to and from the stores. 
 Still others were riding slowly along, enjoying the 
 sights. 
 
 ' * The men dress like Americans, ' ' said Joe. ' ' But 
 the women look ever so funny, like sisters-of-charity, 
 with those black cloths fastened around their heads 
 and hanging down behind." 
 
 "How polite every one seems!" said Theresa. 
 ' ' They bow and smile and shake hands, and the gen- 
 tlemen keep lifting their tall hats to their friends as 
 if they were in the best nature." 
 
 "It seems good to see horses again," remarked 
 [2541
 
 PERU THE GOLDEN 
 
 Joe thoughtfully. "Why were there so few up in 
 Bolivia, Senhor Vasco?" 
 
 ' 'Because they can't live and work at such a height, 
 my boy. The air is too thin. I noticed that many 
 of the mules had had their nostrils slit, so they could 
 breathe more easily." 
 
 "What a beau-ti-ful building!" cried Lucy, shortly 
 afterward. 
 
 "That must be the celebrated Lima cathedral," 
 said Senhor Vasco. "To-morrow we will visit it. 
 Among other things, it contains the skeleton of 
 Pizarro in a glass case. It was he who made this 
 city his capital instead of Cuzco, the beautiful city 
 of the Incas." 
 
 "Ugh!" Theresa shuddered. "I don't want to 
 look at the skeleton of that horrid man." 
 
 Every one laughed, forgetting Pizarro, however, 
 the next minute as the carriage drew up in front of 
 a handsome hotel. 
 
 As the twins declared that they were as hungry as 
 wolves, and Carlos and Theresa nodded their heads 
 in agreement though they knew little about wolves, 
 no time was lost in seeking the hotel dining-room. 
 
 And then such a feast as was spread before them ! 
 There was fish served raw to be eaten with lemon 
 juice. But it was good, as every one decided. Carlos 
 and his sister afterward had stewed guinea-pig, while 
 the others chose roasted kid, which Joe declared was 
 so tender it melted in his mouth. There were sweet 
 potatoes, and others of a golden yellow, so delicious 
 that Lucy said, "I don't know when to stop eating." 
 [255]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 There were also squash, and string beans of a kind 
 that sometimes grow two feet long. When the des- 
 sert was served with its fruits and sweeties, the 
 children wished they had not eaten so many other 
 good things already. 
 
 "Aren't these guavas nice!" asked one. 
 
 "And the pomegranates and alligator pears!" 
 said another. 
 
 So, on and on, the children ate and chatted, while 
 Senhor Vasco and Miss Lee smiled at their delight. 
 
 Early the next morning, while it was still cool, the 
 travelers started out to see more of the city. They 
 visited the cathedral, as Senhor Vasco had promised. 
 Grand as it looked, they found it was made of mud- 
 brick, not of stone or marble as one would expect. 
 They also visited the capitol, which stood on the op- 
 posite side of the plaza; soldiers stood on guard at 
 all the doorways. It was a large building, but only 
 two stories high. Many of the houses in the city 
 were of one story only, for that matter; none had 
 more than two. 
 
 What was the reason! Senhor Vasco did not tell 
 the little girls, fearing they might become nervous. 
 It was this : earthquakes were very common in this 
 part of the country, and the city itself had been 
 destroyed many times. It was therefore more sensi- 
 ble to use cheap materials, as well as to make the 
 buildings low ; yet they looked so rich that more than 
 once the children and Miss Lee exclaimed at their 
 beauty. They thought they must be made of granite 
 or marble, or of painted brick. 
 [256]
 
 PERU THE GOLDEN 
 
 They therefore laughed when the guide, a bright- 
 eyed Spanish lad, said, "No, they are of sun-dried 
 brick, or of mud, covering frames of bamboo poles. 
 Even the roofs are of bamboo, with the mud filled 
 into the cracks and covering them. Go up on one 
 of the roofs and walk ; it will shake under your feet. 
 
 "Ah! but they are pleasant these homes," he 
 continued. "Many are built around courts where 
 the people sit in the evening among trees and flower- 
 ing plants. 
 
 ' ' See ! ' ' said the youth a little later on. He pointed 
 toward the roof of a near-by house. 
 
 "Chicken-coops!" exclaimed Joe joining in the 
 laugh. * * That 's the queerest place to raise chickens 
 I ever heard of. ' ' 
 
 "I can hear a mother hen clucking to her babies," 
 said Lucy, stopping to listen. "I wonder if those 
 dear little things must stay up there and not have 
 any ground to scratch in all their lives." 
 
 The guide nodded and smiled. 
 
 1 1 Yes, ' ' he said, ' ' and when they grow up they will 
 lay many eggs for the people of the city. Thousands 
 of chickens live here in this way. ' ' 
 
 As it was early in the day, the children had a 
 chance to see the milkwomen going from house to 
 house to sell their milk. They sat astride horses, 
 with big cans jostling at their sides. 
 
 Bread and vegetable pedlers, often on donkeys, 
 
 were also frequently met. So were the cooks of 
 
 many wealthy homes, who trotted along on foot, 
 
 carrying big baskets, on their way to market to buy 
 
 [257]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 supplies for the tables of their mistresses. These 
 work-people were dressed in cotton garments; the 
 women wore large, soft hats on their heads to protect 
 them from the sun. 
 
 "I have seen quite a number of negroes as well as 
 people of Spanish and Indian blood here in Lima," 
 said Miss Lee, as the party returned to the hotel. 
 "I wonder how negroes happened to come to this 
 part of South America.'* 
 
 "There were negroes up in La Paz, too," 'said 
 Joe. 
 
 "They were brought here as slaves during the 
 Spanish rule, ' ' replied Senhor Vasco. * ' Pizarro was 
 to blame for it. He wasn't satisfied with Indian 
 slaves to get the treasures of gold and silver and 
 diamonds for him. So he had shiploads of negroes 
 brought from Africa." 
 
 "What are we to do this afternoon, Papa!" The- 
 resa now asked. 
 
 "Take a nap, of course, to follow the fashion of 
 this city as well as that of our own Rio." Senhor 
 Vasco laughed in a teasing way. 
 
 "But what then!" The little girl was pouting. 
 
 "Afterward! Oh, yes; I know what will please 
 you all. Suppose we take a ride eastward in the 
 direction of the silver and copper mines. We won't 
 reach them, but we will have a chance to see the 
 plantations that lie beyond us, where sugar and cot- 
 ton are said to grow in abundance." 
 
 "Good! good!" cried the children; and Miss Lee 
 looked as delighted as they. 
 [258]
 
 Copyright by Underwood & Underwood, N. Y. 
 
 THIS PERUVIAN SILVER MINE IS A TRUE TREASURE CAVE
 
 PERU THE GOLDEN 
 
 So, later on in the day, the party started merrily 
 on their way. They passed fields of waving sugar 
 cane and stretches of cotton plants among which 
 Indian workmen, looking cool in their loose white 
 garments, were busily at work. The comfortable 
 houses of their masters could be seen surrounded by 
 trees and flower-beds. They also rode through a 
 little village where they saw groups of children of 
 mixed Indian and Spanish blood playing lazily under 
 the trees or swinging in hammocks. 
 
 "I wonder if they feel as hot as I do," said Lucy, 
 fanning herself as she spoke. 
 
 Pretty soon, the road took an upward turn, and 
 the air became cooler. 
 
 ' ' I can see some mud huts in that big field ahead 
 of us, ' ' said Carlos, breaking a long silence. 
 
 "They aren't much bigger than beehives," said 
 Joe. 
 
 "Or dog-houses," added Lucy. 
 
 ' ' Not a single one with windows or chimneys and 
 yet human beings like ourselves live in them," said 
 Senhor Vasco sadly. As he spoke, he motioned 
 toward a group of Indians in front of one of the 
 huts. The men and women had evidently just re- 
 turned from work in a near-by field. Four or five 
 children, nearly naked, were playing hide-and-seek 
 in and out of the hut. 
 
 As they rode on, Senhor Vasco pointed to the foot- 
 hills of the Andes ahead of them. Behind the hills 
 rose mountains beyond mountains, till the tops of 
 the farthest were lost in the clouds. On this hot 
 [259]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 October day, the travelers could see the snow on the 
 distant slopes, glistening in the sunlight. 
 
 "We are moving in a line with that steep railroad 
 over the Andes of which I have already told you,' 7 
 said Senhor Vasco; "one of the highest in the 
 world. " 
 
 "Yes, and you said we might feel worse if we took 
 that ride than when we were on the way to Lake 
 Titicaca," Lucy said with a merry laugh. "So. I'm 
 glad to go without it." 
 
 "But suppose" her good friend's eyes twinkled 
 "the train went on and on, after crossing the 
 mountains, ever eastward, till it reached the Atlan- 
 tic. That would mean we should travel through 
 Brazil and get hack to Kio in a short time. ' ' 
 
 Lucy's eyes were suddenly filled with longing. 
 The fact is, she was getting a wee bit homesick, 
 though she would not have admitted it for the world. 
 
 "Perhaps perhaps " she stumbled. 
 
 "But as the railroad is not finished, we can't get 
 home that way," laughed Senhor Vasco. "In the 
 meantime, we had better turn back toward Lima to 
 spend our last evening in the gay, rich city. ' ' 
 
 That night the children went to sleep almost as 
 soon as their heads touched the pillows, as they 
 were very tired after a long day 's sightseeing. 
 
 Several hours afterward it must have been mid- 
 night, for the lights of the city had gone out the 
 travelers were suddenly awakened. The beds in 
 which they lay were shaking violently; as they 
 sprang to their feet they found the floors also shak- 
 [2601
 
 PERU THE GOLDEN 
 
 ing. At the same time calls could be heard in the 
 halls outside, and the sound of people hurrying to 
 and fro. 
 
 * * Miss Lee ! Miss Lee ! ' ' cried two frightened little 
 girls outside her door. "Please, please let us in. 
 What is the matter?" 
 
 As Miss Lee let the little girls into her room, 
 which she had already lighted, her white face showed 
 she also was frightened. Already, however, the 
 shaking of the building had stopped. 
 
 "I don't know what is the trouble, my dears," she 
 said as calmly as she could. "At any rate, we had 
 better dress. Get your clothes and bring them in 
 here." 
 
 Just then Senhor Vasco's voice was heard in the 
 corridor outside. "Don't be afraid," he said. 
 * * There has been a slight earthquake, but everything 
 is all right now. If you look out of your window you 
 will see that the people who have run out-of-doors 
 in fright are already going quietly homeward. ' ' 
 
 There was no more sleep that night for the little 
 girls, however. As they lay, one on each side of 
 Miss Lee in her big bed, they thought with longing 
 of the dear folks in far away Eio. Lucy, especially, 
 had an uncomfortable lump of homesickness in her 
 throat, which she could not swallow. 
 
 [261]
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 EQUATOR-LAND 
 
 nPHAT was an adventure," declared Joe, as the 
 * party settled themselves in a steamer just start- 
 ing out from Callao and bound northward. 
 
 "One of that kind is enough for me," said Carlos. 
 "It seems queer that thousands and thousands of 
 people are contented to live in a city like Lima, 
 where there is danger every minute. They seem so 
 gay and careless about it, too." 
 
 Just then Lucy and Theresa came skipping along. 
 They were a little pale from loss of sleep, but quite 
 happy to be on the ocean once more. 
 
 "The captain has just been telling me more about 
 the riches of Peru," said Lucy. "He says that we 
 must not think of the rich gold and silver and copper 
 mines alone, but of the shiploads and shiploads of 
 guano that were sent in past years to other lands 
 from the Chincha and Lobos Islands. You know we 
 passed them as we sailed up the coast from Chile." 
 
 "I shouldn't like to live there," said Theresa 
 thoughtfully. "The captain told me there isn't any 
 grass, or anything green and pretty on a single 
 island just sand everywhere." 
 
 "But some people have to live there," said Senhor 
 [262]
 
 EQUATOR-LAND 
 
 Vasco, coming up behind the little girls. "They are 
 the ones who dig up the guano and load the ships 
 with it. They have plenty of company, however, in 
 the millions of pelicans and gulls that choose the 
 islands for their home. The manure of these birds 
 and dead seals and fish cast up on the shores, make 
 the guano that has enriched many of the farms in 
 distant countries." 
 
 "What a commotion we could make by dashing 
 into the midst of a big flock of pelicans as they set- 
 tled down for their night's sleep!" said Joe with a 
 laugh. 
 
 "You may be sure that mischievous boys would 
 not be allowed to land, ' ' repli ed Senhor Vasco mer- 
 rily. 
 
 Then, as he turned to join Miss Lee, who had 
 taken a shady seat in the stern, the children ran off 
 to chat with a young man with whom they had just 
 got acquainted. They had already learned that he 
 had been visiting friends in Lima, and was now re- 
 turning to his home in Ecuador, a cacao plantation 
 near the city of Quito. 
 
 "I think he must be Spanish," Joe told Lucy. 
 "He doesn't look as if he had any Indian blood like 
 so many of the people in this part of South Amer- 
 ica." 
 
 "I don't believe so either," was the reply. "I 
 like him ever so much," she went on. "Besides, he 
 can speak English. He said he learned it at the uni- 
 versity in Quito." 
 
 As the twins, with Carlos and Theresa, joined their 
 [263]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 new acquaintance, they lost no time in beginning a 
 lively chatter. 
 
 "I am sorry you are not going to stay in our coun- 
 try for a while," the young Spaniard told the chil- 
 dren. ' ' Then you could visit us on our plantation. ' ' 
 
 ''It's too bad in some ways," said Joe, trying to 
 be honest and yet polite at the same time. He was 
 thinking of the great heat. Senhor Vasco had al- 
 ready explained that the word Ecuador means 
 equator and that, in fact, the equator passes directly 
 through it. 
 
 "But we will spend several hours at Guayaquil 
 while the ship unloads some of its cargo," said Car- 
 los. "We can go on shore and go about the city." 
 
 "Ah! but Guayaquil is close to the coast, only a 
 little way up the Guayas River. It is hot and damp 
 and unhealthf ul there. Even if you follow the river 
 inland, it is still low for a long time. When the heavy 
 rains fall, that river and others also in the coast 
 lands overflow their banks so far that whole villages 
 are nearly drowned. The people have to live up- 
 stairs in their homes, and go in boats from house to 
 house." 
 
 ' ' And do their shopping in rooms over the regular 
 stores, I suppose. How funny!" said Lucy laugh- 
 ing. 
 
 "Yes, but my home near Quito is far different. 
 Imagine yourselves going with us there in a train 
 from Guayaquil. As we leave the coast-land behind 
 us, we still get glimpses of villages where many of 
 the houses are made of bamboo, and the peons, as 
 [2641
 
 EQUATOR-LAND 
 
 we call the working people, are very poor. Yet they 
 have plenty of food. They raise rice easily in the 
 wet fields, as well as yams and yucca. There are 
 many banana trees to give them fruit. Besides, they 
 get dried beef, which is cheap, and they like it 
 much." 
 
 " Yucca, yucca?" repeated Joe questioningly. 
 
 "Why, Joe, don't you remember we had yucca for 
 dinner at Lima f ' ' said Lucy. ' ' It tasted a little like 
 potatoes, only we didn't like it as well." 
 
 4 * We keep on riding, ' ' said the young man, pleased 
 that his listeners seemed glad to hear about his coun- 
 try, "and we pass large cacao and coffee planta- 
 tions." 
 
 ' * Joe and I visited a cacao plantation on the bank 
 of the Amazon," broke in Carlos. 
 
 1 1 On we go, higher and higher now, ' ' continued the 
 youth, "till we reach a mountain pass through which 
 we travel. The air is cool and pleasant. When we 
 get to the other side of the mountains we find our- 
 selves in the high, beautiful valley that runs through 
 our country between the ranges of the Andes. Here 
 lies my lovely home. How glad I shall be to see it 
 again I 
 
 "We have a large farm where wheat and barley 
 and many vegetables grow, Oh, so fast! And we 
 have big herds of cattle which the peons, mostly In- 
 dians, care for. And away in the east we can always 
 see the grand mountains, some of them volcanoes, 
 with smoke rising to mix with the clouds. Ah, it is 
 a beautiful country!" 
 
 [265]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 The young man closed his eyes in thought for a 
 moment. Then he continued, "I attend the univer- 
 sity at Quito. By and by, I hope to become a priest. 
 There are many priests in the city, and many con- 
 vents and churches, besides a beautiful cathedral. 
 I love Quito. Its houses are of stone or brick cov- 
 ered with stucco ; the red-tiled roofs make them look 
 very pretty. Ah ! and not far away is Chimborazo, 
 one of the noblest of mountain peaks. ' ' 
 
 "Are there many Indians in Quito?" Joe now 
 asked. 
 
 "Indeed, yes," was the answer. "Nearly three- 
 fourths of the people in the whole country are In- 
 dians. Most of them are lazy, stupid creatures. 
 Sometimes fierce-looking ones arrive in the city. 
 They come from the forests in the east and they 
 bring the skins of wild animals to sell. These hunters 
 are almost wild themselves." 
 
 Time flew so fast with their new acquaintance that 
 the children were surprised when they found them- 
 selves entering the harbor of Guayaquil. 
 
 "Our ship will stop only a few hours at this port," 
 the captain had told Senhor Vasco. 
 
 "Then, as it is so hot, I would rather remain on 
 board," said Miss Lee. 
 
 "But we can go ashore for a little while, can't 
 we?" asked Carlos anxiously. 
 
 "So we can say afterward that we really visited 
 Ecuador," added Joe. 
 
 "Yes, we will go, but I think you will be satisfied 
 to come back to the ship in a very short time." As 
 [266]
 
 EQUATOR-LAND 
 
 Senhor Vasco spoke, he wiped off the perspiration 
 that was streaming down his face. 
 
 By this time the ship had come to a standstill and 
 the air was hot and heavy. 
 
 "I don't believe the people here need furnaces in 
 their houses," said Lucy, laughing, as she seated 
 herself in a small boat which was to take the party 
 to the landing. 
 
 "Nor many clothes," said Joe. He had already 
 noticed that the boatman was naked from the waist 
 up. 
 
 When the party reached the shore, they found 
 Lucy's guess was a good one. There was not a 
 chimney in sight. Moreover, many a house had no 
 windows; these would be useless, because, if they 
 were closed, they would shut out the air. So, instead, 
 there were holes here and there in the walls, through 
 which light as well as air could enter. 
 
 "What did I tell you?" said Joe, pointing to the 
 half-naked, dark-skinned children playing in the 
 streets. 
 
 "Ugh! it isn't nice here a bit!" pouted Lucy in 
 disgust. "It doesn't smell nice either." She 
 pointed to a pile of rotting fruit near a stand where 
 a woman was selling pineapples and bananas; she 
 had probably been sorting them over, and thrown 
 the bad ones into the street. 
 
 ' ' Such things as that make the city a sickly one, ' ' 
 said Senhor Vasco. ' ' However, we will take a short 
 ride to get a few of the sights of this place, since it 
 [267]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 is an important port on this coast of South America. 
 Then we will be glad enough to join Miss Lee." 
 
 A carriage was quickly hailed. As the children 
 rode along, they passed store after store where the 
 wares were spread out on counters open to the street, 
 and they could see the gay colors and odd patterns 
 of the goods. At night, however, the store fronts 
 would be closed in. 
 
 "The women here wear black dresses, and have 
 black shawls over their shoulders like those we no- 
 ticed in Peru," remarked Lucy. 
 
 "But not the Indian women," Theresa replied 
 quickly. ' * They wear the gayest colors, and their big 
 straw hats are sensible, I think, as they shade their 
 faces from the sunlight." 
 
 "I pity those poor men," broke in Carlos. "See 
 what heavy loads they carry on their backs. ' ' 
 
 Just then Joe burst out laughing. ' * That is some- 
 thing new, ' ' he said, as soon as he was able to speak. 
 He had discovered two donkeys laden with panniers 
 filled with vegetables. The animals' legs were cov- 
 ered with trousers ! 
 
 "Good reason for it!" said Senhor Vasco, "as 
 well as for their cotton waist-bands. The poor 
 beasties are thus protected against the swarms of 
 flies and gnats that hover about them. I don't en- 
 joy them myself, to say the least." 
 
 Brushing away the troublesome insects that had 
 
 already almost destroyed his patience, Senhor Vasno 
 
 gave directions to the driver to hurry back to the 
 
 wharf. A half-hour later the party reached the 
 
 [268]
 
 EQUATOR-LAND 
 
 steamer to find Miss Lee looking comfortable and 
 dainty in a fresh white dress, sitting under an awn- 
 ing and sipping lemonade. 
 
 When she had heard the account of the visit on 
 shore, she said with a smile, "I did a little sight- 
 seeing myself while you were away. I went below 
 decks to see the cows and sheep that furnish us pas- 
 sengers with fresh meat. One poor little lamb 
 bleated so pitifully, I was sorry for it. No doubt it 
 had just lost its mother. After that I spent some 
 time watching the chickens and geese in their coops. 
 They kept sticking their heads out through the slats 
 as if they would like to join me, while one big rooster 
 crowed lustily.'* 
 
 * ' Maybe we will have him for dinner to-morrow, ' ' 
 said Joe. ''Poor old fellow, I'm sorry for him, but 
 just now I feel hungry enough for " 
 
 " the good dinner the bell is now ringing for," 
 said Senhor Vasco, finishing the sentence with a 
 laugh. 
 
 Late that afternoon, as the travelers steamed away 
 from the shores of Ecuador, they agreed that, in re- 
 membering it afterward, they would not hold fast 
 the picture of hot, low Guayaquil, but rather of the 
 rich valleys among the mountains where their recent 
 acquaintance had his home. 
 
 [269]
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 THE CAPTAIN'S STORY 
 
 T 'VE sailed this ocean many a long year," the cap- 
 * tain told our travelers as they steamed across the 
 equator and still northward over the deep blue 
 waters of the Pacific. "But I don't believe," he 
 added with a cheery laugh, "I ever carried twins 
 before. Seems as if I ought to celebrate some way 
 or other." 
 
 "I know what tell us a story," suggested Joe. 
 "That is, if you can spare the time." 
 
 The old man's face lighted up. "A story!" he 
 asked. "What about!" 
 
 "About Colombia, the country we are bound for 
 now, ' ' said Joe promptly. ' ' We aren 't going to stop 
 there. Senhor Vasco says it's too hot and we haven't 
 time. So we want to know all about it we can. Did 
 you ever travel through the country!" 
 
 "Bless you, child, I was born there. It's a beauti- 
 ful country, too, with the Andes split up into three 
 ranges, and the lovely valleys between. In those 
 rich valleys, you can find coffee plantations, and wide 
 stretches of sugar cane and tobacco, and cacao or- 
 chards without number. And fruit! Why, my lad, 
 I feasted on good things all my life till I ran off to 
 [270]
 
 THE CAPTAIN'S STORY 
 
 sea. Such oranges as I used to pick! Sweet and 
 juicy ! Yum, yum ! ' ' The old man smacked his lips 
 at thought of his boyhood days. 
 
 "And the mountains!" he continued. "Gold in 
 plenty there still, after centuries of mining! Dia- 
 monds mixed with the gold in some places! Why, 
 my dear children, men in Colombia from all parts of 
 the world are busy in our mines. Yet few people 
 I've met on the seas have half an idea of what a 
 grand republic Colombia is. We have to thank the 
 brave Bolivar that it is free," he added half to him- 
 self. 
 
 Then he went on: "We are bound now, as you 
 know, for Buenaventura. There I will take on a 
 cargo of cacao. There isn't much for you to see at 
 the port where we shall stop plenty of palms and 
 bamboos, of course, because we shall still be in the 
 tropics, and Indians paddling about in the harbor. 
 But if we had time, I'd like to take you little folks 
 up to my old home in the Cauca valley. It's one of 
 the healthiest spots in the world. We'd climb over 
 the coast range on mules, unless you preferred to 
 make the first part of the journey on the narrow- 
 gage railroad. Higher and higher we'd go, till all 
 at once we 'd see a picture you would never forget 
 the valley I love so well, spread out on either side the 
 banks of the Cauca River. There you would look 
 upon coffee plantations and cacao orchards at their 
 best. So fresh and lovely the air is up there, you 
 would never think of being in the tropics at all. ' ' 
 
 With the last words, the captain suddenly jumped 
 [271]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 up. So did the children who fled in haste to the 
 cabin. In their interest in the story, they had not 
 noticed that the sky had clouded over. Now, with- 
 out warning as it seemed, rain was falling in a per- 
 fect deluge sheets of it striking the deck and roll- 
 ing along the floor in big streams. 
 
 By this time, however, our travelers had become 
 used to such surprises " gushers" as the captain 
 called these sudden down-pourings. So they laughed 
 and frolicked inside till the sun shone out once more. 
 Then they sought the captain, begging him to "please 
 tell a little bit more about Colombia. ' ? 
 
 The good-natured old man needed no urging, and 
 as soon as he could leave his office, he joined them in 
 a cosy corner of the deck. 
 
 "Weil, well, where was II" he began. "Oh, yes, 
 I have it we were visiting the Cauca valley, where 
 you found the folks so kind and helpful. So there 
 are good reasons for the people of foreign countries 
 liking them. Maybe you thought it queer, too, when 
 they were nearly all Indians, or else of the mixed 
 Indian and Spanish blood. 
 
 "But now we'll leave the valley and visit Bogota, 
 the first city I ever saw, one of the highest in the 
 world and the capital of my country. 
 
 "First then, we'll take a boat and sail down the 
 Cauca Kiver, day after day, till we reach the big 
 Magdalena River. We keep on sailing till we come 
 to Honda, a small town on the Magdalena. 
 
 "And now we leave the boat and ride on the backs 
 of mules for two whole days. You get pretty tired, 
 [272]
 
 THE CAPTAIN'S STORY 
 
 for the way is steep and rooky; but when the city 
 comes into sight with its lovely park, and its street- 
 cars to whisk you about, and its soldiers drilling at 
 early morning, you are glad you are here. 
 
 " Besides, in the good air, you are soon refreshed 
 after your long journey. You enjoy visiting the 
 shops, and watching the children with their black- 
 gowned mothers buying goods that have been 
 brought here from distant countries. The houses, 
 too, built Spanish fashion, around courtyards, inter- 
 est you. 
 
 "But if you are like me, you enjoy, best of all, 
 the beautiful waterfall not far from the city, where 
 the river leaps over a precipice that is four hundred 
 and seventy-five feet high. This waterfall was held 
 sacred by the Indians of the long ago. They be- 
 lieved that a wonderful woman, the mother of all 
 human beings, made this waterfall by a stroke of her 
 magic wand. She did it to carry off the water when 
 her people were in danger from a deluge. 
 
 ' ' Where had this beautiful woman come from, you 
 may ask. ' From a place of light, ' the red man would 
 have told you, when all the rest of the world was in 
 darkness. The thunder rolled and lightning flashed 
 as she appeared, bearing in her arms a little boy who 
 was to grow up and become her husband." 
 
 As the captain looked down into the bright faces 
 of the children, his own grew sad. "I am think- 
 ing," he said, "about the time when the Spaniards 
 first appeared in the country bringing slavery or 
 death to most of the poor Chibchas, as the chief 
 [273]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 tribe of Indians they found here was called. Poor 
 creatures ! Even their temples were destroyed. 
 
 "I must not forget to tell you," he went on, "that 
 from Honda you can sail northward on and on 
 through the Magdalena River till you reach its 
 mouth. Then behold! the Caribbean Sea would lie 
 before your eyes. I had that ride once. How I en- 
 joyed it ! Nobody could help doing so, because the 
 river flows through such a beautiful country. And 
 what, I'd like to know, would Colombia do without 
 it? Why, a big share of the products raised there 
 are carried on it up to the northern coast, to be sent 
 from there to other lands. 
 
 "Some of these products I haven't mentioned yet 
 vegetable ivory, for instance, and bananas. Then, 
 too, there are the famous 'Panama' hats that sell in 
 the United States like 'hot cakes,' as you North 
 Americans would say." The old man looked smil- 
 ingly at the twins as he spoke. 
 
 "Vegetable ivory!" repeated Carlos thoughtfully. 
 1 * Oh, yes ; I 've heard of it. Father once told me that 
 his chess men were made of vegetable ivory. But I 
 didn't think to ask him what it comes from. Please 
 tell us about it." 
 
 "It conies from a certain kind of palm-tree that 
 grows freely in Colombia; in Peru, too, for that mat- 
 ter," replied the captain. "The fruit of the tree is 
 as big as a man's head, and is filled with three-sided 
 nuts about the size of hens' eggs. The kernels are 
 white and hard like the ivory of elephants ' tusks, so 
 [274]
 
 THE CAPTAIN'S STORY 
 
 they can be used in making buttons and all sorts of 
 trinkets." 
 
 "And now will you tell us what your people use in 
 making 'Panama' hats?" asked Lucy. "I've had 
 several of them ; they are so light and pretty, I like 
 them ever so much. ' ' 
 
 "All of you say jipi japa," was the answer. 
 
 The children laughingly repeated the word. 
 
 "That's it. I thought maybe it would be hard for 
 you to pronounce it, and I don't want you to forget. 
 Well, then, listen. In my country there grows a 
 screw-pine tree we call the jipi japa ; its leaves are 
 picked before they are fully opened, after which the 
 soft parts are removed. The fiber that is left is 
 soaked till it is pliable. Then it is woven into what 
 you have probably called * Panama straw. ' The best 
 hats are made from single leaves. But there 1 I 
 can 't stop another minute. Look ahead of you ! ' ' 
 
 With these words the captain hurried away, as the 
 ship was fast nearing port. 
 
 ' ' That trip on the Magdalena must be pleasant, ' ' 
 Carlos said to the other children. ' ' But just now it 
 would be a hot one. I'm glad, for one, that we are 
 going to keep to this good ship and go around the 
 corner of South America by way of the Bridge of 
 Water." 
 
 ' * So say we all of us ! " cried Joe. 
 
 [275]
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 THE BRIDGE OF WATER 
 
 T 'M glad we didn't have a long stop. It's so much 
 * cooler when we keep sailing," said Lucy, as the 
 ship speeded away from Buenaventura. 
 
 "So am I," agreed Theresa; "and there really 
 wasn't much to see there just palms and bamboos, 
 with glimpses of thatched huts and red-tiled houses 
 under the trees." 
 
 "We've seen so many of them at other places 
 where we've stopped, they didn't give us anything 
 new to think about," said Miss Lee. "So I am as 
 glad as you that we are on our way to something 
 very, very different." 
 
 "Hurrah for the Bridge of Water!" shouted Joe. 
 "And hurrah again for our own glorious United 
 States that built it!" 
 
 "It's all right to feel as you do, Joe," said Carlos. 
 ' ' You have a right to be proud. I want to see it as 
 much as you do." 
 
 All of them, in fact, were now getting impatient to 
 have the experience of passing through the wonder- 
 ful canal. So when at last the city of Panama came 
 into sight, Senhor Vasco and Miss Lee were almost 
 as excited as the children. 
 
 [276]
 
 THE BRIDGE OF WATER 
 
 " Panama the Golden!" cried one after another, 
 thinking of the city as it stood in the long ago when 
 first built by the Spaniards. It must have been very 
 beautiful then with its grand churches, its palaces of 
 stone, and its avenues and palm-trees. 
 
 "On the summit of a near-by mountain," said 
 Senhor Vasco, "Balboa first looked upon the Pacific. 
 He had already sailed across the Atlantic; and now, 
 when he discovered that only a narrow neck of land 
 divided it from another vast ocean, he was over- 
 joyed. 
 
 ' * He did not live to see all the dreams of that day 
 carried out. But, before he died, he sailed on the 
 Pacific in a ship whose parts had been carried over 
 the isthmus and put together on the other side. 
 
 "After him came other Spaniards, who built a 
 road from one side to the other. Then, without need 
 of a long and dangerous voyage around Cape Horn, 
 they could reach Peru, where treasures of gold and 
 silver had been discovered. Little did these Span- 
 iards dream of the canal that was yet to be. ' ' 
 
 As the ship made her way past the breakwater 
 that stretched for three miles out into the Bay of 
 Panama, our travelers took note of the forts pro- 
 tecting the entrance into the canal ; but they did not 
 actually enter it till they reached Balboa. 
 
 "Balboa must be a busy place,'' remarked Senhor 
 Vasco, as he looked at the machine shops, wharves, 
 and warehouses. "It cost twenty million dollars to 
 fit it up. But then, everything that ships may need 
 must be on hand for them here. ' ' 
 [277]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 ' ' And now for a great adventure ! ' ' said Joe, draw- 
 ing a long breath. As he spoke, the ship was already 
 entering the first of three water stairways, or locks. 
 
 Slowly the gates had opened; when the ship had 
 passed through, the throbbing of her engine stopped. 
 There was no work for her now; this would all be 
 done by four electric locomotives on the guide wall 
 of the canal. They were already being attached to 
 the ship's side. 
 
 "What sport!" cried Joe. "It seems as if we 
 were in a big, big tank." 
 
 Senhor Vasco nodded. * ' Watch ! " he said. 
 
 The ship was being slowly lifted higher and higher 
 by the inrush of water flowing into the lock. 
 
 "This is like what used to happen to one of my 
 play boats at home when I sailed it in the bathtub 
 and kept letting in more water," said Joe. 
 
 But the others were too busy watching to talk. 
 
 When the ship had risen to the level of the next 
 lock, its gates opened as the first ones had done. It 
 was carried through in the same way as before, till 
 the third lock was reached and the process was again 
 repeated. 
 
 Then, getting up steam once more, the ship sailed 
 into the deep channel now called Gaillard Cut so 
 long known as Culebra Cut. 
 
 As it moved on, Senhor Vasco told of the time 
 and work and cost of this wonderful channel. 
 
 "Nine miles long," he said, "with a curve at every 
 mile ; and every inch of the way it has been cut out 
 of solid rock ! ' ' 
 
 [278]
 
 THE BRIDGE OF WATER 
 
 "I guess a good pile of dynamite was exploded 
 before it was finished," said Joe. 
 
 Every one laughed. 
 
 "A good guess, Joe," said the Senhor. " Almost 
 thirty thousand tons were used." 
 
 ''What comes next?" asked Miss Lee after a 
 while. 
 
 "We shall soon enter Gatun Lake, which was made 
 by damming up the Chagres River. This, too, was a 
 great undertaking. Look! we are about to enter it 
 now. We shall have a pleasant ride through it for 
 twenty-four miles. ' ' 
 
 "It seems like any other big lovely lake," said 
 Theresa, as they sailed along. "It is hard to believe 
 that it has been made by damming up a river." 
 
 "I'd like to stop off and explore this country, 
 after paying a visit to the people whom the United 
 States hires to stay on the borders to take care of 
 it," said Carlos thoughtfully. 
 
 "You would find iguanas and parrots enough in 
 the forests to make you think of the Amazon," said 
 a voice behind his shoulder ; " to say nothing of alli- 
 gators in the muddy streams, and rice fields and 
 banana groves. ' ' The captain had come up unawares 
 and caught the lad 's words. 
 
 "Get ready for some more stairs," said the good- 
 natured man, as he hurried away. 
 
 The ship was already nearing the end of the lake, 
 and would soon make its way down through three 
 locks built like those it had first entered. 
 
 "I was so excited at the beginning," said Joe as 
 [279]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 the gates opened, "I hardly noticed that the locks 
 are in pairs, and another ship was going through the 
 ones alongside of ours, back to the Pacific. ' ' 
 
 "Three sets of twins, like you and Lucy," sug- 
 gested Miss Lee. "Only these are of water, while 
 you are of very lively flesh and blood. ' ' The young 
 girl pinched Joe's cheek mischievously as she spoke. 
 
 "Sunset!" exclaimed Lucy. "How fast the time 
 has gone since we entered the canal!" 
 
 ' ' The captain told me the passage would take'about 
 ten hours, ' ' said Senhor Vasco. ' ' The time is almost 
 up; and ahead of us, if I am not mistaken, is the 
 city of Colon." 
 
 [280]
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 THE BEST SURPRISE OF ALL, 
 
 T 'M glad we went ashore at Colon,'* said Lucy. 
 * "It's so different from any other place we have 
 visited. ' ' 
 
 "I should say so, with its Chinamen and negroes, 
 as well as Indians and Colombians and Americans," 
 said Joe. 
 
 "And its streets shaded by cocoa palms," added 
 Carlos. "I shouldn't care to be hit by a big cocoa- 
 nut when out taking a walk through the town." 
 
 ' ' Nor I, ' ' said Lucy. ' ' But come, let 's go and get 
 acquainted with that girl and her brother who 
 boarded the boat at Colon. They look real nice, and 
 I think they are English. I can see them up in the 
 bow." 
 
 A half-hour later the children from Rio and the 
 two young strangers were talking as freely together 
 as if they had known each other for years. 
 
 "When we get to the island of Trinidad," Joe 
 told his new acquaintances, "we have to say good-by 
 to this ship, as it is bound for New York. We are 
 going back to Rio, so we have to take another 
 steamer there." 
 
 "Can't you stay a while and visit us? Our home 
 [281]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 is in Trinidad, ' ' said the English lad, who had intro- 
 duced himself as Arthur Gregory. 
 
 "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid not," Joe answered. 
 1 'We would also like to go over to the mainland, and 
 see a little of Venezuela, but Senhor Vasco hasn't 
 decided about it yet." 
 
 "Oh, you must go there," said Marian, Arthur's 
 sister. ' ' It 's a big and very important country. My 
 brother and I have traveled all over it, and sailed 
 for miles and miles on the Orinoco. That's one of 
 the three big rivers of South America, you know; 
 but the water isn't a bit pretty it's yellow and thick 
 with mud. On each side are broad meadows every- 
 body calls them llanos and millions of cattle feed 
 there." 
 
 "The Orinoco looks very different from the Am- 
 azon, then, ' ' said Carlos. ' ' The banks of the Amazon 
 are lined a good deal of the way with forests." 
 
 "I remember what the captain of the Amazon 
 steamer told us," said Joe. "It was this: if we 
 should sail up as far as the Eio Negro, and then from 
 there into another stream called the Cassiquiare, we 
 could reach the Orinoco. I'd like to take such a trip 
 in a canoe." 
 
 "After that you might explore almost all Vene- 
 zuela with your canoe," said Marian. "There are 
 about a thousand streams in the country. ' ' 
 
 "I've never visited the city of Venice, but I've 
 
 seen pictures of it," said Arthur, "so I think the 
 
 Spanish explorers hit on a good name for Venezuela, 
 
 for the word means Little Venice. It came about in 
 
 [2821
 
 THE BEST SURPRISE OF ALL 
 
 this way : they sailed from the bay outside into Lake 
 Maracaibo, and found the natives living in houses 
 built over the water just as the people do in Venice." 
 
 "But don't think of Venezuela as nothing but 
 plains with cattle feeding on them," said Marian. 
 "There are also mountains in which many of the 
 streams rise, and lovely valleys with plantations of 
 cotton and coffee and tobacco. Yes, and along the 
 coast my brother and I have visited beautiful cacao 
 orchards that furnish some of the best chocolate in 
 the world." 
 
 "I wish you Eio children could take the trip to 
 Caracas, at any rate," said Arthur later on. The 
 twins had been describing the sights of New York, 
 and Carlos and his sister had told of their beautiful 
 home in Eio. 
 
 "Of course, it isn't a wonderful city," Arthur 
 went on, "but it is a pretty one and the air is fine. 
 It is in a beautiful valley, six miles back from the 
 coast and over a half mile above the sea. Mountains 
 stand guard around it. The houses are painted all 
 sorts of bright colors. It has a university, and elec- 
 tric lights and street-cars and cement sidewalks, and 
 lovely trees and gardens " 
 
 "And statues of two of the greatest heroes in the 
 world," broke in Marian. 
 
 "Which ones?" asked Joe eagerly. 
 
 "What should they be but those of George Wash- 
 ington and Simon Bolivar?" demanded Arthur. 
 
 "Of course," said Joe, quite satisfied. Then he 
 [283]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 continued, "And Bolivar helped Venezuela as well 
 as other countries I 've heard about. ' ' 
 
 "Yes, he started the movement that brought free- 
 dom from Spanish rule; so he is held in greatest 
 honor by the people. Next in their hearts comes 
 Washington. I must tell you," the English lad went 
 on, looking at Joe and Lucy, "how much they ad- 
 mire your country. Father says the United States 
 has no better friend in the world. " 
 
 The twins smiled with delight at this praise of 
 their native land. 
 
 "I'd like to visit Caracas," said Theresa. "But 
 most of all, I wish I could see the immense water- 
 lilies that, I have read, grow in some of the lakes in 
 the country. The biggest of them weigh more than 
 three pounds. The petals are milky-white outside, 
 and rose-colored inside, while the centers are deep 
 violet." 
 
 "I have always wanted to see the strange fish that 
 frightened Bolivar," said Arthur with a laugh. 
 ' * But I never did. The story goes that when one of 
 them jumped into the boat when he was paddling 
 down a stream in the wilderness, he said to his com- 
 panions: 'Let us turn back. Even the fish in this 
 country are savage.' " 
 
 "If he said that, he had probably met some savage 
 Indians," said Carlos. 
 
 "Of course; and there are savage ones in some 
 parts of the country still," replied Arthur. "But 
 not as many," he went on, "as in the neighboring 
 Guianas." 
 
 [284]
 
 THE BEST SURPRISE OF ALL 
 
 "Guiana is one more place I wish we could visit, 
 and the last one," said Joe. "Then I'd feel as if I 
 knew South America pretty well." 
 
 "You might not care to go far from the coast, 
 after you had met some of the wild Indians and 
 negroes of the inland country." 
 
 "Wild negroes there!" exclaimed Lucy. 
 
 "Yes, and they live in almost as savage a way as 
 the Indians. Their grandparents were probably run- 
 away slaves brought here a long time ago for the 
 English and Dutch settlers. Guiana isn't a republic ; 
 it is split up into three provinces. Great Britain 
 owns one, Holland another, and France the third. 
 
 "I've been over to Georgetown, the capital of Brit- 
 ish Guiana. It doesn't look a bit Spanish, like the 
 towns of Venezuela. The buildings are higher, and 
 many of them are built up on piles, because the 
 water flows into the streets during the rainy season. 
 
 "There are good stores and pretty gardens there, 
 and sugar plantations nearby. But the people! 
 They have come there from all parts of the world 
 Chinese and Hindus, English and Portuguese, civ- 
 ilized Indians and negroes. And they dress in so 
 many queer ways the Chinamen with their long 
 queues, the Hindus in their turbans, the negroes in 
 gay colors and loads of jewelry! Oh, it is great 
 sport to watch them." 
 
 "When I was five years old, I went to the capital 
 
 of Dutch Guiana with Father," said Marian, who 
 
 had been watching for a chance to tell more of her 
 
 own experiences. "It is a queer little town. The 
 
 [285]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 people speak Dutch, and the houses look Dutch, so 
 it is different as can be from any other place in 
 South America. Even the ship that took us there 
 belonged to Holland, and the captain was a jolly, 
 round-faced little Dutchman. ' ' 
 
 1 'We both took a trip to Cayenne, the capital of 
 French Guiana," said Arthur. "It stands on an 
 island close to the mainland. Many of the people 
 there are French. Negroes do most of the hard 
 work in the gold mines of the country." 
 
 'What are the principal products of British and 
 Dutch Guiana?" asked Joe. 
 
 "Sugar and rice. Nearly all the country is low 
 and damp and hot. I wouldn't care to live there. 
 Yet sugar cane grows so well that there are several 
 crops a year. But look! That must be Trinidad 
 showing up ahead of us. How short the trip has 
 seemed with you to talk to !" 
 
 Before the Kio children could answer, Arthur and 
 his sister went hurrying off to join their father. 
 
 "What nice friends we have made since we left 
 home!" said Theresa. "I'm sorry they don't live 
 in Bio every one of them." 
 
 "So am I," said Joe, "but see here!" The boy 
 spoke in a deep mysterious voice. "I've been want- 
 ing to tell you something all the morning. Senhor 
 Vasco and Miss Lee have been acting as though they 
 had a secret. Twice I've come upon them when they 
 were talking in low tones, and they broke off sud- 
 denly as soon as I drew near. They smiled each 
 time, as if they knew something pretty good." 
 [286]
 
 THE BEST SURPRISE OF ALL 
 
 "Perhaps it's about a trip to Caracas," sug- 
 gested Carlos. * * You know Father wouldn 't say out- 
 right whether we are to go there or not." 
 
 ' l At any rate, we must get ready to land. We are 
 in the harbor already. Hurry! hurry!" cried Joe 
 excitedly. "There's Miss Lee now. She's beckon- 
 ing to us to get ready." 
 
 The children dashed away to their staterooms. A 
 few minutes afterward they were standing on the 
 side of the ship toward shore, watching for the gang- 
 plank to be put out. Senhor Vasco, and Miss Lee, 
 whose face was unusually flushed, were beside them. 
 Suddenly, these two, to the children's surprise, be- 
 gan to wave their handkerchiefs. Whom could they 
 know on this island so far from home? 
 
 Whom indeed? Did they see or were the twins 
 dreaming the faces of their father and mother 
 among the strangers gathered on the wharves ? 
 
 "Mummie! Daddie!" shouted Joe. Lucy, who 
 was too delighted for words, squeezed Theresa's 
 hand so tightly that the little girl cried out in the 
 midst of a happy laugh. 
 
 What a joyous meeting that was, as soon as the 
 gang-plank was safely fastened, and Joe and Lucy 
 rushed over into their parents ' loving arms ! 
 
 "I found I just couldn't wait for you to get back 
 to Eio," said Mrs. Grayson, hugging first one, then 
 the other, of the twins; "and so and so your fa- 
 ther said it would do us both good to take an ocean 
 trip up to Trinidad to meet you." 
 
 "Senhor Vasco, you must have known about it!" 
 [287]
 
 TWIN TRAVELERS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 cried Joe, turning to his good friend, whose face 
 was aglow with pleasure. 
 
 4 'Ever since we reached Colombia," was the smil- 
 ing answer. "That was why we made haste to get 
 on to Trinidad. It would never have done to keep 
 your father and mother waiting. * ' 
 
 "But it was hard work to hold the secret so long," 
 said Miss Lee. 
 
 "How glad I am that we are all together again!" 
 Lucy sighed with delight as she looked first into her 
 parents' happy faces, then at her brother and the 
 good friends about her. 
 
 "This last one is the best adventure of all," de- 
 clared Joe with great seriousness. 
 
 And at his words all joined in a merry laugh. 
 
 THE END 
 
 [288]
 
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