Page:Gaston Leroux--The bride of the sun.djvu/156

142 the body of a llama stretched across the narrow path. Dismounting, he lifted its head, examined the nostrils, and then pushed the body over the edge of the ravine.

"Little Christobal's llama," he pronounced. "The animal has been ridden to death…. Poor child! I wonder where he is."

Uncle Francis, busy with his note-book, refused to get excited.

"With my nephew, probably. Even if Dick had left him behind, his father must have come upon him."

"That is possible, of course," said Natividad, doubtfully.

"Is this llama-riding common over here?" questioned the scientist, intent on acquiring knowledge.

"No. Children sometimes amuse themselves with it if the llama is willing. Rich people give them to their sons occasionally. Christobal probably had his."

"I would never have believed a llama capable of going so far, and so fast."

"No pack-llama could. But that was a good one, trained to carry light weights and travel fast. Probably used to being ridden by children.… I wonder where they found it…. Your nephew's horse, too … in the hacienda