ROBERT. (shrinking from his brother with a glance of aversion) So all you found in the East was a stench?
ANDREW. A stench! Ten thousand of them!
ROBERT. But you did like some of the places, judging from your letters—Sydney, Buenos Aires——
ANDREW. Yes, Sydney’s a good town. (Enthusiastically) But Buenos Aires—there’s the place for you. Argentine’s a country where a fellow has a chance to make good. You’re right I like it. And I’ll tell you, Rob, that’s right where I’m going just as soon as I’ve seen you folks a while and can get a ship. I can get a berth as second officer, and I’ll jump the ship when I get there. I’ll need every cent of the wages Uncle’s paid me to get a start at something in B. A.
ROBERT. (staring at his brother—slowly) So you’re not going to stay on the farm?
ANDREW. Why sure not! Did you think I was? There wouldn’t be any sense. One of us is enough to run this little place.
ROBERT. I suppose it does seem small to you now.
ANDREW. (not noticing the sarcasm in ROBERT’S voice) You’ve no idea, Rob, what a splendid place Argentine is. I had a letter from a marine insurance chap that I’d made friends with in Hong-Kong to his brother, who’s in the grain business in Buenos Aires. He took quite a fancy to me, and what’s more important, he offered me a job if I’d come back there. I’d have taken it on the spot, only I couldn’t leave Uncle Dick in the lurch, and I’d promised you folks to come home. But I’m going back there, you bet, and then you watch me get on! (He slaps ROBERT on the back) But don’t you think it’s a big chance, Rob?
ROBERT. It’s fine—for you, Andy.
ANDREW. We call this a farm—but you ought to hear about the farms down there—ten square miles where we’ve got an acre. It’s a new country where big things are opening up—and I want to get in on something big before I die. I’m no fool when it comes to farming, and I know something about grain. I’ve been reading up a lot on it, too, lately. (He notices ROBERT’S absent-minded expression and laughs) Wake up, you old poetry book worm, you! I know my talking about business makes you want to choke me, doesn’t it?