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diff --git a/43424-0.txt b/43424-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..69b5e64 --- /dev/null +++ b/43424-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3462 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 43424 *** + +Francisco + +Our Little Argentine Cousin + + + + +THE + +Little Cousin Series + +(TRADE MARK) + + + Each volume illustrated with six or more full-page plates in + tint. Cloth, 12mo, with decorative cover, + per volume, 60 cents + + +LIST OF TITLES + +BY MARY HAZELTON WADE + +(unless otherwise indicated) + + + =Our Little African Cousin= + =Our Little Alaskan Cousin= + By Mary F. Nixon-Roulet + =Our Little Arabian Cousin= + By Blanche McManus + =Our Little Armenian Cousin= + =Our Little Australian Cousin= + By Mary F. Nixon-Roulet + =Our Little Brazilian Cousin= + By Mary F. Nixon-Roulet + =Our Little Brown Cousin= + =Our Little Canadian Cousin= + By Elizabeth R. MacDonald + =Our Little Chinese Cousin= + By Isaac Taylor Headland + =Our Little Cuban Cousin= + =Our Little Dutch Cousin= + By Blanche McManus + =Our Little Egyptian Cousin= + By Blanche McManus + =Our Little English Cousin= + By Blanche McManus + =Our Little Eskimo Cousin= + =Our Little French Cousin= + By Blanche McManus + =Our Little German Cousin= + =Our Little Greek Cousin= + By Mary F. Nixon-Roulet + =Our Little Hawaiian Cousin= + =Our Little Hindu Cousin= + By Blanche McManus + =Our Little Hungarian Cousin= + By Mary F. Nixon-Roulet + =Our Little Indian Cousin= + =Our Little Irish Cousin= + =Our Little Italian Cousin= + =Our Little Japanese Cousin= + =Our Little Jewish Cousin= + =Our Little Korean Cousin= + By H. Lee M. Pike + =Our Little Mexican Cousin= + By Edward C. Butler + =Our Little Norwegian Cousin= + =Our Little Panama Cousin= + By H. Lee M. Pike + =Our Little Persian Cousin= + By E. C. Shedd + =Our Little Philippine Cousin= + =Our Little Porto Rican Cousin= + =Our Little Russian Cousin= + =Our Little Scotch Cousin= + By Blanche McManus + =Our Little Siamese Cousin= + =Our Little Spanish Cousin= + By Mary F. Nixon-Roulet + =Our Little Swedish Cousin= + By Claire M. Coburn + =Our Little Swiss Cousin= + =Our Little Turkish Cousin= + + + L. C. PAGE & COMPANY + New England Building, Boston, Mass. + +[Illustration: "THEY SAT DOWN ALMOST UNDER THE SHADOW OF THE HIGH STATUE +OF SAN MARTÍN." + +(_See page 33._)] + + + + +FRANCISCO + +Our Little Argentine Cousin + +By Eva Cannon Brooks + +_Illustrated by_ John Goss + +[Illustration] + + Boston + L. C. Page & Company + _MDCCCCX_ + + + + + _Copyright, 1910_ + + BY L. C. PAGE & COMPANY + + (INCORPORATED) + + + _All rights reserved_ + + + First Impression, June, 1910 + + + + + TO + + Katharine and Elizabeth Brooks + + + + +Preface + + +IF you take a steamer in New York whose destination is the eastern coast +of South America, and remain on it a little over four weeks, you will +reach the great metropolis of our twin continent, Buenos Aires. + +In all probability they will be weeks of infinite content and delight, +for the southern half of the Atlantic Ocean is milder in her moods than +the northern half, and there will be a sufficient number of stops _en +route_ to relieve the journey of monotony. + +First comes the Barbadoes, then Pernambuco, Bahia, Rio-de-Janeiro, and +Santos in Brazil, and then Montevideo, the capital of the Republic of +Uruguay. + +At Montevideo the steamer leaves the ocean and enters the mouth of the +River Plata, which is several hundred miles wide at this point, and in +ten hours the beautiful city of Buenos Aires, the gate-way to the +Pampas, is spread out before the eye. + +It is more like a city of North America than any of the South American +metropolises, both in its appearance and its remarkable spirit of +modernization. + +Beyond, and about this attractive port, lie great tracts of level +country known as the _campo_, and here you will find conditions not +unlike those existing in some parts of our own western territory. Large +ranches predominate, although the industries are varied. + +The people are of mixed nationalities, but the greater proportion is of +Spanish extraction and a new race, or type, is being welded with a +sufficient infusion of Anglo-Saxon blood to counteract the inherent +tendency of all Latin races towards procrastination. Because of this, +and aided by an unequalled climate, a fertile soil, and definite aims, +they are already achieving a part of their manifest destiny. + +This, the year of 1910, the publication date of this small volume, marks +the one hundredth anniversary of Argentina's independence; may it mark +also the beginning of an era of even greater harmony and more splendid +achievement. + + + + +Contents + + + CHAPTER PAGE + PREFACE v + I. FRANCISCO'S HOME 1 + II. A WONDERFUL DAY 15 + III. A LESSON IN HISTORY 29 + IV. CURIOUS SIGHTS 47 + V. GREAT SURPRISES 60 + VI. NEW EXPERIENCES 75 + VII. ON THE RANCH 92 + VIII. CATTLE BRANDING 104 + IX. A SUCCESSFUL SEARCH 122 + X. THE CARNIVAL 142 + + + + + +List of Illustrations + + + PAGE + "THEY SAT DOWN ALMOST UNDER THE SHADOW OF THE HIGH + STATUE OF SAN MARTÍN" (see page 33) _Frontispiece_ + "HE PERMITTED FRANCISCO TO TAKE A RIDE ON THE TAME + LLAMA" 24 + "'DID YOU EVER SEE SUCH GLORIOUS BLUE EYES!'" 67 + "SOON AFTER HIS EAGER QUESTION THEY PASSED A GROUP + OF THEM" 100 + "BLAZED THE LINES OF THE TRES ARROYAS ON ITS HIP" 106 + "ELENA AND FRANCISCO WERE DRESSED AND READY" 147 + + + + + +Francisco + +Our Little Argentine Cousin + + + + +CHAPTER I + +FRANCISCO'S HOME + + +FRANCISCO sat crosslegged in one corner of the _patio_ under the shade +of a small pomegranate tree which grew in a tub. He had moved halfway +around the _patio_ since morning, trying to keep out of the sun. Just +after _café_ he had started out under the shade of the east wall, where +wistaria vines and jasmine grew in a dense mass of purple, yellow and +green; then he had gone from one tubbed shelter to another as the sun +mounted higher, until now only the heavy foliage of the pomegranate +offered protection from the hot rays. All of the long varnished blinds +at the doors of the rooms opening upon this central, stone-paved +courtyard, had long since been closed securely, for it was middle +December and the house must be sealed early against the noon heat of +midsummer. + +Francisco might have gone inside, where the darkened rooms furnished +some relief, but he chose to sit crosslegged on the red and white +square stones of the _patio_, with his back to the main part of the +house, so that the mother and sisters could not see what occupied his +busy hands. + +Francisco's father was dead, and he, with his mother, La Señora Anita +Maria Lacevera de Gonzalez, and his two sisters, Elena Maria, who was +six, and Guillerma Maria, who was eighteen and very beautiful, lived in +the Calle[1] Cerrito, in the city of Buenos Aires, Argentine Republic, +South America. + +Francisco, himself, was nine, and his uncle who was a colonel in the +army and who supported his widowed sister and her family, expected him +to be a soldier also. His great-grandfather had been a general, and +because of his services during the revolution that had brought +Argentina her liberty nearly one hundred years ago, his family was one +of the most distinguished in the Republic. Francisco's own grandfather +had given his life for his _patria_ during the ten years' blockade of +Buenos Aires, when the French and English forces combined to overcome +General Rosas, who then commanded the city. His mother and his uncle, +the Colonel Juan Carlos Lacevera, were then little children, but they +were fired with a patriotism that comes only to those who have given of +their own flesh and blood for native land. + +"El Coronel Lacevera" was now retired, and with his wife and six +daughters lived in a spacious, palatial home in the Calle San Martin +facing the beautiful plaza, or park, where the statue of General San +Martin on his rearing charger stands, a constant reminder to the +hundreds of little Argentine boys and girls who daily play in the +pebbled space around it, of the wonderful man, who, like George +Washington, was first in war, first in peace, and is still first in the +hearts of his countrymen. + +The monthly allowance bestowed by Colonel Lacevera upon his sister was +enough to keep them in comfort, but not sufficient to allow them to live +in luxury, and to-day, because Francisco had not enough money to buy his +Christmas _pesebre_ at the toyshop, he was doing what many little boys +of that country do,--he was making his own. + +Now, you must know right here, that Christmas in these South American +countries is not the greatest festival of the entire year, as it is with +us; it is simply one of the many that are celebrated at frequent +intervals, for Argentina is a land of _fiestas_; there is scarcely a +month that does not allow three or four holidays from school because of +some _fiesta_, either of church or state. Although they do not celebrate +this great holiday as we do with Christmas trees and visits from Santa +Claus, they have something in their places, and it is the "Coming of +the Three Kings." In anticipation of this, all over the Republic, +children erect _pesebres_ or mangers. + +A _pesebre_ consists of a miniature open shed, or merely a roof of straw +or bark, underneath which, in a tiny box, lies a porcelain baby doll to +represent the infant Christ. Bending in adoration at the head of the wee +box that holds this image kneels the mother, Mary, and at the foot, with +folded hands, stands Joseph, the father. About them, placed in sand or +moss, that forms the floor of the stable or yard, are figures to +represent the worshipful neighbours, also the farm-yard fowls and +animals; cows and donkeys predominating. They look like Noah's Ark +people, stiff-legged and prim. Now all of this remains unmoved, a spot +of reverent adoration, throughout Christmas week, New Year's day, and +until "twelfth night," or the fifth of January. It is awaiting the great +event for which it was erected, the "Coming of the Three Kings." + +On that auspicious night, through the same magical means that aid Santa +Claus to enter the homes of North American children while their eyes are +closed in sleep, come the three richly decorated and delicately carved +kings on miniature camels with costly trappings and bags of spices on +their little brown backs. + +On the morning of the sixth of January the children awake, all eagerness +to see the arrivals of the night. Rushing to the _pesebre_ they find the +three little wooden kings kneeling beside the manger, the faithful +camels standing in the grass without, and all about on the floor are the +wonderful gifts that the kings have brought to their _pesebre_. Indeed, +as you can see, it was erected for just this purpose, exactly as the fir +tree with its glittering ornaments forms the nucleus in other lands for +Christmas gifts. + +It was these wooden people and animals that Francisco's small fingers +were fashioning. He had cut himself several times, and one finger was +bound up in an old handkerchief, but his enthusiasm was not lessened +because of it. He knew exactly how they should be carved, and how many +there should be, for in the toyshop windows there had been sets of them +on display for weeks, and Francisco had studied each necessary bit +carefully. + +In a box beside him were the finished product of his penknife. Joseph +and Mary were completed even to the paint; Mary's red and blue gown and +Joseph's yellow robe were not quite dry, and the cows were too vividly +red, but that would not matter; Elena was no severe critic, and it was +mainly for her that he was carving them. Elena had been ill and this was +to be her "getting well" gift. The flashing light in her great brown +eyes when she should see them would be sufficient reward for cut fingers +and weary back. Besides, this was the summer vacation and there was +nothing else to do. + +In all countries on the other side of the Equator the seasons are the +reverse of those on this side. In Argentina the children are having +their summer holidays in December, January, and February, when the +children of the Northern hemisphere are busy in school, or skating and +sleighing; and they are having their winter when the Northern children +are dressed in their thinnest clothing and are going away to the +seashore or mountains. + +Francisco had just completed a wonderful set of bent pin horns for one +of the red cows when he was called to breakfast, and it was _half-past +eleven_. But you see their meal hours, like their seasons, are different +from ours. At eight o'clock he had had his _cafe con leche_, or coffee +with hot milk, and a roll; at half-past eleven he was accustomed to +having his breakfast; at four he would have _máte_ or tea; and at seven +dinner would be served. + +Francisco gathered his treasures into the tin box, and hurried to the +bath-room to make himself ready for _almuerzo_. When he entered the +dining-room his mother and Guillerma, the elder sister, were seated, and +the little Indian serving-maid was arranging a tray to carry to Elena in +the bed-room. + +The meal consisted of beef broth and rice, called _caldo_ and the usual +beginning to every hearty meal in that country; then came fried fish +with garlic, followed by a stew of mutton, carrots, cabbage, potatoes, +and large pieces of yellow pumpkin, this being the native dish of the +Argentines and commonly known as _puchero_. After that came fruit and +coffee. + +Guillerma chatted continuously of the wonderful new gowns which she had +seen being packed at the great house in Calle San Martin, where she had +been the day before, to bid her aunt and six cousins good-bye, before +their departure for Mar-de-la-Plata, the fashionable watering place on +the Atlantic Ocean, a day's ride by rail from Buenos Aires. + +Meanwhile, as they sat thus, eating and talking, over in the great house +of the _Coronel_[2] the master sat at his massive library table playing +solitaire. He always ended his meals thus with his after-dinner +coffee-cup beside him. The walls were lined with well-filled bookcases, +for the Colonel was a scholar. + +Indeed, he cared little for the gay life that ebbed and flowed about him +because of his high social position, and because of the six comely +daughters, ranging from fourteen to twenty-four; the eldest ones of whom +were favourites in exclusive Buenos Aires society. He suffered it +because of his love for them, but his natural fondness for quiet and +study led him to think longingly of the large estate in the Province of +Santa Fé, where he could spend the remaining years of his life in the +free open air, enjoying the quiet and solitude he so loved. But the +daughters must be educated and their mother did not like the country, so +the Colonel was forced to live through the winter months in the noise +and roar of the great city; contenting himself with a few months each +summer at the estate, when he rode at will over the wide prairies on his +swift Argentine horse, or read for hours under the shade of the wide +spreading _ombú_ trees which surrounded the country house. This +_estáncia_, as they term a very large farm or ranch, was really his +wife's; in fact, so was the city house, for no retired colonel's pay, +nor general's pay, for that matter, could have met the expenses of his +large family, accustomed to every luxury; indeed, it was just enough to +cover his own personal expenses, and provide a living for his widowed +sister, who had been left penniless, but dared not earn her own living, +since the custom of the country forbids women of class to do work of any +kind. + +His matronly wife with her six daughters (large families are the rule +among these Latin Americans) had left the evening before, with several +French maids, for Mar-de-la-Plata to spend the entire summer; he would +be detained in the city for two weeks, and then--for freedom and the +life he loved. + +But he was strangely lonely; the house echoed his and the servants' +footfalls with an intensity that made him nervous; the pillared +corridors rang with no merry girlish laughter, and the luxuriantly +furnished _patio_ with its marble floors, and softly pattering +fountains, seemed to mock him of his loneliness. Always before, he had +left for the _estáncia_ before his family had gone to Europe or the +seashore for their summer outing, and he never would have believed that +he--an old soldier--could be so overcome by sentiment. + +He was minded to take up his abode for the next two weeks, previous to +his leaving for the country, in his widowed sister's humble home, when +the splendid thought came to him;--he would bring Francisco, his nephew, +there with him to the lonely house. + +For some time he had been drawn towards the little fellow, partly +because his heart was desolate that he had no son of his own, partly +because the boy was developing so many manly traits, and reminded him +frequently, when he turned his round brown eyes towards him, of his own +long since fallen soldier father. + +He desired to know him better, to get closer to the lad--and now this +was his opportunity; he would ask Anita to let him have Francisco for +the summer, and the boy would keep the empty house lively for the few +days until they should both leave for his Tres Arroyas ranch. He clapped +his hands sharply, and a servant appeared. + +"Have Enrique bring the motor car at four, when the afternoon is +cooler," he ordered, and turned to his bed-room for the _siesta_, or +rest, that all tropical and semitropical climates demand of their +residents. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 1: Street.] + +[Footnote 2: Colonel.] + + + + +CHAPTER II + +A WONDERFUL DAY + + +PROMPTLY at four, the huge red machine puffed up to the front curbing. +The Colonel was walking up and down in the Plaza opposite, smoking a +cigarette; for when not eating or asleep, an Argentine gentleman is +seldom seen without the thin, white _cigarrillo_ between his lips. He +looked most distinguished in his scarlet and green uniform. + +It took but a few moments to reach his sister's _casa_,[3] and the maid +who answered his ring in the narrow vestibule that opened directly onto +the street told him the family were having _máte_ in the _patio_, which +was partly shaded in the late afternoon. He was welcomed heartily, and +was kissed by each one twice, after the foreign fashion, once on either +cheek. + +The _máte_ cup, an egg-shaped gourd, was passed from hand to hand as +they sat talking, each one in turn sucking the fragrant tea through the +same silver tube; the little Indian maid refilling the gourd again and +again with hot water. + +This is the universal custom in South American countries below the +Equator, and aside from the benefits derived from the drinking of the +pungent herb itself, it has a significance akin to the "loving cup" +idea, and is a symbolization of family love and domestic ties. + +A guest is always asked to partake of _máte_ with the family, and if he +is unaccustomed to the manner of its usage, the fact that he is expected +to obtain his share by means of the one, universal tube, is at first +disconcerting, but he dare not refuse under penalty of offending his +host. + +This herb is called "Paraguayian tea," or "Jesuits' tea," as it was used +extensively by the early Jesuit Fathers, who were one of the most +important factors in the civilization of the lower half of South +America. It is grown mostly in Brazil and Paraguay and its cultivation +has become quite an industry. + +The dried leaves are placed in a small gourd, hot water is poured into +it, and it is then sucked into the mouth through the long silver tube, +which has a bulbous end, perforated with small holes so that the tea is +strained. At the first taste it is exceedingly bitter, but one soon +grows very fond of it. It is very stimulating and a _gaucho_, or cowboy, +will sometimes, under stress of circumstances, ride all day with only +his morning gourd of _máte_ to sustain him, and then eat his first meal +of the day at sundown. + +The Colonel soon made known his errand, and Francisco was beside himself +with joy. He danced about the _patio_ clapping his hands, and then ran +indoors to sick Elena to smother her with kisses, and to tell her of his +good fortune. + +"Oh, Elena, just think of it! Two whole weeks in the big _casa_ with +servants, horses and automobiles--and then two whole months in the +_campo_[4] with uncle to ride with me, and teach me something new every +day!" + +"But Elena mia, you will miss me," and a note of sadness crept into his +voice. + +"Yes, Francisco, I shall miss you, but I shall enjoy myself every day +thinking of what you are doing, and you will write to me; Mamá will read +me your letters, and then there will be so much to talk about when you +return,"--and Francisco embraced her another time. + +Half an hour later, clean and shining in his best suit of clothes, +exchanged for the long linen duster that all Argentine schoolboys wear +to play in, he was spinning along the asphalt streets, sitting beside +the man who stood, to his young mind, for every virtue assigned to his +patron saint. + +At first he was slightly shy, for this wonderful soldier uncle had never +paid any particular attention to him, so engrossed was he always with +his books and his family; but as they threaded their way in and out the +traffic-crowded streets, among the heavy carts, the noisily clanging +electric tram-cars, and low, open victorias filled with elaborately +dressed women, and fleet wheeled automobiles of every size and class, +Francisco began to ask questions, and forgot his timidity. They were +soon chatting interestedly. + +"How would you like a spin out to Palermo?" his uncle asked, as they +reached the central part of the city. + +"Better than I could say," replied the happy lad; his heart meanwhile +bounding, for he seldom saw the trees and flowers of the vast park that +is one of the city's most picturesque attractions. + +"Then, Enrique--to the park, via the _Avenida[5] Alvear_," said Colonel +Lacevera to the chauffeur. + +It was late afternoon now, and being Thursday, the broad avenues were +filled with hundreds of vehicles; since Thursday and Sunday are the +afternoons chosen by fashionable Buenos Aires for the diversion of +riding or driving to the great Prado to hear the military band, and to +mingle in the long lines of carriages and motor cars. + +The _Avenida Alvear_, broad and smoothly paved, with its magnificent +residences on either side, makes a desirable avenue from which to +approach the park. As they rode along, the odour of jasmine and roses +hung heavy about them, coming from the beautiful gardens surrounding the +palatial homes. Long arbours of American Beauty roses, looking like +crimson lined tunnels; majestic palm trees, over which trailed Marechal +Niel roses and cypress vines; bulky shrubs, with sweet scents; all these +lent their charm to the scene, and Francisco, ever alive to the beauties +of nature, felt this to be a foretaste of Paradise. + +Soon they were in the palm bordered drives of the park; but they crept +along at a snail's pace, as the speed on crowded afternoons is limited +to a funeral pace, in order that the lines of carriages both coming and +going may avoid confusion. + +Through the trees and shrubbery Francisco caught glimpses of cool +running streams, crossed by rustic bridges; clear, limpid lakes with +swans and boats, and here and there, pavilions where ices and +_refrescos_ were being enjoyed by the gay crowd. At intervals, on +splendid black horses, were stationed picturesque looking mounted +policemen, their long horsehair plumes trailing over their shoulders, +from which hung scarlet lined capes. It was their duty to keep the half +dozen columns of vehicles in proper line. + +The Colonel's car had entered the wide area of the Avenue Sarmiento when +he leaned towards the chauffeur and said, "Turn towards the Zoological +Gardens, Enrique." And then, to the boy beside him, he said, "How could +you stand half an hour in the Zoological Gardens, Niño?"[6] + +"I would try to bear up under it, Uncle," replied Francisco, as his eyes +twinkled an answer to the merriment in the older man's. They alighted at +the curbing, and entered the immense iron gates into that Mecca of all +Argentine boyish hearts. + +All of this seemed as a dream to Francisco for although his mother had +frequently brought him here, she knew little of the animals and birds; +and now with Uncle Juan he could ask questions innumerable without +getting the reply: _Yo no se_.[7] + +They paused first at the great cage, fifty feet in height and covering +an area of half a city block, built over a small artificial mountain +where hundreds of eagles and condors wheeled, fought and chattered. + +"See the pavilion that looks like a Hindoo temple, Francisco; let us see +what animal makes that its home." + +"Elephants, Uncle Juan, and perhaps we can see the baby elephant that +was born here a few weeks ago." Sure enough, in a park all their own, +surrounding the Hindoo temple house, was a family of elephants and the +baby elephant stood beside its mother, who was rubbing it affectionately +with her long trunk. + +The alpacas, llamas, deer, bison, guanacos and vicuñas came next, and +Uncle Juan could answer every question that the eager boy put to him, +for, during his active service in the army, he had spent much time on +the frontier, and on the Cordilleras of the Andes, where these animals +are found. + +[Illustration: "HE PERMITTED FRANCISCO TO TAKE A RIDE ON THE TAME +LLAMA"] + +He permitted Francisco to take a ride on the tame llama, who rivalled +the Lilliputian steam engine in its popularity as a mode of progression +around the garden. As it did not trot, but walked sleepily along with +Francisco, having served all day, no doubt, as a vehicle for children +visiting the "Zoo," Uncle Juan walked beside him, and, as they +proceeded, he told him much about the small camel-like animal upon whose +back he rode. + +"You see, Niño, a llama is almost like a camel, but its size and +strength are inferior. It has no hump on its back, but as you saw when +you mounted it, it kneels like one. They thrive best at a high elevation +where they browse on reeds, lichens, mosses and grass. If the grass is +succulent they can go without water for a long time. When they are +domesticated it is for their fine fleece. Their flesh when young is +deliciously tender, and it is then that they can be caught with dogs and +a lasso, but the old ones can only be shot at a distance, and their +flesh is fit only to be dried and salted. I have seen them in Perú used +as beasts of burden, and the Indians make a very beautiful and valuable +cloth from the soft fleece. But come, lad, the sun sinks, and we may +come here another time." + +As they walked towards the gate where the car was awaiting them, they +passed lakes where waded and swam many birds of brilliant plumage. +Herons and flamingoes, red and gray and pink, stood on one leg, lazily, +watching for minnows. + +"Why are some of the flamingoes scarlet and some pink?" asked Francisco. + +"Those with red plumage are the old ones and the delicate rose coloured +ones are not yet in their second year. At old Roman feasts their tongues +were considered the greatest delicacy; I have eaten their flesh roasted, +and it is wonderfully palatable." + +"Oh, Uncle, we haven't seen the lions, nor the bears, nor the monkeys, +nor the boa-constrictors," coaxed Francisco, as they came in sight of +the gates. + +"But we shall see them another time, Niño. We cannot see the half of +these great gardens in a day, for they cover many acres, and contain the +finest specimens of any garden on the continent." As they passed out the +bugles at the military post opposite were sounding for the soldiers' +dinner and the avenues were no longer crowded. + +"With haste now, to the _casa_," ordered the Colonel, and the enormous +car plunged ahead, along the deserted boulevards where the electric +lights were beginning to appear one by one. Francisco had never flown so +fast and he cuddled close into his uncle's arm; the strong man held him +tenderly, lovingly, and they entered the electric lighted _patio_ of the +_casa_ arm in arm. + +Now the Colonel's home was not unlike many others of its class, but to +the little lad's eyes it seemed a palace. The main part of it was +perfectly square, and built around an inner court from which many of +the rooms were lighted and all were entered. The windows facing the +street were heavily barred, and small balconies of wrought iron +projected from each window, over-hanging the pavement a few feet below. +The house was flat and of but one story; into this first court opened +luxuriously furnished parlours, drawing-rooms, smoking-rooms and +library. Behind all of this was another court with smaller rooms opening +into it, exactly like a smaller house. Into this opened all the +bed-rooms, the bathrooms and the long elegantly furnished dining-room. + +Quite separate, and reached by a rear street entrance, was yet another, +a third court or _patio_, and into this opened the pantries, kitchen and +servants' quarters. The walls of the high spacious parlours were richly +decorated, and the chandeliers were of silver and crystal; while +ornaments and valuable souvenirs from all parts of the world were +displayed throughout the entire house. + +Although only Francisco and the Colonel sat at dinner that night, the +table was lavishly decorated, and the cut glass, silver and dinner of +many courses, including fish, game, meats, vegetables and fruits, were a +source of constant bewilderment and admiration to the boy accustomed to +humbler fare and less luxurious surroundings. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 3: House.] + +[Footnote 4: Country.] + +[Footnote 5: Avenue.] + +[Footnote 6: The affectionate name for all small boys.] + +[Footnote 7: I do not know.] + + + + +CHAPTER III + +A LESSON IN HISTORY + + +FRANCISCO awoke very early the next morning, for he was unaccustomed to +sleeping away from home. He lay quite still listening to the unwonted +sounds. He heard the servants scrubbing the marble floors of the _patio_ +and corridors; he heard the call of the _panadero_[8] and the hurrying +feet to answer; for no private family ever bakes its own bread in +Argentina, and the bakers have it all their own way, which isn't a very +bad way since their bread is light and deliciously crisp; he heard the +chattering of the parrots and paroquets in the servants' _patio_; then +the clatter of a squad of mounted policemen on their way to the day's +duty, the hoofs of their horses beating a tattoo of haste on the smooth +asphalt still wet with the daybreak bath of the sprinkling carts. + +Then he became interested in his room. Such luxury as surrounded him! He +sat up in bed and rubbed his eyes, for he had never viewed these +bed-rooms except from the corridor, on his infrequent visits to the +house. His bed was heavily carved and overhung with a canopy of pale +blue plush and silk; the walls were panelled and painted in delicate +colours, with angels and cherubs everywhere; huge mirrors reflected each +other as they hung in their frames of Florentine gold, and after he had +viewed it all for a few moments, he buried his head in his pillow and +wished for his own bare room and his mother. Then he longed for Elena +that she might enjoy the beauties about him; and this reminded him of +the _pesebre_, which was still unfinished, but which he had brought with +him. + +He wondered how he could get it to her without her finding out--and--he +must have fallen into a doze, for soon he heard an imitation _reveille_ +blown through human hands, outside the closed blinds that shaded his +door into the corridor, and his uncle called good-naturedly: "A pretty +time for a soldier of the Republic to get up!" + +Francisco hurried into his clothes and found the Colonel taking his +coffee and rolls in a shaded corner of the _patio_. + +"I am going to give you all of my time to-day, Niño, as I feel lazy, and +I find there are many things here in your own native city that you know +nothing about, and that a boy of nine should see and learn. Your mother +could not be expected to do it, so it falls to me. We must start +immediately, before the heat of the day drives us indoors. Get your cap, +lad, and we will start over in the Plaza San Martín opposite, and have a +lesson in history." + +They donned their hats, and Francisco felt very proud to walk beside his +uncle, who, if not a very large man in stature, loomed up big before the +boy's worshipful eyes. + +"What do you know of Buenos Aires, Niño?" he asked as they sauntered +towards the centre of the park. + +"Not much, Uncle Juan. I know it is the largest city on the South +American continent, and that it has over one million inhabitants. My +teacher said once that it is one of the largest produce markets in the +world." + +"Yes, and there is much more. It is the largest Spanish speaking city in +the world, as it is twice as large as Madrid, the capital of Spain. But +it is also very cosmopolitan." + +"I don't think I know just what that means, Uncle Juan." + +"Cosmopolitan? Why that, in this case, means that there are many +nationalities represented in Buenos Aires. There are thousands of +Italians, Germans, Frenchmen, Englishmen and Russians; and one can hear +half a dozen different languages in an hour's time walking along the +streets. But, to-day, I want to start with a little history of our +country. So let us sit here on this bench and begin. At this early hour +we will not be disturbed." + +They sat down almost under the shadow of the high statue of San Martín +and the Colonel reverently uncovered his head. Without being told, +Francisco took off his cap, and his uncle patted him affectionately on +the back. "Good, good, my boy! He deserves it, for no greater soldier +ever fought; but we will have to go back several centuries to get the +run of things," and as he leaned back he paused and puffed thin clouds +of smoke from his cigarette. + +"You see, when Buenos Aires was really founded, it was in 1580, +sixty-four years after the River Plate was discovered by Solis, who +called it the River of Silver, because he believed silver could be found +on its banks. They called the city 'Good Airs,' because of the fresh, +invigorating quality of the air that blew over from the vast prairies. +This first settlement grew, and others farther into the interior sprang +from it; all of them Spanish settlements; and in 1661 the King of Spain +recognized them as a colony and appointed a governor. Thus it continued +until in 1806, when England was at war with Spain, and they sent Lord +Beresford, with several thousand men, down to this colony to take +possession of it. + +"Buenos Aires then, as now, was the key to the entire country, and as it +had but forty thousand inhabitants, and was without any military +defence, he took it without trouble. But the Spaniards, at last, +overcame him; and he was obliged to give up his prize and leave. England +then sent another army, but this time the natives were prepared, and +their victory was complete. General Whitelock, in command, capitulated, +and his flag, the flag of the famous Seventy-First Regiment of the +British army, hangs in the Cathedral over yonder, where you see the +double spires beyond the house-tops. We are justly proud of that flag, +for that Seventy-First Regiment is the one that caused Napoleon no end +of trouble in Egypt. + +"After this victory our people began to feel the stirrings of +independence from Spain itself, and a spirit of revolution took hold of +the officials and people. At last, an open revolt took place in the +Plaza Mayo, on the twenty-fifth day of May, 1810, and under the +leadership of splendid men--patriots all of them--our independence was +declared. + +"But this was only the first step, just as it was with the great +republic of the United States when on the fourth of July they declared +their independence from England. So our twenty-fifth of May was but the +beginning of a long struggle. A _Junta_ was formed to govern, but it was +no easy task. To the north were Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia; to the +west Chile and Perú; all Spanish colonies. The _Junta_ sent troops to +these countries to endeavour to arouse the people to throw off the yoke. +They sent General Belgrano to--" + +"Oh! Belgrano! I know about him, Uncle. His tomb is in the little square +in front of the church in Calle Defensa, and it was he who originated +our flag. He said the long blue bars were to represent our +faithfulness, as true as the beautiful blue of our skies; and the white +bar was to symbolize our honour, spotless and fair." + +"Yes. Well, he went first to Paraguay; but the Spaniards had so +intermarried with the Paraguayan Indians, whom they had found in that +wild country, that they did not respond to the stirring appeal of +General Belgrano. He, however, succeeded in some of the northern +provinces, and thus encouraged, they organized a small navy. Do you know +who was our first admiral? No? Well, it was an Englishman and his name +was William Brown. + +"With this navy, Montivideo, the capital of Uruguay, was taken. +Enthusiasm ran high, and it was just here that Don José de San Martín +came into the light of publicity, as commander-in-chief of the army. Now +let us take the automobile, awaiting us over in front of the house, and +ride to the Cathedral where the remains of our hero rest, and I will +tell you more about him there." + +They rode along the clean streets, the fresh morning air blowing +straight into their faces, the curious, sing-song cries of the street +venders following them as they sped along Calle Florida. + +"Uncle Juan, why is it that most of these street peddlers are Italians? +See, there goes an onion-man with his long strings of onions, their +stalks knit together into yard lengths; there is a vegetable cart; there +is a vender of fruit, and all of them speaking broken Spanish with an +Italian accent." + +"Yes, Niño, most of the peddlers are Italian. I do not know why, unless +it is that each nationality turns to a special kind of work in this +world. The Italians are naturally merchants, they like to bargain. They +are also very fine mechanics. Did you ever notice that our plasterers, +or masons, who plaster the outside and inside of all our houses, speak +Italian?" + +"And that group of men on the corner, see, Uncle, they are all dressed +alike, and must be of the same nationality; what are they?" + +"Those"--indicating half a dozen men wearing full trousers held up by +red sashes, adorned with dozens of coins, their heads covered with round +full caps also red. "Those are Basques or Vascongados. There are many +here, and they come from a small piece of country to the west end of the +Pyrenees, in Spain, bordering the Bay of Biscay. Like the Italians, +they, too, follow the work best suited to them, and they are mostly +porters, because of their physical strength and powers of endurance. + +"I have noticed, too, that the majority of our milk men are Basques, and +I account for that because in their native home they are a pastoral +people and such pursuits attract them. Listen as we pass: their language +is unintelligible to us although they come from Spain. It is unlike any +other European language." + +They were now entering the great square called Plaza Mayo. It is the +heart of the city, although it is not in the centre. It covers about ten +acres, and is two blocks back from the muddy La Plata River; and scores +of masts and smoke-belching funnels of great ocean vessels can be seen +from its benches. + +"That is our Government House. That much I know," said Francisco, +pointing to the rose-tinted building, modelled after the Tuileries, and +facing the plaza. From its rear to the river intervened grass plots and +groves of sturdy palmettoes. + +"Yes, that is where our Senate convenes and where all the business of +the Republic is done. The President has his offices there, and all the +public receptions are held there. You see, our government does not +provide a home for our President; that, he must look after himself. Why, +we are just in time to see His Excellency now." + +There was a clatter of hoofs under the wide _porte-cochere_ and a smart +closed coupe drew up before the side entrance. The liveried footman with +a cockade of blue and white (the Argentine colours) in his high hat +sprang to the ground and opened the door. A man, slightly above the +usual Argentine height, quite handsome, with pure Castilian features, +and dressed in afternoon garb of tall silk hat and frock coat, got out, +and walked spryly up the wide stone steps, past the sentries in scarlet +and green, into the vestibule. + +"Do you know him, Uncle Juan?" asked Francisco, with awe in his voice. + +"Señor Alcorta, El Presidente, is a warm friend of mine," replied the +Colonel, and as he said it he grew fully half a foot in his nephew's +estimation. + +"A warm friend? Do tell me about him." + +"Another time, Niño, we must hasten to yonder Cathedral; but he is a +good man and a good President." + +They turned towards the enormous building, shaped like the Pantheon with +its blue tile-covered cupola, and its long portico supported by huge +Corinthian columns. + +It was built by the Jesuits in the seventeenth century and hundreds of +Indians were employed by these pioneer fathers, in its construction. +Like all houses in Buenos Aires, it is of masonry untinted except by +years. With the Bishop's palace next to it, it covers an acre of ground. + +Francisco and his uncle entered it and crossing themselves, knelt on the +bare stone floor, for like most Argentines, they were Catholics, and +this was their greatest cathedral. After a few minutes spent in +devotion, the Colonel led the way to one of the naves, where the tomb of +the great liberator, San Martín, stands, a huge sarcophagus upon a high +pedestal of marble. The Colonel stood in meditation a moment, then drew +the boy beside him on a bench. In a low voice he said: + +"Francisco, San Martín, the father of our country, was not only a great +general, but he was also a remarkable organizer, for his troops were +composed mainly of _gauchos_ of the wild uncivilized kind, who were not +easily trained or drilled. It was he who originated the plan of crossing +the Andes and liberating Chile and Perú from the Spanish yoke. + +"With his army of five thousand men, and in the face of public derision, +for the undertaking seemed impossible, he crossed the rugged Cordilleras +in twenty-five days; met the Spanish general in charge of Chile and +defeated him. He was thus the liberator of the Chilean people, for that +battle on the twelfth of February, 1817, gave them their independence +from Spain. In Santiago, Chile, there is a statue to General San +Martín, and one to the city of Buenos Aires. After his wonderful +achievement in crushing the power of Spain, in Argentina, Chile and +Perú, he retired to private life, refusing to serve in any civil +capacity. + +"Following this revolutionary triumph, Brazil waged war with the +Argentine Republic over the disposition of Uruguay. After three years, +they agreed on its independence. This was followed by a dictatorship +lasting twenty years, that was a period of the greatest tyranny in our +history. Don Juan Manuel Ortiz de Rosas, at the head of a powerful troop +of half savage _gauchos_, appeared on the political stage, and literally +wrested the reins of government from Dorrego, who held them. + +"Some time you will read in history of his twenty years of despotism. It +was during this reign that my father, your maternal grandfather, lost +his life in the blockade of Argentine ports, by French and English +forces. Rosas was at last overthrown by General Urquiza, who organized +the government upon its first solid basis, with a constitution modelled +closely after that of the United States of North America. Since then, +although we have had a few revolutions and several financial crises, we +have maintained our freedom; and our wonderful natural resources and our +rapid commercial development are giving us a stable place in the world's +congress of nations." + +Francisco listened attentively, and when his uncle concluded, followed +him out a side entrance into the street, like one in a dream. They +stepped into the Calle Bartolomé Mitre, which seemed congested with a +torrent of vehicles pouring down its narrow channel like a noisy stream +and discharging itself into the great Plaza in front of the Cathedral. + +"What if San Martín could see this now?" ventured Francisco, still +under the spell of the hero's achievements. "Wouldn't he open his eyes?" + +"Yes, lad, the growth of this city has been phenomenal, and this +afternoon I will show you more of it. Why, you're not homesick, are +you?" he asked, noticing the far away look in the boy's eyes as they +sped along the _Avenida_. + +"Not exactly, but I would like to see Elena, and find out how she is +to-day." + +"Why, bless my heart! I had forgotten the sick sister. We will go past +thy mother's house and if the little rose is well enough this afternoon, +we shall include her in our ride in the city." + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 8: Baker.] + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +CURIOUS SIGHTS + + +ELENA was propped up with pillows in a deep chair by the window which +opened out upon the street. She looked lonely, but when she saw the car +sweep along the street and stop at their door, her face beamed happily. +There was no jealousy in Elena's heart because her brother was being +thus favoured by their uncle. + +"Oh, Elena, mia," cried Francisco, throwing his arms about her, and +kissing her on each pale cheek. "Do you feel able to take a ride with us +this afternoon?" + +"I think she is," answered his mother, entering the room, and taking her +son into a close embrace. "But how I have missed my Niño, Juan," turning +to her brother, the Colonel. + +"Perhaps I have been selfish in taking him from you, Anita. Shall I +leave him here?" + +"Ah, no! The lad needs you, Juan. He has no father to teach him as he +should be taught. It is the very opportunity for him; and I am most +pleased. Only, let me see him often, and I shall be content." + +"That you shall, and this afternoon just after _máte_, we will come to +take you and Elena with us for a ride. It may bring roses to her +cheeks," and he pinched the pale cheeks as he passed her on his way +out. + +True to their promise, at five o'clock the automobile drew up in front +of Francisco's home and the Colonel, himself, carried Elena out to it, +and placed her in the nest of pillows on the broad leather seat. Her +mother followed and before Elena realized it, they were speeding toward +the central part of the city. + +"Where does the little White Rose wish to go?" inquired her uncle. + +"Oh, anywhere--away from this horrid street. I am so tired of it. If I +may, I should love to see the water." + +"To the river, Enrique," laughingly ordered her uncle. "Only, the river +isn't a very pretty sheet of water. It is so murky, and I think should +be called the River of Bronze rather than the River of Silver." + +"I know, Uncle Juan; but when I had the fever it was water, water, water +I dreamt of, and now I want to see my fill of it." + +"That you shall, White Rose, for right here at Buenos Aires the river is +over twenty-five miles wide and the city has a frontage of four miles +along the waterfront." + +They passed through the Plaza Mayo, and Francisco had to tell Elena of +having seen el Presidente that morning. Then they turned into the +Paseo-de-Julio, a one-sided boulevard facing the river two blocks away. +The intervening space was a maze of small plazas where palms, flowers, +shrubs and statuary edge the waterfront like a band of solid green. +Beyond, before Elena could see the water, were the busy docks, huge +masonry basins, where over two thousand ocean-going vessels come and go +during the span of a year. + +Electric cranes were swinging the great cargoes of wheat and cattle into +the yawning holds of the vessels, and on and on the sea of funnels and +masts stretched until the muddy line of water at last broke on the +sight. Francisco was alert, his brown eyes taking in every detail of the +stirring busy scene; but Elena's hungry eyes looked past this to the +water beyond. + +"Some day, I hope to go away in one of those big vessels," she +announced. + +"Indeed, and which one will you choose, little White Rose? Here is a +wide choice. That large one with the enormous smokestacks and the +British flag flying above her, is a Royal Mail Steam-ship from England. +One of these leaves every Friday for England, and besides the mail, +carries about fifteen hundred passengers. On one of them you would +travel in great luxury; electric fans, electric elevators, an orchestra +with dances every evening, and dressing for dinner at night. Oh! it's +gay enough, the life on those magnificent steamers! + +"Then, alongside of it you see a smaller boat, a French liner from +Marseilles. They go weekly also, and they bring us our champagne and our +opera companies; why, this very automobile came on one of them. There's +an Italian liner and just beyond are some German boats. In the South +Dock is a river boat that goes up country to Paraguay; our oranges come +on those. And all about are smaller boats, some sailing vessels that +carry coffee from Brazil, and yellow pine from New Orleans in the United +States." + +"Why, that one just over yonder flies the Stars and Stripes of North +America," cried Francisco, pointing to a small vessel. + +"Not exactly, Niño. It is from _Los Estados Unidos_.[9] You must not +confound them, for the United States are but a part of North America, +although many of our people do not seem to think so. But you do not see +many of their flags in our docks. The commercial relations between our +two countries are as yet in their infancy. The most of our export and +import business is done with Europe." + +"Do they not send anything at all down here, but yellow pine, Uncle?" +this from Francisco. + +"Yes, oh! yes. They are sending us machinery, especially agricultural +machinery. When you go with me to the country you will see their +wind-mills, steam threshers and binders in great quantities. They send +us other machinery, of many kinds, but in comparison with our trade with +Germany and England it is very little." + +"And do these big ships go back empty to Europe?" inquired Elena, +pointing to the long wharves. + +"By no means, little girl. See those heavy carts going towards the +docks? Well, I don't suppose your young mind can take in the figures, +but Francisco will understand, when I tell you, those carts carried one +hundred and fifty million bushels of wheat last year to those returning +ships, to say nothing of millions of sheep, frozen quarters of beef, +wool, cheese and even butter and eggs. Anita," turning to his sister, "I +doubt if you, yourself, have ever been to the Barracas, have you?" + +"No, Juan. It is so far from the residence district and I never happened +to drive that way." + +"Then we will ride over there now and let you all see the largest +wholesale produce market under one roof that you can find in all the +world." + +For two miles they sped through narrow streets; past crowded tenements, +in front of which scores of dirty children quarrelled and played, and +where the _peons_ or working classes huddle, sometimes families of +fourteen in one room; past _tambos_, where the cows and goats stand in +sheds, open to the street, awaiting to be milked while the customer +waits; past gray spired churches, their wide doors always open, inviting +the pious passer-by to enter for prayer; passed _fideos_ factories, +where curious shaped macaroni hangs drying in the sun in the open +courtyards; on and on they bumped, for the streets here were +cobble-stones, until, at last, they reached the vast building covering +many acres, where wheat, wool, corn and produce are bought and sold to +the foreign trade. + +"Were it not so late, we would alight and see it closer. However, Elena +could not walk, anyhow. Already, I fear she has had too long a ride for +her strength, and we hope not to tire her on this, her first outing; eh, +White Rose?" But Elena was fast asleep, her head on her mother's +shoulder. + +The chauffeur turned the car towards the city, where here and there, in +the gathering dusk, an electric light could be seen as if notifying the +day, by these advance signals, that its duty was over. + +Elena slept on and did not see the wonderful _Avenida_ as they flew +along its smooth surface, so like Paris as to seem a bit of that gay +city picked up and transferred to American soil; the plane trees +bordering it, with here and there a small newspaper _kiosk_ like a +miniature temple; the splendid building of "La Prensa," the richest +newspaper in the world, where the Buenos Aires public can obtain the +services of the best doctors, lawyers, or dentists free of charge; +invitingly odorous confectioneries or restaurants with small tables on +the sidewalks at which handsomely dressed men and women sit eating and +drinking and watching the gay multitude; bewildering shop windows full +of the latest Parisian novelties; fruit and flower boys, with their +trays of luscious fruits and delicately scented blossoms balanced +unaided on their heads; hotels just beginning to glitter with their +myriads of electric lights; all of these passed by them as Elena slept +the sleep of exhaustion. + +Francisco, however, missed none of it, for his was the Latin spirit +full of love of pleasure and display, bright lights and gay crowds. His +uncle watched him intently from under his heavy brows. + +Suddenly a weird, unearthly wail arose above the hum of the traffic all +around. Elena started up, frightened and trembling, but, as she had +heard it before, she recognized it, and fell back asleep again. +Francisco had heard it also, but never so close, it seemed right beside +him. + +"Uncle, may we not go back by the Prensa building and see what has +happened?" he cried excitedly. + +The Colonel agreed and Enrique crossed to the other side of the street, +entering the long line of vehicles going west, for the "rule of the +road" in Argentina is "keep to the left." The hoarse, wailing steam +whistle had drawn the crowds towards the handsome building from whose +tower it was issuing, and they could not reach it within half a block. +Mounted policemen were everywhere trying to disperse the crowd. It was +good-natured as any Latin crowd, but refused to be moved; like a hot +water bag, it bulged out in one spot when pressed down in another. And +all of this--because the bulletin methods of this mighty newspaper are +so unusual. + +Whenever any unexpected occurrence takes place in Europe or any part of +the world this enterprising "daily" apprises the public of it by blowing +this stridently piercing steam whistle. It was blown when Queen Victoria +passed away; its howl distressed the nervous citizens when San Francisco +was almost in ashes, and its present message was that a son and heir had +been born to the King and Queen of Spain. This was made known from the +front steps of the building and very soon the crowd was a cheering, +hat-waving mob. It was momentarily growing more excited and Enrique +turned into a side street and sped towards the house in Calle Cerrito, +where Elena, now thoroughly aroused by the boisterous tumult about them, +could be tucked away into bed. + +As Francisco and el Coronel Lacevera sat at dinner that evening +discussing the event of the afternoon, while softly gliding servants in +quiet livery served them, the Colonel said:-- + +"Did you know, Niño, that every time La Prensa blows that whistle as +they did to-day, it costs them three hundred dollars?" + +"Why, Uncle Juan, does it use up as much steam as that?" earnestly +inquired Francisco. + +"Scarcely," laughed the Colonel, as he lifted up an enormous bunch of +muscatel grapes, weighing several pounds, from the platter of fruit +before him, "scarcely that, Niño, but our city government fines them +that amount every time they blow it, as they term it a public nuisance. +Now, when they want to indulge in this sensational advertising, they +send a messenger on to the _Commissaria_ post haste to deposit the fine, +timing his arrival just as the last howl of the whistle sounds across +the city." + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 9: The United States.] + + + + +CHAPTER V + +GREAT SURPRISES + + +ON the Colonel's desk the little revolving calendar was set at "December +25th," and the letters were in red ink, showing by this that it was a +feast day. The Colonel was writing, and evidently did not notice a +little figure clad in a long linen coat standing behind his chair +waiting a chance to speak. He wrote on and on, until Francisco's +patience was exhausted and he coughed warningly. + +"Not much of a soldier, Niño! A soldier must have patience if it is to +wait all day." + +But Francisco was used by now to his uncle's chaffing; indeed, they were +close friends and Francisco went right to the heart of his errand. + +"Uncle, it's _El dia de Navidad_." + +"Why, so it is," looking at the calendar. "I had forgotten it was +Christmas. We've so many feast days one cannot keep the run of all, and +I can scarcely remember my own patron saint's day. If it wasn't such a +well known and widely observed one, it would often pass before I knew +it." + +Francisco laughed. "Why, Uncle Juan, you couldn't miss St. John's day +unless you were deaf and blind. They make such a noise and have such +huge bonfires always. For weeks before it comes the children save every +piece of wood and paper, and last St. John's night I stood on our roof +and looked over the city. My! how pretty it looked; the whole city +seemed on fire; for nearly every street had half a dozen bonfires. I +wish _my_ saint was as popular. But to-day, I want to ask if I may go +home just for a little while." + +"Indeed you may, lad, whenever you choose." + +"Well, you see, to-day, I've a special errand, Uncle; I've been making a +_pesebre_ for Elena and it's finished now just in time. I would like to +go and set it up." + +"Let me see it," said the Colonel. + +"Oh, it's fine, Uncle. I've got twenty-eight figures and the paint is +dry on every one of them. I worked all day yesterday in the back +_patio_, and José, the _portero_, helped me cut out the camels. He said +mine looked like giraffes." And the boy began to lay them out on the +desk, tenderly lifting each one as though they were alive and breathing. + +As each little representation took its place in the long row the +Colonel's face grew tender. He dared not smile at their crudity for +behind the rough, unskilful carving, he saw the ideal that had been in +the carver's mind. He was seeing some new thing each day in the little +fellow's character that made him love him more; and when they were all +placed formally together, he drew the little linen coated figure into +the circle of his arm and together they discussed the merits of each wee +wooden figure. + +"Niño, we will go together! That's what we'll do," he exclaimed almost +boyishly. "I am tired of these long army statistics, so let us go +_inmediatamente_." + +A span of Argentine thoroughbreds took them this time, for the Colonel +was a genuine lover of horse flesh, and he owned several of the finest +in the country. It is said that an Argentine will lavish as much care on +his favourite horse as a mother will upon her child; and these two, +Saturnino and Val-d'Or, were the pride of his heart. + +"This pair, Francisco," he began, as they took their seats in the open +victoria, and the silver studded harness tinkled as the splendid horses +started off; "this pair are to be taken abroad next month with my two +trotters, Benita and Malacaro. Our horses are attracting more and more +attention in Europe as they see the fine specimens our stables are +sending there. + +"I shall enter them on the English turf, and I am ready to hazard their +price that they will come back, at least one of them, with a blue +riband. At any rate, I am sure there are no finer appearing horses +anywhere than these; but all of our horses are good to look at. Of +course, I except those miserable cab horses; they are a disgrace to +their name, and should be called sheep." + +Thus he chatted on, full of his subject, until they reached Francisco's +home. They found Guillerma and her mother away. They had gone to +celebrate mass and Elena, with the one _servienta_, was alone in the +house. + +"You entertain her, Uncle Juan, while I erect the _pesebre_," whispered +Francisco. + +So the gray haired soldier took Elena on his knee and told her the story +of a little girl who was lost in a forest and of the convention of +animals that met to discuss her fate. He put most eloquent speeches into +the jaws and beaks of the different birds and animals, such as the deer, +the puma, the ostrich, the jaguar, and many others. Elena's eyes were +wide as the big bear growled out his belief that she should be cut up +into half _kilo_ bits, and divided among them; but just then Francisco +entered the room and asked them to come into the dining-room where +Estrella, the servant, was preparing _máte_. + +As they entered the _comedor_[10] Elena spied the manger with its +surrounding images in the corner, on the floor. + +"_Que hermosa! Que linda!_"[11] she cried, clasping her hands in +ecstasy. "Only yesterday did I tell Encarnación, when she came to bring +me Christmas cakes full of almonds and raisins, that we should have no +_pesebre_. She is to have one of ivory that cost a small fortune, but I +had rather have this. Oh! it is so beautiful! Who could have brought it? +Who could have put it here?" and she looked up inquiringly, first at her +uncle and then at her brother. Uncle Juan's face pleaded "not guilty" +but Francisco's was so beamingly tell-tale that she flew to him and +embraced him and kissed him over and over again. + +[Illustration: "'DID YOU EVER SEE SUCH GLORIOUS BLUE EYES!'"] + +When each figure had been carefully inspected and discussed Uncle Juan +proposed a ride, this time behind his favourite horses. As they entered +the house on their return he was pleased to see a faint colour on +Elena's face and a brighter look in her eyes. + +Thus the days passed, swiftly enough; New Year's with its fireworks and +noisy crowds of celebrating _peons_, and at last came twelfth night. + +Elena awoke on the sixth of January feverishly expectant. Surely, after +having set up such a lovely _pesebre_, the Three Kings would not forget +her. An excursion into the dining-room proved their faithfulness, for +there they stood--three smartly covered camels, and three wee kings, +bowing before the tiny babe in the manger. + +Around the room were the gifts they had brought to her. A toy piano, a +wonderful French doll with a trunk full of clothes, a few picture-books +and a china tea set. She was still admiring them when Francisco arrived; +he was dressed for travelling and was quite excited, but Elena could not +notice that, so absorbed was she in her toys and doll. + +"See this _muñeca_,[12] Francisco, mio! Did you _ever_ see such glorious +blue eyes, just like the English Señora's on the corner. Why, you act +as though you had seen them before, Francisco, are you not surprised to +see so many?" exclaimed Elena, impatient that he would not kneel with +her among her gifts. + +"They are beautiful, Elena, every one of them. But I am in a great haste +for Uncle Juan and I are leaving from the Retiro Station in half an +hour. The servant, José, has taken our trunks and large bags ahead, and +I stopped here to bid you all goodbye, as Uncle Juan had another errand +to do on his way down. We go a day earlier than we had planned in order +that we may stop over for a day and night in Rosario. I am glad, Elena, +that your gifts are so lovely, and if I were not in such a hurry, we +would have a long play together. But I shall write to you, all of you;" +and he embraced them, each one, mother and two sisters, hastily, not +trusting himself to prolong the goodbye. + +The Estación Retiro was full of a holiday crowd, for it was early +morning. José was awaiting him, and they stood watching the long trains +of cars coming and going, discharging their loads into the long sheds, +and swallowing up another one and puffing out again. Francisco's +knowledge of railroads was limited. He had never taken a long journey on +one; his mother and Guillerma had taken him with them on one of their +yearly pilgrimages to the shrine of Our Lady of Lujan, some forty miles +distant, for being devout Catholics, this was never omitted. He began to +grow nervous, fearing his uncle would be too late, as the train for +Rosario was puffing and blowing just outside the iron gate and the guard +was preparing to ring a huge bell, which announced the departure of all +trains. Just before its first peal broke from its brass throat his uncle +strode in, and, motioning the servant to follow with the bags, he +hurried Francisco through the gate. + +José, the _portero_ accompanying them, was an Araucanian Indian by +birth, but he spoke Spanish fluently. When a mere boy, the Colonel's +father had brought him from Chile, when returning from a military +expedition into that country; and he had been a faithful servant of the +family ever since. As slavery is prohibited in Argentina he had been +paid wages since he became of age, over forty years ago, but no power on +earth could have induced José to leave the service of Colonel Lacevera. + +He was but slightly bent and possessed the broad face and high cheek +bones of the South American Indian. His skin was like parchment, and his +eyes slanted peculiarly like the eyes of the Chinese. When Francisco had +spoken of that last characteristic to his uncle he had been told that +many people believed these Indians to be a tangent of the Oriental +races, and upheld their theory mainly because of the peculiar similarity +of the eyes. + +José and Francisco were great friends and Francisco was much pleased +that José was to be with them at the _estancia_, since his knowledge of +animals, birds, herbs, in fact all out door life, was unlimited. + +The car they occupied was a compartment car of the English type, +although the ponderous engine was North American. As the railroads of +Argentina are mainly under English control the English railway customs +and equipments are largely in evidence. + +The pretty stations at each suburb are surrounded by grass plots with +beds of flowers, and the English system of overhead bridges across the +tracks at all stations reduces the number of accidents. + +Francisco found out all of this by a series of continuous questions as +their train sped through the pretty suburbs with their numbers of summer +homes, surrounded by well kept gardens. The villages began to grow fewer +and fewer and Colonel Lacevera said: + +"Now it's my turn, Niño! Can you bound the Argentine Republic?" + +Francisco began in the sing-song manner of the Spanish schools:--"On the +north by Paraguay, Bolivia and Brazil, on the west and south by Chile; +on the east by Brazil, Uruguay and the Atlantic Ocean. Its area is one +million, one hundred and eighteen thousand square miles and its +population is over six million. It is--" + +"There! There!" exclaimed his uncle, laughingly. "You may stop. No +telling how long you could sing the praises of your native land. I want +to tell you a few things that you may not have learned. Do you know what +alluvial soil is?" + +"It sounds like some metal," ventured the boy. + +"But it isn't. You see, Argentina was once part of the ocean bed; for +under the soil, way back in the interior of the country, I, myself, +have found shells and gravel. This long level stretch of land between +the Atlantic Ocean and the foothills of the Andes, that was once covered +with water, is now called the Pampas; and you are now in that region. + +"See that long, coarse grass stretching as far as the eye can reach; it +is the finest pasture land in the world and explains why we produce such +quantities of cattle, sheep and horses. You see, having this excellent +pasture-land, so well watered, and a climate that insures grazing the +whole year through, our expenses for raising and rearing cattle are very +low. We are a larger country than we appear on the map, my boy. Why! we +are twelve times as large as Great Britain." + +"Uncle, as we have so many things that are the largest and best in the +world, tell me, is this the longest railroad on the earth?" + +"No, Niño, not quite that. Our railroads are developing our country at a +rapid rate and we have some of the finest road beds in the world, but +that is because our country is so level. Now that I think of it, we have +got something connected with railroads that is interesting. We have the +longest straight stretch of railway in the world, it is said. On the +Argentine Pacific Railway from Buenos Aires to the Andes it runs like a +surveyor's line two hundred and eleven miles without deviating a foot. +But come, let us go into the dining car for breakfast; it is already +half-past eleven." + +This was Francisco's greatest surprise of all in a long list of the +day's surprises. To eat in a railway car, speeding fifty miles an hour, +with delicate china and napery, shining silver and food like he had been +having daily at his uncle's table, seemed too wonderful to be true. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 10: Dining-room.] + +[Footnote 11: How beautiful! How lovely!] + +[Footnote 12: Doll.] + + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +NEW EXPERIENCES + + +"LEVANTESE! Levantese!" came José's voice to Francisco's ear, just as +the latter was lassoing a llama he had been pursuing on the back of an +ostrich. + +Francisco rubbed his eyes and woke from his dream to a babel of voices, +and the train was not in motion. Where could he be? + +As he rubbed his sleepy eyes again his uncle took him gently by the +shoulder. + +"Wake yourself, Niño. We are in Rosario; come, follow me." + +Francisco followed him through the long hall of the compartment car out +into the big station where insistent porters and shouting cab-men made +frantic grabs at them and their baggage, only to be beaten off by José, +whose language as he scolded and berated them was not what is known as +"polite Spanish." + +Selecting a victoria from the long line of waiting ones, they entered, +José sitting with the driver, and were soon before the lighted portals +of a large hotel. + +The building was two stories in height and perfectly square; the second +story bed-rooms all opened on to a porch or corridor, which ran +completely around and overlooked the central court on the first floor. +The entrance was very imposing with marble staircases and marble +pillars; and Francisco's sleepy eyes opened wide in astonishment. They +were just in time for dinner; already the marble tables in the _patio_ +were filling with men and women sipping their afterdinner coffee in the +cool open air. + +As this was Francisco's first dinner in a hotel it might be interesting +to know what he ate. Being an Argentine, he always ate several different +kinds of meat, and began this meal with a platter of cold meats: tongue, +pressed chicken and jellied veal. Second, a vermicelli soup with grated +cheese; third, fried _pejerey_, the most popular fish of the country; +fourth, partridge fried in oil; fifth, asparagus with melted butter; +sixth, macaroni with tomato and garlic sauce; seventh, roast mutton; +eighth, a salad of lettuce and tomatoes; ninth, a sweet jelly in wine +sauce; tenth, fruits; and then they adjourned to the _patio_ for coffee. + +While his uncle smoked and talked with friends, whom he had chanced to +meet, Francisco slipped away and José helped him undress for bed, as he +was very tired. + +He remembered no more after José turned off the electric light until he +opened his eyes into the full glare of the sun, the next morning. It +was nine o'clock and José was laying out clean linen for him. After a +refreshing shower bath, he returned to his room to find his rolls and +coffee on a table beside his bed. + +"Why, José, I'm not a lady that I must have my _café_ in bed!" exclaimed +the lad. "Mother and the girls always do that, but I'm a man and I want +to have mine in the dining-room with Uncle Juan." + +José explained that in hotels one must always take one's morning coffee +in one's rooms; and he talked on while Francisco ate and dressed. + +"_El Coronel_ will be busy all of the day and he has placed you in my +hands. Rosario, I know like a book, and together we will see it." + +"Oh! that will be great fun, José. Where shall we go first?" + +"Would you like to see them load the vessels? This city is where much of +the wheat of our country is brought to be loaded into the vessels for +Europe. The river is so deep here that the largest ocean-going vessels +can come up to the docks." + +They walked through crowded, busy streets until they came to a high +bluff, and from the edge of this they could look down on the very tops +of the long rows of steamships below, all being loaded with wheat. + +This was just the beginning of the busy season, for the harvest was +scarcely under way. In January and February the whole city of Rosario +would seem nothing but wheat, wheat, wheat. + +Francisco saw all of this with deepest interest; he was beginning to +comprehend the resources of his own country. + +They sat watching the course of the wheat bags as they shot down the +long chutes from the high bluffs to the vessels below, until Francisco's +eyes grew tired and even when he closed them he could see long lines of +bobbing bags, like yellow mice, chasing one another into the water. + +So they walked along the bluff, counting the flags of the different +nations displayed on the boats beneath them; English, French, Italian, +Dutch, German and a few that Francisco had never seen before. + +For a while they watched the _lavaderas_ or washer-women pounding the +clothes of the city on the rocks at the edge of the water; and spreading +them on the higher rocks behind them to bleach and dry. + +Steam laundries are uncommon in South America and all of the washing is +done in this manner. The _lavaderas_ carry the soiled linen from the +houses to the river on their heads, balancing huge bundles as easily as +though they were trifles, their arms folded across their breasts. + +As they stood watching this cleansing process Francisco spied a +raft-like boat piled high with small logs tied on securely. + +"It looks out of place here, José, among all these enormous freight +steamers. What does it carry?" + +"Willow, Señorito, and see, there are others coming down the river. It +goes to Buenos Aires to be made into charcoal, the principal fuel of +that city. Great quantities of it are raised above here; it is quick of +growth and needs only to be planted so," and José demonstrated by taking +a short twig and sticking it into the earth. + +"Behold! and in seven years, it is as you see it there on the rafts +ready for market. They use the twigs for making Osier baskets. But _hace +calor_[13] let us go to the cool shady _patio_ of the hotel and there I +will tell you a story of some charcoal burners until the Uncle comes." + +But the Colonel reached the hotel before they did, for Francisco must +stop to see this thing and that as they sauntered along. The mid-day +heat meant little to him while so much of novelty challenged his +attention. José was always ready to answer his questions, and he +frequently drew the boy's notice to something that would escape any one +but a keen observer, and this the Indian was. + +The sun was almost in midheaven, and the daily _siesta_ was beginning in +some parts of the city. Workshops were being closed, and under every +tree some cart driver had drawn up his horse and stretched himself on +the grass under its shade; even the beggars were curled up on the church +steps fast asleep. + +"Why do some of those ragged beggars wear metal badges, José?" + +"They are licensed beggars, Señorito. The city has authorized them to +beg, and when you help them you may know you are helping no rogues." + +Francisco drew his nose up into a prolonged sniff. "I believe I'm +hungry, José. What smells so good?" + +"Step here on to this side street and I'll show you." + +The street was being torn up to be repaved, and the _peon_ workingmen at +this noon interval of rest were eating their _almuerzo_. Gathered in +little groups, they sat around something that was cooking and emitting +odours of stewing meat, potatoes and onions. + +"But how are they cooking here in the street?" + +"Go closer and you can see," replied José. + +Francisco walked to the curb, and looking over their backs into the +middle of one circle he saw--the stew cooking in a shovel. + +"They buy these things at the market and use their street shovels for +stewpans, as you see." + +"Ugh! I hope they wash them first," laughed Francisco. + +They were now passing the market, an enormous affair covering the best +of a large block. But the scene was no longer animated for the +chattering and bargaining were beginning to cease; and the merchants, +themselves, were nodding over their wares. + +Along the curbing were piles of merchandise; here, a stack of peaches, +pears, apricots, figs, nectarines, grapes, and plums; there, an array of +earthen ware, in curious shapes; here, a stock of readymade clothing, +aprons, trousers, _ponchos_[14] and shoes. The vegetables were heaped +high in piles; tomatoes, beans, lettuce, cardon, celery, potatoes, +cucumbers, and onions in long ropes, their stems so plaited together +with straw that they can be sold by the yard; or, in that country's +measure, a _metro_.[15] + +Many of the stalls offered cooked foods; roasted partridges and +chickens; pâtes of jellied meats; cleaned and cooked armadillo, whose +meat tastes like tender roast pork. The Argentines are very fond of them +and they consume thousands every month. + +Around the curbing, at one end of the market, stood great carts, with +wheels fully eight feet high. These, José told Francisco, were the +market carts that brought the produce into the city. They look rude and +cumbersome, but carry several tons and often as many as a dozen oxen are +hitched to them. + +These interested Francisco but José bid him hurry as no doubt his uncle +would have breakfasted. Which, indeed, he was doing, for as they entered +the hotel Francisco caught sight of him, seated in the long dining-room +with several gentlemen; all of them, including the Colonel, in cool +looking white linen suits. Francisco joined them and was introduced to +the strangers. + +They were wealthy _estancieros_ but not Spaniards. One was an +Englishman and the other a North American, owning ranches near Rosario, +and they were negotiating with Colonel Lacevera for some pedigreed +horses which he owned. + +They talked partly in Spanish and partly in English; for like most +educated Argentines, the Colonel spoke some English and understood more. +Francisco had studied English at school just as he did French, and he +was delighted to be able to understand some of their conversation. + +Before they parted, the Englishman urged Colonel Lacevera to attend a +large sale of cattle and horses which was to take place at his +_estancia_ the next day, Sunday. Patting Francisco on the head he added: + +"Bring the Niño also, he may enjoy it." + +So early the following morning José had their horses at the curb of the +hotel, saddled and ready for the three league gallop. + +Francisco had not ridden often, but his enthusiasm knew no bounds when +he saw the Argentine pony that was to be his mount. + +The Colonel looked at José meaningly, for he knew that this eagerness +would not outlast the long gallop. + +At first they rode briskly in the cool morning air. Francisco held on +bravely, but the Colonel noticed the firm set of his lips, and that he +talked less and less as they rode on. + +They were riding through beautiful country. The turf was fresh and green +in spots where the old coarse grass had been burned off and the tender +young sprouts were coming up through the rich soil. They passed droves +of several thousand sheep nibbling peacefully on this succulent new +growth. There were shepherds, with here and there a hut made of poles +covered with mud; the roof thatched with asparta grass. + +Francisco was so tired and his bones began to ache so desperately that +he ceased to show any interest in the things they passed. Colonel +Lacevera and José exchanged knowing looks, but dared not permit +Francisco to see them. When they came to one of these rude huts his +uncle said: + +"Niño, would you not like to see the inside of one of these _prairie +palaces_?" + +He admired the boy's pluck, but he feared to tax his physical endurance +more. + +Francisco willingly assented, and they rode up to the door around which +a swarm of dirty, half naked children sat on the ground. + +José called: "Ola!" and a copper-coloured woman appeared at the door, +dressed only in one garment, a dun-coloured chemise. + +She was an Indian, and when José spoke to her in her own tongue, asking +for a drink, she pointed to the square kerosene tin filled with water, +beside which hung a gourd. + +She said her husband was out with the sheep; and she had no chairs to +offer them, but they might alight and rest. + +They stepped into the hut, the door of which was a horse's hide; the +floor was the hard earth; a box stood in the middle and served as a +table, while bundles of straw in the corners served as beds. Instead of +chairs there were dried skulls of oxen; their wide, spreading horns +serving as arms to these unique seats. Francisco was glad, however, to +rest his weary body within their grewsome embrace and he sat thus for +half an hour, while José watered the horses and the Colonel talked to +the children. + +Francisco himself proposed that they start on, but José was obliged to +lift him into his saddle. One more league and they were in sight of the +_estancia_, where the sale was to be held. + +The house was of the usual Spanish style of architecture, and the many +buildings grouped around it gave the place a resemblance to a village. + +Señor Stanley met them and "gave" them his house, after the manner of +all Spanish hosts, and they entered to wash and rest. + +As the Señor Stanley was an Englishman, his house interested Francisco +in spite of his weariness. It was fitted with every luxury of a high +class English home; the baths being supplied with cool spring water +which flowed through them constantly. There were handsomely furnished +parlours, a well-filled library and a billiard room. The stables were +commodious and sanitary; and the tennis courts and golf links, gardens +and _patios_ were numerous. + +In the corrals they found several hundred men gathered and there was +much confusion and noise. + +It was Sunday and therefore a holiday spirit pervaded everything, for +Sunday is not observed in Argentina as a day of quiet and reverence; it +is the day for sports, games and excursions. This sale had been set for +Sunday to insure a large attendance. + +First, breakfast was served. Under a long arbour, formed by tall +eucalyptus trees, the table, fully a hundred feet in length, had been +set. At each place was a bunch of flowers and a bottle of native wine. + +Despite his aching body, Francisco did full justice to the soup, +barbecued meats and fowls, vegetables and fruits that were served. But +after he had eaten he crept under the shade of one of the trees to rest. + +He fell asleep and slept until his uncle wakened him at _máte_ time. + +"Hello, my boy! Slept through all of this noise? You were certainly +exhausted, for such a clatter as there has been. One hundred thousand +dollars and many pedigreed animals have changed hands, and it wasn't +done quietly either. We will have our _máte_ and then ride home in the +cool of the evening. Come." And the Colonel helped the stiff jointed, +weary boy to his feet. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 13: It makes hot, literally.] + +[Footnote 14: Blankets.] + +[Footnote 15: A little over a yard.] + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +ON THE RANCH + + +"WHAT is that you have, Manuel?" cried Francisco, to one of the _peons_, +five days later, as he sat under an ombú tree in the garden on his +uncle's _estancia_, playing with some tame _tierra_ birds, that kept the +garden clean of worms. + +Manuel was one of the house _peons_ and he had a queer looking machine +with a long snout under his arm. + +"Why, this is an ant destroyer, Señorito; would you care to watch me +kill ants?" + +For answer, Francisco ran eagerly to his side and the two walked toward +the peach orchard. Francisco had had five days of rest from his tiresome +ride the day of the sale, and he was now ready for any new adventure. + +They had arrived at the Tres Arroyas ranch three days before and he had +made friends with every one connected with the house and gardens. The +heat had been too great to allow of any wider acquaintance, which would +have included the gauchos, or cowboys; at least the nearer ones, for the +Tres Arroyas ranch was very large, and Francisco never could have known +them all. José had told him that one could ride all day from the centre +and not reach its boundaries. + +"Why do you use that to kill ants?" he asked of Manuel. "Our _servienta_ +at home uses hot water when they get into the _patio_." + +"Ah, yes, Señorito, but these country ants come in such armies it would +take a geyser of boiling water to kill them. Now, we are here in the +orchard; you can see how they destroy things." + +Curious rivulets of tawny brown ran here and there as far as the eye +could reach. + +"Last spring these ants fairly cleaned our peach trees of their tender +young leaves, and it was only by continuous labour that we exterminated +them. Now, look at them! Thick as ever." + +"But how can you kill millions of ants with so small a machine?" + +"Well, I can't this afternoon. I brought the machine here to place it +and get it ready; then early in the morning I will tap on the iron bars +of your window and you must follow me." + +It was scarcely more than dawn the next morning when Francisco heard the +gentle tapping on the _rejas_ at his window. He had forgotten his +engagement with Manuel, and started up in bewilderment. The sight of +the _peon_ reminded him and he hurried into his garments and was soon +with Manuel in the crisp morning air. + +"A little more of the sun above the horizon and we would have been too +late for to-day," said the swarthy Spaniard, as he busied himself +lighting the machine. + +"Ants are early risers, and it's only by getting up before they have +made their morning toilets that we can manage to make war on them." + +Francisco laughed at the idea of an ant bathing and dressing, and bent +over on his knees beside Manuel who was scratching a match to light the +dry rubbish in the cylindrical can, in one end of which was a small +amount of sulphur. He screwed a lid on the other end, inserted the snout +into an ant hole and with a pair of bellows he sent the volumes of +sulphurous smoke into the labyrinthine passages of the ant houses. + +"Look, look," excitedly cried Francisco, as quantities of smoke were +seen issuing from many holes, here and there, within a radius of several +hundred yards; showing how intricate and many winding are the +underground passages of these industrious pests. + +"Yes, there won't be many ants getting out to work this morning. But in +a short while they will be just as bad as ever." + +They went from one part of the orchard to another until the sun was too +high, and they were obliged to stop until another morning. Francisco +learned, as they walked toward the house, that these ants are the worst +pest, excepting the locust, that the farmer has to combat. They +particularly delight in carrying away whole beds of strawberries and +they often come in armies that swarm over every obstacle in their path. + +As they entered the house, Francisco noticed that his uncle had had +_café_ and was in his riding breeches ready for a morning gallop. + +"May I go with you, Uncle Juan?" cried Francisco. + +"Hey! That's spirit for you! Rode yourself to fragments a few days ago +and ready for another trial to-day. _Che_," clapping his hands as a +_peon_ appeared. + +"Saddle Barboza for the Señorito, _inmediatamente_." + +Francisco gulped his _café_ and nibbled at a biscuit, but he was too +excited to eat more. + +When the horses were brought to the door, his eyes gleamed, for he saw +that the smaller horse, that was to be his to ride while he was on the +_estancia_, was resplendent in a new saddle, bridle and bit. The servant +brought a set of solid silver spurs and smart leather riding boots which +he assisted Francisco to put on, and which he told him his uncle had had +sent with the saddle and outfit from the city. + +The stirrups were of silver, beautifully chased, and the head stall, +ornaments for the brow band which covers most of the horse's face, and +the _pretel_ bangles that jingled across the horse's breast, were all of +the same valuable metal. It was indeed the outfit of a gentleman, and on +Barboza, the sleek bay horse, with the neat, light hoof of the prairie +steed, it seemed an equipment fit for a prince. His uncle appeared at +the mounting block and Francisco kissed him again and again as he +thanked him for the lovely gifts. + +"Hey! Hey! We can't waste time thus, my boy. I am going over to the west +of the _estancia_ to inspect some horse branding that is to take place +to-day. The _mayor domo_[16] will follow me later." + +They cantered off across the corral and were soon on the open plains. On +and on, over the pastures, some of them red, like battle grounds with +the scarlet _margarita_ or verbena; when again they would reach a huge +patch of white ones that looked at a distance like snow. + +"What was that, Uncle?" exclaimed Francisco, startled, as a large bird +with yellow breast and gray wings screeched across their path, emitting +a harsh cry of several syllables. + +"That is the _bicho-feo_."[17] + +"Why do they call it ugly bug? It is a bird." + +"Because its cry is not unlike those words. Listen again and you will +hear how plainly he says it. It is a bird of prey and lives on smaller +birds. That bird just fluttering up out of the grass at your left is a +scissors bird." + +"Oh, I know why. See how its two long tail feathers clip the air like +scissors as it flies." + +They passed numbers of small gray owls; and once Francisco spied a flock +of flamingoes across the water of a small lake. Occasionally they passed +a shepherd's hut; but now they were getting on beyond the sheep grazing +pastures and great herds of cattle came in sight. + +Francisco leaped in his saddle with joy. "Oh! Uncle, are we coming to +the cowboys?" + +His boyish enthusiasm had pictured them on their native heath so often, +and now he was really to see them! He had watched them when they came to +the city on holidays and walked along the Paseo de Julio, where the pawn +shops, with their tempting offers of silver sheathed knives, gaily +striped _ponchos_, and silver mounted _rebenques_[18] draw them as honey +draws bees; but to see them on the plains,--that was what he wanted! + +[Illustration: "SOON AFTER HIS EAGER QUESTION THEY PASSED A GROUP OF +THEM."] + +He did not have to call on his reserve of patience; indeed, soon after +his eager question they passed a group of them, crouched on the ground +around a fire of dry thistles, over which hung a can, suspended by wire +from a tripod, and which held the water for their morning _máte_. They +arose to their feet as the Colonel galloped past and greeted him with +_vivas_. + +"Do they often use those murderous looking knives on each other, Uncle?" +asked Francisco; the sight of their weapons having subdued his zeal +somewhat. They were rougher looking men in their working clothes than +when they came to the city dressed for a lark. + +"Seldom, Niño; unless they are intoxicated. They are not very civilized +and they have no education whatever. They fairly live on their horses' +backs and cannot be persuaded to do any work that must be done outside +their saddles." + +They were, indeed, fierce in appearance. Their knee-high boots were made +of rawhide; they wore no trousers, but a striped blanket held around the +waist with a belt, then brought between the legs and fastened again to +the belt in front, formed the covering of the lower part of the body. +This is called the _chirapa_ and when walking it gives the wearer a +bulky appearance, not unlike a Turk. + +As these were _peon gauchos_, or low-class cowboys, they were not so +picturesque as the gentleman _gaucho_, who is entirely different in +appearance and character. + +The _mayor domo_ rode up to them within the first hour, and his costume +was that of the _caballero_ class or gentleman _gaucho_. + +He also wore the _chirapa_, but it was over long white cotton trousers, +the edges of which were embroidered and finished with hand-made lace. +Instead of the rawhide belt of the _peon gaucho_, his was a strip of +hogskin doubled, the inside forming a pocket, which was stitched into +compartments, these being made secure with clasps made of silver coins; +from all of this hung a festoon of coins encircling the entire waist. +The large clasp in the front was of solid silver, carved to represent +the crest of Argentina. Several knives were thrust through his elaborate +belt, and his riding whip was of closely braided rawhide, with a heavy +silver handle. + +Francisco eyed him curiously, but with evident admiration. This was more +to his liking, and he rode between this gentleman of the Pampas and his +soldier uncle with great pride. Almost, he was persuaded to be a +_gaucho_, but a side glance at his idolized uncle brought quick +repentance to his heart. + +How could he be so disloyal to his family traditions! A _soldado_,[19] +of course, that was his destiny. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 16: Superintendent.] + +[Footnote 17: Beech-o fay'-o.] + +[Footnote 18: Riding whips.] + +[Footnote 19: Soldier.] + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +CATTLE BRANDING + + +THEY reached the western corral about ten o'clock, and found the +branding already under way. Several dozen _peon gauchos_ had assembled +and they had driven the horses to be branded into an enclosure. + +"See, Niño, these are all young animals; they have never had the iron on +them." + +"Why do you brand them, Uncle Juan? Your _estancia_ is so large surely +they could not stray on to a neighbour's ranch; and then the _gauchos_ +watch them carefully?" + +"Yes, but there are so many thousands that, despite the best of care, +our horses stray away occasionally. Before every yearly round-up, we +send _peons_ to all the neighbouring ranches to gather in the strayed +ones; and if our brand is on them there is never any question as to +their owner. I am gradually having the outskirts of the _estancia_ +enclosed in barbed wire fencing, but it is so many leagues around that +it is no easy matter. But look, see how they catch them!" + +They were using the _bolas_, and although Francisco had often seen them +in the shop windows, he had never seen them in use. They are an +aboriginal device for lassoing cattle and horses. They consist each of +three stone balls covered with leather and all attached to long thongs, +two of which are longer than the third. The ends of these thongs are +attached together and when the _gaucho_ uses them he raises his hand +holding these ends above his head and whirls them around and around to +gather momentum, then opening his hand the weapon flies away to coil +itself about the feet of the animal that he wishes to lasso. These +_gauchos_ are so skilful in the use of the _bolas_ that their aim is +unerring, and although it sometimes bruises the captive's legs, it is a +most convenient method for catching a fleet-footed horse or cow. + +[Illustration: "BLAZED THE LINES OF THE TRES ARROYAS ON ITS HIP"] + +When the _gaucho_ in the enclosure had caught a horse by this means, he +immediately pulled it to the ground. A _peon_ sat on its neck while +another held it by a rope around its fore-legs, and a third blazed the +lines of the Tres Arroyas brand on its hip. The mark was in the shape of +a horseshoe, inside of which was a cross; and at least ten of these +groups were busy all of the time, burning it on the young animals. + +"What do you raise these wild horses for, Uncle Juan?" inquired +Francisco, who had not missed one single detail of the performance. +"They are not fine horses like Barboza here," and he patted his steed's +neck affectionately. + +"No, they are not, by any means. These wild horses are raised for their +hides mainly, although very little of them goes to waste when they are +skinned. Look over yonder, near that cluster of mud huts, where the +hides are drying in the air and sun." + +Francisco's eyes followed the end of the silver riding whip that his +uncle used to point with, and saw tier after tier of poles, from which +were stretched horsehides to stakes in the ground below. + +Turning to Don Carlos, the _mayor domo_, who was near-by, the Colonel +inquired the worth of the horses being branded. + +"Not less than ten or twelve dollars each," answered the superintendent. +"These are very good ones. Does the Señor care to have his breakfast +now?" + +For some time, Francisco had been feeling pangs of hunger. His hurried +_café_ had not been sufficient nourishment for the long hot ride, and +now his hunger was aroused by odours that came to his nostrils like +pleasant messengers; yet, he could not see anything cooking. + +"Uncle, shall we eat out here with the _gauchos_?" he asked, wild-eyed. + +"Very near them anyhow, but not exactly _with_ them. Manuel came ahead +of us to prepare our _almuerzo_, which is in process of cooking over +yonder behind that clump of willows. Before we eat you shall see the +_gauchos_ eat, but I warn you it is not a prepossessing sight. + +"Here, Don Carlos, have the men go to their breakfast now, the lad wants +to see their table manners." + +Don Carlos rode into the corral, spoke a few words and the branding +ceased. Each man mounted his own pony, for an Argentine cowboy never +walks, be his journey ever so short. With cheers and shouts they +galloped toward the mud huts near-by. + +Francisco and the Colonel followed at a more dignified pace. They found +the men gathered about in groups, squatting on the ground or sitting on +ox skulls. + +The beef had been quartered and roasted on a spit over a charcoal fire, +outside one of the huts. Each man, without ceremony, had "fallen to" and +helped himself, by cutting great chunks of the meat from the large piece +on the fire. + +Holding one end with his teeth and the other with his hand, each man +would sever the bite about two inches from his mouth with one of his +silver-handled belt knives. + +"You see how superfluous are knives, forks and plates," said the Colonel +in an undertone to Francisco as they watched this primitive process. + +"And now for our own breakfast. I am as hollow as is the wild pumpkin +at the end of summer," and he gave a sharp blow to his horse, another to +Barboza, and they were off towards their own waiting meal in the shadow +of the willows. + +Manuel had killed a small kid soon after reaching the corral, and had +roasted it on a spit in its skin over a fire of dry thistles and +charcoal. He was basting it with salt water, which he had brought in a +bottle. In the coals below were sweet potatoes roasting in their +jackets. So tempting were the combined odours of lamb and sweet potatoes +that Francisco ran to the little stream to wash himself, in order that +he might begin to appease his appetite at once. + +"I _never_ was so hungry," said he, as he took the tin plate offered him +by Manuel. "I think I could eat with my hands like the cowboys! Do they +ever eat anything but meat?" + +"Seldom. They care but little for vegetables; not enough to take the +trouble of raising a few. Meat and _galletas_, the hard biscuit of the +Pampas, often three or four months old, is all they have besides their +_máte_, that they _must_ have always. + +"Que esperanza! lad, this lamb is good! It takes me back to other days. +Many times on our expeditions into the provinces have I eaten thus." + +"Tell me, do tell me of one while we eat and rest," coaxed Francisco. + +"There were many, lad," said the Colonel, as he passed his plate back to +Manuel for another piece of the smoking, savoury lamb. "I've never told +you of the expedition of General Roca into Patagonia. I was commanding a +regiment at that time, one of the regiments that became famous because +of that remarkable undertaking. + +"Patagonia is all of the southern-most part of this continent lying +between the Rio[20] Negro and the Straits of Magellan, excepting the +narrow strip between the Andes and the Pacific Ocean, which belongs to +Chile. This country is not the barren, unproductive country now that it +was before our expedition carried civilization to its wild wastes and +reclaimed those vast prairies from the Indians." + +"But, Uncle Juan, what right had Argentina to take the land from the +Indians of Patagonia? They had lived there for centuries and it was +theirs." + +"It is a long story, Niño, and I shall give you only the bare outline. +You see, Patagonia is a series of vast terraces from the Atlantic Ocean +to the foot of the Andes. On these well watered steppes, Patagonian +Indians, mainly the Chennas, raised their cattle, allowing them to rove +at will. But the winters there are most severe, especially when a +_pampero_ blows; so, during the winter months, they drove their immense +droves of cattle to the northward into the foothills of the Andes, where +it was warmer. During these winter sojourns close to the frontier of our +Republic, they lived by murdering and stealing from our settlements, and +the development of our lands was being retarded because these pioneers +were obliged to flee to the cities and leave their fields of grain and +maize, their vineyards and their cattle to the mercy of the marauders. + +"Gradually the outposts of our civilization were creeping closer to +Buenos Aires, instead of extending and growing as they should. Do you +now see why we were justified in fighting them?" + +"Yes, but I didn't know they had made any trouble. I supposed they were +peaceful." + +"Far from it. At last when Don Nicolas Avellaneda became President, he +sent General Roca, who was my general, and the Minister of War, into +Patagonia to exterminate these Chennas. + +"It was not an easy task, for these Indians are a fierce race, giants in +size and strength. Do you know how they came by their name, +Patagonians?" + +"I have never heard, it must have something to do with their feet as +'patagon' means 'large foot.'" + +"That's it exactly. Magellan, the discoverer, saw their footprints in +the sand and because of their magnitude, he believed them to be giants, +and called them that before he had ever seen them. + +"Well, General Roca never knew discouragement, and he set about their +defeat by digging great trenches, twenty feet deep and twenty feet wide, +while the Indians were up in the mountains with their herds of cattle. + +"These trenches he covered with boughs, over which earth was scattered, +and when all was ready he sent us back to drive the Chennas toward the +ditches. + +"It was a terrible price to pay for their cruelty, and I shudder now as +I recall that awful day; but nearly all civilization is bought with +blood, and it certainly ran in torrents then. The Indians, unsuspecting, +fell headlong, thousands of them, into the trenches, and the few that +were unhurt by the fall or by being crushed in the trenches were made +prisoners and distributed among the victorious regiments as servants or +soldiers. The women and children were captured and sent to the cities to +work. + +"Ah! But those ditches! The birds, foxes, and armadillos must have grown +fat on the thousands of bodies we left on that plain." + +Francisco begged for more, his eyes were ablaze and his cheeks flushed, +but the Colonel said: + +"No more of fighting, anyhow; but come here by the stream, now that we +have finished our meal, and I will tell you of some of the animals I saw +in Patagonia." + +"Did you ever chase ostriches?" eagerly inquired the boy. + +"Yes, yes, several times and it is great sport; and once, for three +days, I had only ostrich eggs to eat. You see, we were digging those +same trenches and could not spare many of the men for hunting. I was ill +and could not eat the army rations, so José brought me ostrich eggs and +cooked them as the Indians do--in the red-hot coals." + +"And was José with you on that expedition?" exclaimed Francisco. + +"Yes, through all my campaigns he has been my body servant. It was José +who told us how the Indians catch ostriches; he had heard it when a boy +among his tribe of Araucanians." + +Francisco clapped his hands in anticipation. + +"A circle of fire around a great area was built and the huntsmen +remained within this circle. The ostriches and guanacos that were thus +imprisoned in the circle of fire were easy prey for they fear fire and +ran almost into our arms. Why, what's the matter, Niño?" + +The interest had died out of Francisco's eyes and he sat with his hands +clasped over his knees. + +"Well, Uncle Juan, I'll tell you. I'm disappointed!" + +"Disappointed! How?" + +"Uncle Juan, I don't think that's fair play or good sport." + +"_Que esperanza!_" exclaimed his uncle, secretly proud of the boy's +loyalty to his conviction, but determined to draw him out on the +subject. + +"And who are you that you may sit in judgment on generals and captains?" + +"Oh! I don't think one's rank has anything to do with one's opinions. +Uncle, if a _peon_ thinks a thing is not right he must not do that even +though the President, himself, commands him; and I don't think hunting +animals in that fashion is fair. The little English boy I play with at +school is always saying that we Spaniards are not--well, he calls it +'sporty.' That's their English word for it. He says that the Englishmen +are the truest sports on earth and that they would never hunt as we do." + +"To a certain extent he is right, Francisco. We don't care for the +excitement of the chase merely for the excitement as they do; we are +less active in our temperament, and prefer to gain our ends with the +least expenditure of energy. I want you, above all things, my lad, to be +broad-minded, and able to see your own shortcomings, so think this +matter out and if you are convinced that we are not right as a people, +in our attitude towards sports, or anything else for that matter, +formulate your own opinions and then stick to them. + +"It is through such men that all nations grow; and the men that are able +to see their national deficiencies are the great men, the reformers, +and the leaders. + +"But in regard to the ostriches. How would you catch them if you had the +opportunity?" + +"I should do it as the English lad tells me he saw them do it in Chubut +Territory; that's part of Patagonia, isn't it, Uncle?" + +The Colonel nodded, smoking industriously. + +"Well, he says the real way to catch ostriches is with the _bolas_. He +saw his father chase them there and he says they hunt them in an open +plain, not in a circle of fire. They give the birds an equal chance with +them for their lives, and if the ostrich can't outrun them, then, when +they are within throwing distance, they whirl the _bolas_ around their +legs and trip them. He says it is fun to see an ostrich run; it +stretches out its long neck and with its awkward long legs kicks up a +great cloud of dust behind it. He also told me about seeing guanacos +and pumas. Did you ever hunt them, Uncle?" + +"Yes, but guanacos are hard to shoot because of their keen sense of +smell, they can scent a human being over a mile away; but their flesh is +delicious, tasting much like venison. + +"Have you ever seen the puma skin in the library of my city house?" + +"Yes, I have often seen it and one day I measured it; it was over two +metros in length. Are those guanaco skins in the dining-room at the +_estancia_--the tawny yellow ones with white spots and such deep soft +fur?" + +"Yes, and the ostrich robe that your aunt uses in her carriage is made +of the breasts of young ostriches; it is as soft as down and marked +brown and white. The Patagonian Indian women often wear them for capes, +although they are very expensive. + +"You know, the ostriches we have here are not the kind that produce the +long plumes worn in ladies' hats; these are called the 'rhea' and are +an allied species. Speaking of skins, Francisco, I will tell you of one +that will interest you. It is a vicuña, and one of the finest I have +ever seen. It was presented to your great-grandfather, General Lacevera, +by a chief of the Incas, as a vicuña robe is worn only by one of royal +blood among the Indians. It saw service as your great-grandfather's +_poncho_ during his remarkable career, and is now over one hundred years +old, yet it is as soft as velvet. Being one of our family heirlooms, it +shall be yours, as I have no son." + +"That pleases me and I shall be very proud of it." + +"As you well may be. Whatever fortunes come to you in life, Niño, +remember you are a Lacevera." + +Sleep was sweet that night, and Francisco's head was scarcely on his +pillow when guanacos, vicuñas and even _gauchos_ were forgotten in +dreamless slumber. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 20: River.] + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +A SUCCESSFUL SEARCH + + +THERE was not a dull moment for Francisco during the weeks that +followed. Don Carlos, the superintendent, lived in the great house the +year through. He was a bachelor and a man of education, so that when the +Colonel came each summer he insisted that he keep his usual quarters; +for the house was very extensive and the Colonel enjoyed his company at +meals and during the long evenings. + +Francisco had accompanied Don Carlos on several excursions and once, +with a _tropilla_ of horses (eight or ten riding horses driven loose by +a _peon_ for fresh mounts on a long journey), they had gone on a journey +of five days to a neighbouring _estancia_ to purchase algarroba posts +for the extensive fencing that was taking place on the Tres Arroyas +ranch. This algarroba wood is like iron and under water is almost +imperishable. + +They had passed by one small _estancia_ devoted almost exclusively to +peanut culture; there were leagues and leagues of them being raised to +be shipped to the Mediterranean ports to be made into _olive oil_. They +had their dinner at this _estancia_ and Francisco ate bread made from +powdered peanuts mixed with wheat flour and he found it very delicious. + +José had taken him on several fishing excursions, and once they had +hunted _armadillos_ with small dogs. Francisco had laughed heartily at +the antics of one dog, who had almost caught the horny-plated little +animal when it suddenly rolled up into a ball, its back of movable, bony +bands enveloping it like an armour, and rolled off a bluff over the +river bank, falling fully fifty feet; while the puzzled dog peeped +cautiously over the brink to see it unroll itself and with its short +legs hastily dig a retreat under the earth. + +On Francisco's birthday his uncle had given a _fiesta_ in his honour. +There were fireworks and races, and cowboys from all parts of the +_estancia_ came in their full cowboy regalia on their best horses to +participate. It was very interesting, and then there was a dinner for +everybody and after that a dance. Francisco, himself, presented the +prizes, and his uncle made a speech. + +After so much excitement Francisco overslept the next morning, and awoke +to find that his uncle had ridden to a far corner of the _estancia_ to +inspect some of the new fencing; he had left word that he would not +return until late that night. + +Francisco sat under his favourite ombú tree, watching a _mangangá_, or +carpenter bee, that was humming loudly in the foliage above his head and +looking like a shining ball of gold among the green leaves. He had +received a letter from his mother that morning, and he was a bit +homesick. + +"El Señorito is _triste_. No?" It was José's voice behind him. + +Francisco brushed away a tear that had stolen down his cheek, and turned +to greet the Indian with a smile. "I was wishing to see Elena, but it +won't be long now; and I shall hate to leave this lovely place, too. But +one can't have everything one wants, all at the same time, can one, +José?" + +"No, Señorito, but we always have _one_ happiness; have you noticed it? +There never comes a time when we haven't one, at least. Now I've one +just now, and I am going to share it with you. It will take away your +sadness." + +"Is it--is it another fishing trip?" + +"No, but it's better. Now listen, and I will tell you about it. + +"While the _gauchos_ were dancing and making merry over your birthday, +last night, some miserable robbers got into the horse corrals and stole +all the horses' tails." + +"The horses' tails!" gasped Francisco. + +"Yes, you see that's partly what we raise wild horses for; their skins +and their tails. South American horsehair for mattresses is famous all +over the world, and it brings good prices. Now, these thieves make their +living by visiting the different _estancias_ and helping themselves to +the horses' tails. + +"Word came to your uncle, just before he left, that when one hundred of +his horses were driven out of the Corral De Oeste this morning, they +hadn't a single tail among them. So he has offered one hundred _pesos_ +to the one, or ones, who can catch these thieves. Would you like to +try?" + +Had José asked him if he would like to swing on to the new moon by his +toes Francisco could not have been more startled. + +"Try--! Why José, you can't be in earnest!" + +"_Como no?_" grinned the Indian cheerfully. + +"But José, wouldn't they shoot us, and, anyhow, I know you are jesting +when you ask _if I_ would care to try. You,--you are a strong man, even +if you are getting old, and I heard the _peon_ children down by the huts +say that there was no man for leagues and leagues around that could +wrestle as you do; that you learned how from a Japanese soldier years +ago in Chile. And I know you can shoot; but I would just be in the way." + +"No, Señorito, you wouldn't be in the way. Manuel and I want you to go +with us because we need you." + +"Need _me_! Oh, José!" and Francisco's eyes gleamed brightly. "Do you +think Uncle would allow me to go with you?" + +"He is not here to say, and we must leave before he returns. But he left +you in my care and if I feel sure no harm can befall you, I see no +reason why you should not go." + +"Oh! Oh! Oh!" shouted the happy boy, dancing around José and clapping +his hands. + +"This is the greatest adventure I ever had. To hunt brigands! Why, it's +too good to be true. Won't Ricardo grow green with envy when I tell him +about it, and won't the little English boy sit with his eyes wide open, +while I recount the story to him. He will hush up about his ostriches +and guanacos after this," and Francisco sat on the ground hugging his +knees, and rocking to and fro gleefully. + +"Well, don't clean your turtles till you've tied them, Señorito. We may +not get them. It's only because I have a clue and a scheme that I am +willing to try; for they are pretty clever fellows and they won't be +easy to catch. We want to take you for a decoy, and besides, I think you +would enjoy it. A Lacevera, even at nine years of age, is no coward." + +"A coward, I should say not. Why, José, I am _never_ afraid. But what is +a decoy?" + +"A decoy? Well, that's what we used when we caught flamingoes the other +night. Do you remember how we put young frogs on the end of a string and +then lay low in the grass and waited?" + +"But, you can't tie a string to me, José--and--and--besides I don't +be--believe I want to be a decoy. It isn't that I'm not brave; no, +indeed, José--but I think I would rather you would decoy them with +something else." + +"Leave that to me, Señorito, and I promise they won't hurt you. You must +have forgotten you are a Lacevera. They shall not gobble you up as the +flamingoes did the frogs. Just what would you buy, anyhow, if you got +your share of the reward?" + +"Buy!--Let me see. There are so many things to buy. But now that I have +my lovely saddle and silver stirrups I don't need much for myself. I +think I would buy a beautiful parasol, all lace and chiffon, for +Guillerma, for young ladies don't care for anything much but clothes. +Then I should buy a jewelled fan for Mamá, and then--well, I believe +Elena and I would spend the balance for Carnival as it comes next month. +But José, what did you say about not cleaning your turtles till you had +tied them?" + +José laughed and patted him on the back. "True, Don Francisco. But let +me tell you our plan, or part of it. I have reason to believe that these +two horsetail thieves are taking shelter with some charcoal burners over +near the river. These charcoal burners are rough men, who live almost +like savages. They injure no one, however, and it is only when they +quarrel among themselves that they do any harm. They may not know who +these men are, and are allowing them to tarry with them, believing them +to be beggars, or _gauchos_ hunting employment. + +"I feel sure they are too loyal to the _estancia_ to harbour them if +they knew who they were. Now be ready immediately after breakfast, for +we must start in time to reach the charcoal kilns before dusk." + +It was twelve o'clock, when José, Manuel and Francisco galloped off in +the direction of the river, and it was just _mate_ time when they came +in sight of the charcoal kilns and adobe huts near the river's bank. + +Gathered about the fires, over which hung boiling water for making the +_máte_, were several clusters of these uncouth appearing men. Dirty +looking women sat in groups apart, with dozens of dirtier children +rolling about on the hard earth at their feet. A pack of dogs ran out to +greet them, yelping in front of their horses, until they were called off +by their respective owners. + +José and Manuel approached one group, and after greeting and being +greeted, asked for boiling water with which to make _mate_. This was +given willingly, and with Francisco they sat down on the ground among +the men and began leisurely to sip _mate_ from the gourd that Manuel +always carried in his saddle bags. + +They talked in friendly fashion with the dirty _carboneros_, who were as +black as the fuel they made. Francisco noticed two men, who were less +grimy in appearance and who sat quietly side by side, taking no part in +the conversation. + +They glanced occasionally at José and Manuel in a hostile manner, and +suspicion seemed to lurk in their attitude towards them. Francisco felt +sure these were the thieves, but José and Manuel took no notice whatever +of them and Francisco feared his friends had not seen them. + +After _mate_ Francisco asked to see the kilns and José and Manuel took +him over to examine them and explain to him how the willow was made +into charcoal. It was quite dark when they returned to the huts and +proposed that they return to the _casa_. + +"Can the boy take another long ride in the same day?" asked one of the +_carboneros_, more kindly in manner than the rest. "Is he not exhausted? +We have no shelter here, but you are welcome to roll up in your blankets +by the fires, for the night wind from the Pampas is cool." + +"No, it is moonlight. A thousand 'gracias'[21] for your offer, but the +lad is a good rider and we shall be home before midnight;" and bidding +them _adios_, José and Manuel with Francisco, wondering at their +behaviour, started towards the enclosure where the horses had been +staked together with several other animals. + +And then José did a thing that made Francisco's eyes fairly start from +his head. He deliberately lifted up the stake to which a piebald mare, +belonging to one of the thieves, was tethered, and throwing the knotted +end of the long bridle across the pommel of his own saddle, rode out at +the far end of the enclosure. + +As he galloped off, Manuel and Francisco followed and soon they were all +abreast, their horses' swift feet brushing the evening dew from the +pampas grass as they flew along the level prairie. They rode so fast +that the little fellow could not venture a question, it required all of +his wits to keep his seat. + +They had gone thus for fifteen or twenty minutes when he heard the sound +of horses' hoofs away off in the distance. + +"Carramba! They are after us," cried Manuel. "Good! Now for the chase. +Let your heart be glad, Señorito, they have taken the bait." + +Still Francisco wondered, he could not yet see through their plans, but +excitement made his blood run hot through his veins; and he held on to +Barboza's neck and spurred her on to keep the pace. + +When a glimpse of water ahead of them, sparkling in the moonlight, told +them they were near the river Salinas, a small tributary to the great +river they had just left, the men slackened their speed and Francisco +was able to get a full breath. + +He could hear the soft thud of the pursuing horses' feet on the pampas +grass plainer and plainer, and when their own horses were within a few +hundred feet of the stream he could hear the men's shouts. + +"Are there more than two?" asked José. + +"No, just the two thieves, themselves. Those _carboneros_ would never +give us pursuit. It is none of their affair and they seldom meddle. +They probably loaned one a horse in place of this one you are leading." + +"Or they helped themselves as we did," chuckled the Indian. + +They were close to the ford now; in the bright moonlight the middle of +the river gleamed and danced; but the two banks were in deep shadow +because of the heavy clumps of willows and low growing trees. + +The thieves were but a short distance behind them when their horses +plunged into the water. + +"Heaven be praised! So far--so good," whispered José to Francisco. "Now +do just as I bid you; our time is come." + +They crossed the ford and were leaving the water, enveloped in the dense +shadows, when José dropped from his horse and threw the reins into +Francisco's hand; Manuel did the same, as José's voice said in a +whisper, + +"Ride half a league and wait for us." + +And now the boy saw their plan; he was to ride ahead, the hoof beats of +the four horses indicating to the pursuers that they were all still +fleeing, and José and Manuel in ambush would have it all their own way. + +He spurred his horse to its highest speed; but it seemed to him that his +heart-beats would drown the hoof beats, so vigorously was it pounding +against his side. It was an anxious interval and to the fleeing boy +seemed an eternity; but it was really but half a minute when he heard a +sharp cry, and then--a shot. But he rode on, fearing to stop until the +half league was covered. He knew the fight was over and that either José +and Manuel were being carried back to the huts beside the big river, or +that they would soon overtake him with their prisoners. + +Soon a shout came to his ears. It was José's voice and his mind was +relieved. He reined in the horses, which was an easy matter for they +were panting, and waited beside a shrine, whose white cross stood like a +ghost beside the trail; and soon he saw four figures toiling along, two +in front and two behind. The two in the rear were José and Manuel, and +they were holding their pistols close to the heads of the two in front, +who walked with the shambling gait of men whose feet were hobbled, as +they were, with stout _bola_ thongs; their hands were tied behind them, +and as they shuffled unevenly along they were bawling out curses, the +like of which Francisco's ears had never heard. + +But the boy was so eager to hear about their capture that he paid no +attention to the vile language, that at any other time would have made +him cringe and tremble. + +"Oh! José--Manuel--Do tell me all about it! How did you get them?" + +"Well, you see, we grappled with them so unexpectedly that they had no +time to defend themselves; thanks to the little frog on the end of the +string," and José patted the boy on the shoulders encouragingly. + +"One of them tried to shoot as he was regaining his feet, just after we +dragged them from their horses, and Manuel has a scratch on his thigh, +but otherwise, we are all well and doing finely. Manuel will ride on to +the _casa_ for help and you and I will remain here to keep these +gentlemen company. They are great on talking, just listen to them now. +Maybe they will tell us the price of horsehair per kilo--eh, gentlemen?" +and the Indian grinned derisively at the cursing men. + +"But José, Manuel is not fit for the saddle; let me go to the house. +Please, I beg of you--" + +"What! Alone--and at night. Why, the Colonel _would_ say I had risked +much should he see you ride in at midnight--alone." + +"Uncle? Why uncle Juan is always pleased when I show any bravery; and +besides there is nothing else to do. Manuel can't stay with just me +here--he is suffering, and he can't ride--so it's the only thing to be +done." + +"Well, but you will have to ride pretty fast, Señorito, and tell them to +send the _peons_ immediately. Here, ride the piebald mare. It's yours +anyhow, I dare say, or will be. It has been all day in the corral and is +fresh, while Barboza is tired." + +José changed the saddle, and Francisco was off towards the _casa_. + +It was nearly two o'clock when Don Carlos awoke the Colonel, who had +returned about midnight from his journey. + +"Who calls, Colonel? It sounds like the Niño's voice." + +They were out by the edge of the house corral, as Francisco rode up, and +with almost the last breath he seemed to have left in his little body, +he shouted, + +"We've caught them! We've caught them! They are over by the 'Last +Tribute' shrine near the Rio Salinas, and José and Manuel are waiting +for help to bring them here; José could not bring them alone, and Manuel +has a wound." + +His uncle was lifting the tired Niño from the saddle, but he did not +place him on the ground; he carried him close to his heart into the +house and laid him on his soft bed. He left him saying he would go with +Don Carlos to help rouse the _peons_, and Francisco heard him blow his +nose vigorously as he crossed the _patio_, and knowing that his Uncle +Juan had no cold, he accepted the tribute to his bravery with a proud +smile, and was asleep before he knew it. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 21: Thanks.] + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE CARNIVAL + + + +FRANCISCO had been at home now for a week. He had returned to find Elena +rosy and well and the house in a turmoil of preparation, for Guillerma +was to be married. Her fiancé was a wealthy _estanciero_ from the +province of Mendoza, which lies almost at the foot of the Andes, and he +had made a fortune from raising grapes for wine. His _estancia_, also, +produced great quantities of figs, dates and sugar cane. + +Guillerma was very happy, for although El Señor Conquero was older than +she by fifteen years, theirs was a genuine love match. He had seen her +at mass, one morning, and the following day, he had presented himself to +her mother and her Uncle Juan with irreproachable credentials, and their +engagement of six months was to culminate in the celebration of their +marriage during the early part of March. + +It would be a very quiet wedding, for Señor Conquero was in mourning for +his father, who had died over a year before; and the custom of mourning +in Argentina demands two years of seclusion from all social events after +the loss of a parent. + +Her Uncle Juan had been most generous in his allowance for her +trousseau, and she, with her mother, was busy all of each day visiting +the dressmakers and shops. + +Francisco, at first, was very much distressed because Guillerma was to +live in Mendoza, as that fertile province is the seat of numerous +earthquake disturbances. Scarcely a month passes that the inhabitants +are not startled by one, and as a rule they sleep with open doors to +insure a quick exit in case one occurs during the night. + +But Guillerma assured him she did not fear them, as there had been no +serious ones since 1861, and when she began telling him of the beautiful +home she would have, surrounded by wide vineyards and orchards of olives +and figs, where he could come to visit her, and with Elena play just as +they pleased, he became better reconciled to her marriage. + +He was very busy, himself, for Carnival, the great festival, came early +this year, and never before had he had so much money to spend in its +celebration. + +He and José and Manuel had divided the reward money they had received +for capturing the horsetail thieves, and Francisco felt very proud of +his share of it. He and Elena had counted it over and over, and planned +how each _peso_ should be spent. Each one of the family, including the +servant, should have a gift, and the balance would be their own to use +as they chose for the celebration of the greatest _fiesta_ of the whole +year. + +As in many Roman Catholic countries, Carnival comes during the week +preceding Lent; and although it is really a church festival, it is the +least religious of any celebration, whether of church or state. + +In Buenos Aires everything dates from it and everything stops for it; +even business is suspended. It is a festival of merriment and revelry, +and every house and every street is decorated before its arrival in +flags, banners, streamers and lanterns. There are processions and +continuous parades, with crowds of people in masks and dominoes, blowing +horns, dancing and singing. + +This year, Francisco and Elena were to be allowed to enter the _corso_ +or Carnival parade, and Uncle Juan had offered his motor car, which was +to be decorated with garlands of paper flowers; José was to be their +chaperon and Enrique would drive the car. + +Elena and Francisco owned their little costumes, which they had used on +previous occasions, but as they had their own money this year, they had +decided to buy new ones to wear in the parade. + +[Illustration: "ELENA AND FRANCISCO WERE DRESSED AND READY."] + +Elena was to be dressed as a shepherdess, and Francisco as a Spanish +king. Their mother had neglected Guillerma and her trousseau one entire +day, in order to go with the children to help them select their costumes +and masks; for no one enters into the streets in costume without a mask +or domino. + +The morning of the day on which the great parade was to take place the +children spent, dressed in their old costumes, playing with the +neighbours' children in the streets. + +Although the law had forbidden the custom of throwing water at +pedestrians, the number of people who were drenched by unexpected pails +of water thrown from upper balconies was not lessened, and the children +broke dozens of _pomos_, or rubber balls filled with perfumed water, on +each other and strangers, as well, who chanced to pass. + +After _siesta_ that afternoon, Elena and Francisco began their +preparations for the parade; and when the gayly decorated car drove up +about six o'clock with a fiery red representation of His Majesty, the +devil, on the front seat and a _pierrot_ or harlequin with one half of +his costume a vivid green and the other half yellow, Elena and Francisco +were dressed and ready. + +The harlequin jumped out and bowed low to the ground, and Elena ran back +into the house, for she was sure this comical looking fellow could never +be José. But she was reassured when he lifted his mask, and soon the +huge car was puffing along the street with the red driver in front and a +dainty little shepherdess, a small king in velvet, gold lace and a +crown, and a harlequin in green and yellow, all sitting on the back +seat, throwing confetti and waving banners and shouting at the people +gathered on the corners or on the balconies of the houses. + +Enrique took them up one street and down another, among the crowds of +the other carriages and automobiles, all full of gayly dressed maskers +bent on making as much noise as possible. + +As it grew darker the streets began to blaze with arches of electric +lights, many of the bulbs being swung inside Chinese lanterns. The crowd +grew denser and many times they were caught in a mass of carriages, that +could move neither one way nor the other. Mounted police were +everywhere, trying to disperse the people where the crowds were too +thick, and even they were treated to the contents of hundreds of _pomos_ +until their horsetail plumes and scarlet lined capes dripped perfume +like water. + +At eight Enrique stopped the car in a side street opening on to the +great Plaza, where the procession was to form; his plan being to allow +the children a view of part of the parade from this vantage point, and +then to slip out the side street and enter the _corso_ from the rear. + +It was nine o'clock when the bands of music took their places at the +head of the procession and they were followed by large fancifully +decorated wagons, filled with young ladies dressed to represent well +known allegories. + +Then came floats with papier-mache figures caricaturing political events +in the history of the Republic. These were followed by companies of +horsemen dressed in every sort of fantastic costume; victorias filled +with merry maskers, floats with goddesses, and burlesqued well-known +public characters. King Carnival was seated on a high throne, very +handsomely draped, and drawn by sixteen pure white horses. When the +children grew tired of looking, Enrique joined the procession itself, +and the hearts of Elena and Francisco were beating high with excitement, +for their ambition was realized--to be a _part_ of the great Carnival +_corso_. + +It was quite one o'clock before José could persuade them to leave it and +be taken home; and it was many days before they ceased to talk of their +wonderful experience. + +But school would open immediately after Carnival and Francisco was +anxious to reenter, as he was fond of books and made good progress in +his studies. + +His Aunt Sarita with her six daughters had returned from their summer +outing and Uncle Juan was preparing for a trip abroad immediately after +Guillerma's wedding should take place. Francisco saw him often, for they +had grown very fond of each other during their summer together, and even +Aunt Sarita began to love him more as she saw him oftener. + +The first day of school had arrived, and Francisco, in his clean linen +duster, had proudly led Elena to the school, for this was to be her +first year. He was very proud of his pretty sister, who was shy, and +held on tightly to her protector's sunburned hand. + +He introduced her to her teacher, kissed her, and then hurried out into +the large _patio_ to greet his old school friends. + +They were all there, like a flock of tan coloured butterflies in their +linen coats, their hair brushed sleekly into place and their faces and +hands smelling of recent cleansing with perfumed soaps. + +Francisco was a favourite. Soon he was in the middle of a group of +interested listeners, recounting to them his experiences on the +_estancia_. + +He was only human, and you must forgive him if he told of his adventure +with the horsetail thieves. Even the little English boy grew excited and +plied him with questions that seriously retarded Francisco in his +account of their capture. The bell rang just as he finished, and they +all fell into line in the _patio_, where the beautiful Argentine +national hymn was sung, and the Argentine flag of blue and white was +saluted by each pupil as they passed it on their way into the +school-rooms. + + +THE END. + + + + +THE LITTLE COLONEL BOOKS + +(Trade Mark) + +_By ANNIE FELLOWS JOHNSTON_ + + _Each 1 vol., large 12mo, cloth, illustrated, per vol._ $1.50 + + + =THE LITTLE COLONEL STORIES= + (Trade Mark) + +Being three "Little Colonel" stories in the Cosy Corner Series, "The +Little Colonel," "Two Little Knights of Kentucky," and "The Giant +Scissors," put into a single volume. + + =THE LITTLE COLONEL'S HOUSE PARTY= + (Trade Mark) + + =THE LITTLE COLONEL'S HOLIDAYS= + (Trade Mark) + + =THE LITTLE COLONEL'S HERO= + (Trade Mark) + + =THE LITTLE COLONEL AT BOARDING SCHOOL= + (Trade Mark) + + =THE LITTLE COLONEL IN ARIZONA= + (Trade Mark) + + =THE LITTLE COLONEL'S CHRISTMAS VACATION= + (Trade Mark) + + =THE LITTLE COLONEL, MAID OF HONOUR= + (Trade Mark) + + =THE LITTLE COLONEL'S KNIGHT COMES RIDING= + (Trade Mark) + + =MARY WARE: THE LITTLE COLONEL'S CHUM= + (Trade Mark) + + _These ten volumes, boxed at a ten-volume set_ $15.00 + + + =THE LITTLE COLONEL= + (Trade Mark) + + =TWO LITTLE KNIGHTS OF KENTUCKY= + + =THE GIANT SCISSORS= + + =BIG BROTHER= + + +Special Holiday Editions + + Each one volume, cloth decorative, small quarto, $1.25 + +New plates, handsomely illustrated with eight full-page drawings in +color, and many marginal sketches. + + +=IN THE DESERT OF WAITING=: THE LEGEND OF CAMELBACK MOUNTAIN. + +=THE THREE WEAVERS=: A FAIRY TALE FOR FATHERS AND MOTHERS AS WELL AS FOR +THEIR DAUGHTERS. + +=KEEPING TRYST= + +=THE LEGEND OF THE BLEEDING HEART= + +=THE RESCUE OF PRINCESS WINSOME=: A FAIRY PLAY FOR OLD AND YOUNG. + + +=THE JESTER'S SWORD= + + Each one volume, tall 16mo, cloth decorative $0.50 + Paper boards .35 + +There has been a constant demand for publication in separate form of +these six stories, which were originally included in six of the "Little +Colonel" books. + + +=JOEL: A BOY OF GALILEE=: By ANNIE FELLOWS JOHNSTON. Illustrated by +L. J. Bridgman. + + New illustrated edition, uniform with the Little Colonel Books, + 1 vol., large 12mo, cloth decorative $1.50 + +A story of the time of Christ, which is one of the author's best-known +books. + + +=THE LITTLE COLONEL GOOD TIMES BOOK= + + Uniform in size with the Little Colonel Series. $1.50 + Bound in white kid (morocco) and gold 3.00 + +Cover design and decorations by Amy Carol Rand. + +The publishers have had many inquiries from readers of the Little +Colonel books as to where they could obtain a "Good Times Book" such as +Betty kept. Mrs. Johnston, who has for years kept such a book herself, +has gone enthusiastically into the matter of the material and format for +a similar book for her young readers. Every girl will want to possess a +"Good Times Book." + + +=ASA HOLMES=: OR, AT THE CROSS-ROADS. A sketch of Country Life and +Country Humor. By ANNIE FELLOWS JOHNSTON. + +With a frontispiece by Ernest Fosbery. + + Large 16mo, cloth, gilt top $1.00 + +"'Asa Holmes; or, At the Cross-Roads' is the most delightful, most +sympathetic and wholesome book that has been published in a long +while."--_Boston Times._ + + +=THE RIVAL CAMPERS=: OR, THE ADVENTURES OF HENRY BURNS. By RUEL PERLEY +SMITH. + + Square 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated $1.50 + +A story of a party of typical American lads, courageous, alert, and +athletic, who spend a summer camping on an island off the Maine coast. + + +=THE RIVAL CAMPERS AFLOAT=: OR, THE PRIZE YACHT VIKING. By RUEL PERLEY +SMITH. + + Square 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated $1.50 + +This book is a continuation of the adventures of "The Rival Campers" on +their prize yacht _Viking_. + + +=THE RIVAL CAMPERS ASHORE= + +By RUEL PERLEY SMITH. + + Square 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated $1.50 + +"As interesting ashore as when afloat."--_The Interior._ + + +=JACK HARVEY'S ADVENTURES=: OR, THE RIVAL CAMPERS AMONG THE OYSTER +PIRATES. By RUEL PERLEY SMITH. + + Illustrated $1.50 + +"Just the type of book which is most popular with lads who are in their +early teens."--_The Philadelphia Item._ + + +=PRISONERS OF FORTUNE=: A Tale of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. By RUEL +PERLEY SMITH. + + Cloth decorative, with a colored frontispiece $1.50 + +"There is an atmosphere of old New England in the book, the humor of the +born raconteur about the hero, who tells his story with the gravity of a +preacher, but with a solemn humor that is irresistible."--_Courier-Journal._ + + +=FAMOUS CAVALRY LEADERS.= By CHARLES H. L. JOHNSTON. + + Large 12mo. With 24 illustrations $1.50 + +Biographical sketches, with interesting anecdotes and reminiscences of +the heroes of history who were leaders of cavalry. + +"More of such books should be written, books that acquaint young readers +with historical personages in a pleasant informal way."--_N. Y. Sun._ + + +=FAMOUS INDIAN CHIEFS.= By CHARLES H. L. JOHNSTON. + + Large 12mo, illustrated $1.50 + +In this book Mr. Johnston gives interesting sketches of the Indian +braves who have figured with prominence in the history of our own land, +including Powhatan, the Indian Cæsar; Massasoit, the friend of the +Puritans; Pontiac, the red Napoleon; Tecumseh, the famous war chief of +the Shawnees; Sitting Bull, the famous war chief of the Sioux; Geronimo, +the renowned Apache Chief, etc., etc. + + +=BILLY'S PRINCESS.= By HELEN EGGLESTON HASKELL. + + Cloth decorative, illustrated by Helen McCormick Kennedy $1.25 + +Billy Lewis was a small boy of energy and ambition, so when he was left +alone and unprotected, he simply started out to take care of himself. + + +=TENANTS OF THE TREES.= By CLARENCE HAWKES. + + Cloth decorative, illustrated in colors $1.50 + +"A book which will appeal to all who care for the hearty, healthy, +outdoor life of the country. The illustrations are particularly +attractive."--_Boston Herald._ + + +=BEAUTIFUL JOE'S PARADISE=: OR, THE ISLAND OF BROTHERLY LOVE. A sequel +to "Beautiful Joe." By MARSHALL SAUNDERS, author of "Beautiful Joe." + + One vol., library 12mo, cloth, illustrated $1.50 + +"This book revives the spirit of 'Beautiful Joe' capitally. It is fairly +riotous with fun, and is about as unusual as anything in the animal book +line that has seen the light."--_Philadelphia Item._ + + +='TILDA JANE.= By MARSHALL SAUNDERS. + + One vol., 12mo, fully illustrated, cloth decorative, $1.50 + +"I cannot think of any better book for children than this. I commend it +unreservedly."--_Cyrus Townsend Brady._ + + +='TILDA JANE'S ORPHANS.= A sequel to 'Tilda Jane. By MARSHALL SAUNDERS. + + One vol., 12mo, fully illustrated, cloth decorative, $1.50 + +'Tilda Jane is the same original, delightful girl, and as fond of her +animal pets as ever. + + +=THE STORY OF THE GRAVELEYS.= By MARSHALL SAUNDERS, author of "Beautiful +Joe's Paradise," "'Tilda Jane," etc. + + Library 12mo, cloth decorative. Illustrated by E. B. Barry $1.50 + +Here we have the haps and mishaps, the trials and triumphs, of a +delightful New England family, of whose devotion and sturdiness it will +do the reader good to hear. + + +=BORN TO THE BLUE.= By FLORENCE KIMBALL RUSSEL. + + 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated $1.25 + +The atmosphere of army life on the plains breathes on every page of this +delightful tale. The boy is the son of a captain of U. S. cavalry +stationed at a frontier post in the days when our regulars earned the +gratitude of a nation. + + +=IN WEST POINT GRAY= + +By FLORENCE KIMBALL RUSSEL. + + 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated $1.50 + +"Singularly enough one of the best books of the year for boys is written +by a woman and deals with life at West Point. The presentment of life in +the famous military academy whence so many heroes have graduated is +realistic and enjoyable."--_New York Sun._ + + +=FROM CHEVRONS TO SHOULDER STRAPS= + +By FLORENCE KIMBALL RUSSEL. + + 12mo, cloth, illustrated, decorative $1.50 + +West Point again forms the background of a new volume in this popular +series, and relates the experience of Jack Stirling during his junior +and senior years. + + +=THE SANDMAN: HIS FARM STORIES= + +By WILLIAM J. HOPKINS. With fifty illustrations by Ada Clendenin +Williamson. + + Large 12mo, decorative cover $1.50 + +"An amusing, original book, written for the benefit of very small +children. It should be one of the most popular of the year's books for +reading to small children."--_Buffalo Express._ + + +=THE SANDMAN: MORE FARM STORIES= + +By WILLIAM J. HOPKINS. + + Large 12mo, decorative cover, fully illustrated $1.50 + +Mr. Hopkins's first essay at bedtime stories met with such approval that +this second book of "Sandman" tales was issued for scores of eager +children. Life on the farm, and out-of-doors, is portrayed in his +inimitable manner. + + +=THE SANDMAN: HIS SHIP STORIES= + +By WILLIAM J. HOPKINS, author of "The Sandman: His Farm Stories," etc. + + Large 12mo, decorative cover, fully illustrated $1.50 + +"Children call for these stories over and over again."--_Chicago Evening +Post._ + + +=THE SANDMAN, HIS SEA STORIES= + +By WILLIAM J. HOPKINS. + + Large 12mo, decorative cover, fully illustrated $1.50 + +Each year adds to the popularity of this unique series of stories to be +read to the little ones at bed time and at other times. + + +=THE DOCTOR'S LITTLE GIRL= + +By MARION AMES TAGGART, author of "Pussy-Cat Town," etc. + + One vol., library 12mo, illustrated $1.50 + +A thoroughly enjoyable tale of a little girl and her comrade father, +written in a delightful vein of sympathetic comprehension of the +child's point of view. + + +=SWEET NANCY= + +THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF THE DOCTOR'S LITTLE GIRL. By MARION AMES +TAGGART. + + One vol., library, 12mo, illustrated $1.50 + +In the new book, the author tells how Nancy becomes in fact "the +doctor's assistant," and continues to shed happiness around her. + + +=THE CHRISTMAS-MAKERS' CLUB= + +By EDITH A. SAWYER. + + 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated $1.50 + +A delightful story for girls, full of the real spirit of Christmas. It +abounds in merrymaking and the right kind of fun. + + +=CARLOTA= + +A STORY OF THE SAN GABRIEL MISSION. By FRANCES MARGARET FOX. + + Square 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated and decorated + in colors by Ethelind Ridgway $1.00 + +"It is a pleasure to recommend this little story as an entertaining +contribution to juvenile literature."--_The New York Sun._ + + +=THE SEVEN CHRISTMAS CANDLES= + +By FRANCES MARGARET FOX. + + Square 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated and decorated in + colors by Ethelind Ridgway $1.00 + +Miss Fox's new book deals with the fortunes of the delightful Mulvaney +children. + + +=PUSSY-CAT TOWN= + +By MARION AMES TAGGART. + + Small quarto, cloth decorative, illustrated and decorated in + colors $1.00 + +"Anything more interesting than the doings of the cats in this story, +their humor, their wisdom, their patriotism, would be hard to +imagine."--_Chicago Post._ + + +=THE ROSES OF SAINT ELIZABETH= + +By JANE SCOTT WOODRUFF. + + Small quarto, cloth decorative, illustrated and decorated in colors + by Adelaide Everhart $1.00 + +This is a charming little story of a child whose father was caretaker of +the great castle of the Wartburg, where Saint Elizabeth once had her +home. + + +=GABRIEL AND THE HOUR BOOK= + +By EVALEEN STEIN. + + Small quarto, cloth decorative, illustrated and decorated in colors + by Adelaide Everhart $1.00 + +Gabriel was a loving, patient, little French lad, who assisted the monks +in the long ago days, when all the books were written and illuminated by +hand, in the monasteries. + + +=THE ENCHANTED AUTOMOBILE= + +Translated from the French by MARY J. SAFFORD. + + Small quarto, cloth decorative, illustrated and decorated in colors + by Edna M. Sawyer $1.00 + +"An up-to-date French fairy-tale which fairly radiates the spirit of the +hour,--unceasing diligence."--_Chicago Record-Herald._ + + +=O-HEART-SAN= + +THE STORY OF A JAPANESE GIRL. By HELEN EGGLESTON HASKELL. + + Small quarto, cloth decorative, illustrated and decorated in colors + by Frank P. Fairbanks $1.00 + +"The story comes straight from the heart of Japan. The shadow of +Fujiyama lies across it and from every page breathes the fragrance of +tea leaves, cherry blossoms and chrysanthemums."--_The Chicago +Inter-Ocean._ + + +=THE YOUNG SECTION-HAND=: OR, THE ADVENTURES OF ALLAN WEST. By BURTON E. +STEVENSON. + + Square 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated $1.50 + +Mr. Stevenson's hero is a manly lad of sixteen, who is given a chance as +a section-hand on a big Western railroad, and whose experiences are as +real as they are thrilling. + + +=THE YOUNG TRAIN DISPATCHER.= By BURTON E. STEVENSON. + + Square 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated $1.50 + +"A better book for boys has never left an American press."--_Springfield +Union._ + + +=THE YOUNG TRAIN MASTER.= By BURTON E. STEVENSON. + + Square 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated. $1.50 + +"Nothing better in the way of a book of adventure for boys in which the +actualities of life are set forth in a practical way could be devised or +written."--_Boston Herald._ + + +=CAPTAIN JACK LORIMER.= By WINN STANDISH. + + Square 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated $1.50 + +Jack is a fine example of the all-around American high-school boy. + + +=JACK LORIMER'S CHAMPIONS=: OR, SPORTS ON LAND AND LAKE. By WINN +STANDISH. + + Square 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated $1.50 + +"It is exactly the sort of book to give a boy interested in athletics, +for it shows him what it means to always 'play fair.'"--_Chicago +Tribune._ + + +=JACK LORIMER'S HOLIDAYS=: OR, MILLVALE HIGH IN CAMP. By WINN STANDISH. + + Illustrated $1.50 + +Full of just the kind of fun, sports and adventure to excite the healthy +minded youngster to emulation. + + +=JACK LORIMER'S SUBSTITUTE=: OR, THE ACTING CAPTAIN OF THE TEAM. By WINN +STANDISH. + + Illustrated $1.50 + +On the sporting side, this book takes up football, wrestling, +tobogganing, but it is more of a _school_ story perhaps than any of its +predecessors. + + +=CAPTAIN JINKS=: THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A SHETLAND PONY. By FRANCES HODGES +WHITE. + + Cloth decorative, illustrated $1.50 + +The story of Captain Jinks and his faithful dog friend Billy, their +quaint conversations and their exciting adventures, will be eagerly read +by thousands of boys and girls. The story is beautifully written and +will take its place alongside of "Black Beauty" and "Beautiful Joe." + + +=THE RED FEATHERS.= By THEODORE ROBERTS. + + Cloth decorative, illustrated $1.50 + +"The Red Feathers" tells of the remarkable adventures of an Indian boy +who lived in the Stone Age, many years ago, when the world was young. + + +=FLYING PLOVER.= By THEODORE ROBERTS. + + Cloth decorative. Illustrated by Charles Livingston Bull $1.00 + +Squat-By-The-Fire is a very old and wise Indian who lives alone with her +grandson, "Flying Plover," to whom she tells the stories each evening. + + +=THE WRECK OF THE OCEAN QUEEN.= By JAMES OTIS, author of "Larry Hudson's +Ambition," etc. + + Cloth decorative, illustrated $1.50 + +"A stirring story of wreck and mutiny, which boys will find especially +absorbing. The many young admirers of James Otis will not let this book +escape them, for it fully equals its many predecessors in excitement and +sustained interest."--_Chicago Evening Post._ + + +=LITTLE WHITE INDIANS.= By FANNIE E. OSTRANDER. + + Cloth decorative, illustrated $1.25 + +"A bright, interesting story which will appeal strongly to the +'make-believe' instinct in children, and will give them a healthy, +active interest in 'the simple life.'" + + +=MARCHING WITH MORGAN.= HOW DONALD LOVELL BECAME A SOLDIER OF THE +REVOLUTION. By JOHN L. VEASY. + + Cloth decorative, illustrated $1.50 + +This is a splendid boy's story of the expedition of Montgomery and +Arnold against Quebec. + + * * * * * + +Transcriber's Notes: + +Obvious punctuation errors repaired. + +Varied use of accents mate/máte, estancia/estáncia, and Martin/Martín +were retained. + +Page xi, Table of Contents, "v" changed to "vii" to reflect actual +first page of Preface. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Francisco Our Little Argentine Cousin, by +Eva Cannon Brooks + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 43424 *** |