It was time to arrive. Extreme lassitude made it impossible for Mrs. Weldon to continue any longer a journey made under such painful conditions. Her little boy, during the fits of fever, very pale during the intermissions, was pitiable to see. His mother extremely anxious, had not been willing to leave even in the care of the good Nan. She held him, half-lying, in her arms.  
Yes, it was time to arrive. But, to trust to the American, on the very evening of this day which was breaking—the evening of the 18th of April, the little troop should finally reach the shelter of the "hacienda" of San Felice.
 
Twelve days' journey for a woman, twelve nights passed in the open air; it was enough to overwhelm Mrs. Weldon, energetic as she was. But, for a child, it was worse, and the sight of little Jack sick, and without the most ordinary cares, had sufficed to crush her.
 
Dick Sand, Nan, Tom, and his companions had supported the of the journey better.
 
Their provisions, although they were commencing to get , had not become injured, and their condition was satisfactory.
 
As for Harris, he seemed made for the difficulties of these long journeys across the forests, and it did not appear that could affect him. Only, in proportion as he neared the farm, Dick Sand observed that he was more and less frank in behavior than before. The contrary would have been more natural. This was, at least, the opinion of the young , who had now become more than suspicious of the American. And meanwhile, what interest could Harris have in deceiving them? Dick Sand could not have explained it, but he watched their guide more closely.
 
The American probably felt himself suspected by Dick Sand, and, no doubt, it was this mistrust which made him still more taciturn with "his young friend."
 
The march had been resumed.
 
In the forest, less thick, the trees were in groups, and no longer formed impenetrable masses. Was it, then, the true pampas of which Harris had spoken?
 
During the first hours of the day, no accident happened to the anxieties that Dick Sand felt. Only two facts were observed by him. Perhaps they were not very important, but in these actual , no detail could be neglected.
 
It was the behavior of Dingo which, above all, attracted more especially the young man's attention.
 
In fact the dog, which, during all this journey, had seemed to be following a , became quite different, and that almost suddenly. Until then, his nose to the ground, generally smelling the herbs or the , he either kept quiet, or he made a sort of sad, barking noise, like an expression of grief or of regret.
 
Now, on this day, the barking of the singular animal became like bursts, sometimes furious, such as they were when Negoro appeared on the deck of the "Pilgrim." A suspicion crossed suddenly Dick Sand's mind, and it was confirmed by Tom, who said to him:
 
"How very singular, Mr. Dick! Dingo no longer smells the ground as he did yesterday! His nose is in the air, he is , his hair stands up! One would think he in the distance——"
 
"Negoro, is it not so?" replied Dick Sand, who seized the old black's arm, and signed to him to speak in a low voice.
 
"Negoro, Mr. Dick! May it not be that he has followed our steps?"
 
"Yes, Tom; and that at this moment even he may not be very far from us."
 
"But why?" said Tom.
 
"Either Negoro does not know this country," went on Dick Sand, "and then he would have every interest in not losing sight of us——"
 
"Or?" said Tom, who anxiously regarded the novice.
 
"Or," replied Dick Sand, "he does know it, and then he——"
 
"But how should Negoro know this country? He has never come here!"
 
"Has he never been here?" murmured Dick Sand.
 
"It is an incontestable fact that Dingo acts as if this man whom he were near us!"
 
Then, interrupting himself to call the dog, which, after some , came to him:
 
"Eh!" said he; "Negoro! Negoro!"
 
A furious barking was Dingo's reply. This name had its usual effect upon him, and he forward, as if Negoro had been hidden behind some .
 
Harris had witnessed all this scene. With his lips a little , he approached the novice.
 
"What did you ask Dingo then?" said he.
 
"Oh, not much, Mr. Harris," replied old Tom, jokingly. "We asked him for news of the ship-companion whom we have lost!"
 
"Ah!" said the American, "the , the ship's cook of whom you have already spoken to me?"
 
"Yes." replied Tom. "One would say, to hear Dingo, that Negoro is in the vicinity."
 
"How could he get as far as this?" replied Harris.
 
"He never was in this country that I know of; at least, he it from us," replied Tom.
 
"It would be astonishing," said Harris. "But, if you wish, we will beat these . It is possible that this poor devil has need of help; that he is in ."
 
"It is useless, Mr. Harris," replied Dick Sand. "If Negoro has known how to come as far as this, he will know how to go farther. He is a man to keep out of trouble."
 
"As you please," replied Harris.
 
"Let us go. Dingo, be quiet," added Dick Sand, , so as to end the conversation.
 
The second observation made by the novice was in connection with the American horse. He did not appear to "feel the stable," as do animals of his species. He did not suck in the air; he did not hasten his speed; he did not his ; he uttered none of the neighings that indicate the end of a journey. To observe him well, he appeared to be as indifferent as if the farm, to which he had gone several times, however, and which he ought to know, had been several hundreds of miles away.
 
"That is not a horse near home," thought the young novice.
 
And, meanwhile, according to what Harris had said the evening before, there only remained six miles to go, and, of these last six miles, at five o'clock in the evening four had been certainly cleared.
 
Now, if the horse felt nothing of the stable, of which he should have great need, nothing besides announced the approaches to a great clearing, such as the Farm of San Felice must be.
 
Mrs. Weldon, indifferent as she then was to what did not concern her child, was struck at seeing the country still so . What! not a native, not a farm-servant, at such a short distance! Harris must be wild! No! she this idea. A new delay would have been the death of her little Jack!
 
Meanwhile, Harris always kept in advance, but he seemed to observe the depths of the wood, and looked to the right and left, like a man who was not sure of himself—nor of his road.
 
Mrs. Weldon shut her eyes so as not to see him.
 
After a plain a mile in extent, the forest, without being as as in the west, had reappeared, and the little troop was again lost under the great trees.
 
At six o'clock in the evening they had reached a thicket, which appeared to have recently given passage to a band of powerful animals. Dick Sand looked around him very . At a distance winch far surpassed the human height, the branches were torn off or broken. At the same time the herbs, roughly scattered, exhibited on the soil, a little , prints of steps which could not be those of , or .
 
Were these, then, the "ais," or some other tardi-graves, whose feet had thus marked the soil? But how, then, explain the break in the branches at such a height?
 
Elephants might have, without doubt, left such , stamped these large traces, made a similar hole in the impenetrable underwood. But elephants are not found in America. These enormous thick-skinned quadrupeds are not natives of the New World. As yet, they have never been there.
 
The hypothesis that elephants had passed there was absolutely inadmissible.
 
However that might be, Dick Sand hardly knew how much this fact gave him to think about. He did not even question the American on this point. What could he expect from a man who had tried to make him take giraffes for ? Harris would have given him some explanation, more or less imaginative, which would not have changed the situation.
 
At all events, Dick had formed his opinion of Harris. He felt in him a ! He only awaited an occasion to unmask his disloyalty, to have the right to do it, and everything told him that this opportunity was near.
 
But what could be Harris's secret end? What future, then, awaited the of the "Pilgrim?" Dick Sand repeated to himself that his responsibility had not ceased with the . It was more tha............