When, standing by the front gate of our home, we looked out to the
north over the level plain and let our eyes rove west from the tall
Lombardy poplars of Casa Antigua, they presently rested on another
pile or island of trees, blue in the distance, marking the site of
another estancia house. This was the estancia called La Tapera, with
whose owner we also had friendly relations during all the years we
lived in that district. The owner was Don Gregorio Gandara, a native,
and like our nearest English neighbour, Mr. Royd, an enthusiast, and
was also like him in being the husband of a fat indolent wife who kept
parrots and other pet animals, and the father of two daughters. In
this case, too, there were no sons. There, however, all resemblance
ceased, since two men more unlike in their appearance, character, and
fortune it would not be easy to find. Don Gregorio was an
extraordinary person to look at; he had a round or barrel-shaped body,
short bow legs, and a big round head, which resembled a ball fashioned
out of a block of dark-coloured wood with a coarse human face and huge
ears rudely carved on it. He had a curly head, the crisp dark hair
growing as knobs, which gave his round skull the appearance of being
embossed like the head of a curly retriever.
Pages:
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186