"
How _they_ contrived to endure it, or even to exist, was a puzzle
to me; but possibly the _vinchucas_ respected them, and only dined
when, like the giant in the nursery rhyme, they "smelt the blood of
an Englishman."
I again enjoyed a long siesta, and when night came resolved to place
myself beyond the reach of the vampires, and so, after supper, went
out to sleep on the plain. About midnight, however, a sudden storm of
wind and rain drove me back to the shelter of the house, and the next
morning I rose in such a deplorable state that I deliberately caught
and saddled my horse, though the poor beast could scarcely put one
foot on the ground. My friends laughed good-humouredly when they saw
me making these resolute preparations for departure. After partaking
of bitter _mate_, I rose and thanked them for their hospitality.
"You surely do not intend leaving us on that animal!" said my host.
"He is unfit to carry you."
"I have no other," I replied, "and am anxious to reach my destination."
"Had I known this I would have offered you a horse before," he returned,
and then he sent one of his sons to drive the horses of the
_estancia_ into the corral.
Selecting a good-looking animal from the herd, he presented it to me,
and as I did not have money enough to buy a fresh horse whenever I
wanted one, I accepted the gift very gladly.
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