They soon crossed a clear running brook, and leaving the bridge, Dick ran down to the water's edge to get a drink.
"Drink through your handkerchief!" called out Robert Menden.
"Through my handkerchief?"
"Yes."
"What for?"
"Because you don't want to swallow a lizard or worse. These waters are full of small animal life, so I've been told."
Dick did as the Englishman suggested. And he was glad of it, for while bending down he saw several tiny lizards or leeches swimming near at hand. "None in me, not if I know it," he murmured as he drew back. "I'll inspect everything that goes down my throat after this."
By noon they had covered several miles. The sun was out clear, and now the heat began to tell on them.
"I move we rest," suggested Leander; and this was readily agreed to, and they sat down under an immense plantain, covered with half ripe fruit—that fruit which we commonly know by the name of banana, although the real banana is red.
"Are there any wild animals in Porto Rico?" questioned Don.