On the mountain above the bathhouses are some mud volcanoes and steam spouts named fumiroles, but they cannot compare with those of the Yellowstone.
On the day of my arrival, I had not been more than ten minutes at the hotel when an Englishman and a Frenchman approached me and said that they intended making the ascent of the volcano Chillán the next day, and having heard that Gumprecht and I intended doing the same thing thought that it would be best to arrange a party as there was but one guide at the establishment. I said that I would decide later on and let them know. I did not relish the appearance of the Frenchman, who had a tough face, and would have preferred to make the ascent without his company, so I went to Monsieur Paguéguy, the lessee and administrator, and asked him if there were more guides than one. He told me that there were several. This settled the question, for I would not be obliged then to make the ascent in company with the "butters in."
"Why do you not wish to go with the two gentlemen?" inquired Paguéguy.
"I am not accustomed to forming acquaintances with strangers who force themselves upon me," I answered. "Moreover that Frenchman has a bad look. He looks as if he would kill a man for a five-peso (87½ c.) note."
"Sacré! Sacré!" yelled Paguéguy, "he is my brother. Sacré! Sacré!"
The administrator raved around like a madman. I told him that it made no difference whether it was his brother or not, and that the proper thing for him to have done would have been for him to have introduced himself in the first place; that the Termas had a bad reputation for being a rendezvous for card sharps, and that since his brother had the appearance of one, how was I to know the difference?
Paguéguy told his brother and the Englishman about it. They caught me alone that evening and tried to pick a quarrel with me. The odds were against me for the Englishman was much larger than I, and the Frenchman was also a strong, powerfully built man. The loud altercation attracted the attention of Gumprecht and a Barcelona friend of mine named Florencio Prat, who both came running up. The tables were now turned in my favor, so my two antagonists prudently walked away.
"I think they mean to make trouble; let's follow them and hear what they say?" suggested Prat.
The duo walked to a casucha and after entering it closed the door. We three walked around the building and getting below an open window did some necessary eavesdropping. It was well that we did so for we heard them planning to catch one of us alone and give the prospective victim a beating up. It was now time to show our teeth, which we did. Without knocking we entered the casucha much to the astonishment of the duo and told them that if they tried any funny business we would shoot them like dogs regardless of the consequences, and for them to mind their own business as we intended minding ours, otherwise something would happen. We also showed them our revolvers. Nothing more developed.