[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.