In Search of the Castaways [34]
not proceeding from one or two solitary animals, but from a whole troop, and one, moreover, that was rapidly approaching. Providence had sent them a supper, as well as led them to a hut. This was the geographer's conclusion; but Glenarvan damped his joy somewhat by remarking that the quadrupeds of the Cordilleras are never met with in such a high latitude. "Then where can these animals come from?" asked Tom Austin. "Don't you hear them getting nearer!" "An avalanche," suggested Mulrady. "Impossible," returned Paganel. "That is regular howling." "Let us go out and see," said Glenarvan. "Yes, and be ready for hunting," replied McNabbs, arming himself with his carbine. They all rushed forthwith out of the CASUCHA. Night had completely set in, dark and starry. The moon, now in her last quarter, had not yet risen. The peaks on the north and east had disappeared from view, and nothing was visible save the fantastic SILHOUETTE of some towering rocks here and there. The howls, and clearly the howls of terrified animals, were redoubled. They proceeded from that part of the Cordilleras which lay in darkness. What could be going on there? Suddenly a furious avalanche came down, an avalanche of living animals mad with fear. The whole plateau seemed to tremble. There were hundreds, perhaps thousands, of these animals, and in spite of the rarefied atmosphere, their noise was deafening. Were they wild beasts from the Pampas, or herds of llamas and vicunas? Glenarvan, McNabbs, Robert, Austin, and the two sailors, had just time to throw themselves flat on the ground before they swept past like a whirlwind, only a few paces distant. Paganel, who had remained standing, to take advantage of his peculiar powers of sight, was knocked down in a twinkling. At the same moment the report of firearms was heard. The Major had fired, and it seemed to him that an animal had fallen close by, and that the whole herd, yelling louder than ever, had rushed down and disappeared among the declivities lighted up by the reflection of the volcano. "Ah, I've got them," said a voice, the voice of Paganel. "Got what?" asked Glenarvan. "My spectacles," was the reply. "One might expect to lose that much in such a tumult as this." "You are not wounded, I hope?" "No, only knocked down; but by what?" "By this," replied the Major, holding up the animal he had killed. They all hastened eagerly into the hut, to examine McNabbs' prize by the light of the fire. It was a pretty creature, like a small camel without a hump. The head was small and the body flattened, the legs were long and slender, the skin fine, and the hair the color of _cafe au lait_. Paganel had scarcely looked at it before he exclaimed, "A guanaco!" "What sort of an animal is that?" asked Glenarvan. "One you can eat." "And it is good savory meat, I assure you; a dish of Olympus! I knew we should have fresh meat for supper, and such meat! But who is going to cut up the beast?" "I will," said Wilson. "Well, I'll undertake to cook it," said Paganel. "Can you cook, then, Monsieur Paganel?" asked Robert. "I should think so, my boy. I'm a Frenchman, and in every Frenchman there is a cook." Five minutes afterward Paganel began to grill large slices of venison on the embers made by the use of the LLARETTAS, and in about ten minutes a dish was ready, which he served up to his companions by the tempting name of guanaco cutlets. No one stood on ceremony, but fell to with a hearty good will. To the absolute stupefaction of the geographer, however, the first mouthful was greeted with a general grimace, and such exclamations as--"Tough!" "It is horrible." "It is not eatable." The poor SAVANT was obliged to own that his cutlets could not be relished, even by hungry men. They began to banter him about his "Olympian dish," and indulge in jokes at his expense; but all he cared about was to find out how it happened that the flesh of the guanaco, which was certainly good and eatable food, had turned out so badly in his hands. At last light broke in on him, and he called out: "I see through it now! Yes, I see through