"Alas! yes. My father looked after the machine, and I helped him to drive the oxen; and he had forbidden my going near the cylinders. One day he went away for a few minutes, and I tried to put a piece of cane between the rollers; but my finger caught, and my arm was drawn in and crushed." "It was a terrible punishment for your disobedience," I said. "More terrible than you think, senor. My father died six months ago, and I have several little brothers. If I had both my arms, I could earn a quarter of a piastre a day, and also help my mother." "How much do they give you for watching this filtering-bag from morning till night?" "Only a medio,"[D] he answered. I looked hard at Lucien, who threw himself into my arms. "Oh! I will always obey you," he cried, with emotion; "but do allow me to give all the money in my purse to this little boy." "Give him a piastre, my boy; we shall meet with others in want, and you must reserve something for them." "Oh! young gentleman," said the poor mutilated lad, looking with wonder at the coin which represented sixteen days' work, "we will all pray for you!" And he hurried to clear out the bag, which was already too full. The process adopted in the sugar-mill we speak of was of most primitive simplicity. The European manufacturers employ iron cylinders turned by steam or water power; also lift and force pumps, which quickly convey the sap into the basins in which it is to be clarified by fermentation. But for comprehending easily all the operations required in the extraction of sugar, Antonio's _hacienda_, in which every thing was done before our eyes, was much preferable to any of the modern mills provided with all kinds of improved apparatus. When our young traveller saw the thick, muddy, and turbid liquid, which was being stirred up by a gigantic "agitator," he could hardly believe that it could ever produce the beautiful white crystal with which he was so well acquainted. "But where's the sugar?" he eagerly asked. "There, in front of you," replied Sumichrast. "The sugar-cane, like all other vegetables, contains a certain quantity of liquid, in which the sugar is held in a state of solution; if this is removed, prismatic crystals immediately form. Look now! the contents of the copper are just beginning to boil, and are covered with a blackish scum, which is carefully skimmed off; for in three or four days, when it has fermented, it will produce, by means of distillation, the ardent spirit which l'Encuerado is so fond of. The cloud of steam which is rising above the copper shows that the juice is evaporating; in a few minutes more it will be converted into sirup, and will ultimately form crystals. Come and see the result of the last operation."