CHAPTER V.
AN EARTHQUAKE
"Vasco," called his mother to him early one morning a few days later, "I want you to get up and go to market for me."
"Oh, dear, I don't want to get up now," said Vasco.
"No matter," replied his mother, "you'll want something to eat by and by, so hurry up."
Vasco knew it was no use to protest further, and, as the process of dressing was a very short one with him, he soon was ready to do his mother's errand.
"What do you want me to get this morning?" he asked.
"I want you to get some potatoes and peas and rice and half a yard of beef," his mother replied, as she handed him a basket.
It sounds strange to hear about a yard of beef, doesn't it? Vasco did not think so, though, for in Panama beef, instead of being sold by the pound, is often cut into long strips and sold by the yard.
By the time Vasco was all ready to start his sister Inez was up.