“The proprietor of the great Hacienda del Venado—a man worth three millions! Who does not know him?” replied one of the bystanders.
“He is the same. This cavalier, whom you see, is a vaquero, entrusted with the care of the beasts of the hacienda; for myself, I am a major-domo attached to the service of the proprietor. Would you have the kindness, my dear friend, to give me a light for my cigar?” continued the bearded major-domo.
He paused to light his cigar of maize husk, and then resumed:
“Six months ago an expedition set out from here in search of gold dust. This expedition was headed by one named—let me see—carrai! I have heard him called by so many names that I cannot remember any!”
“Don Estevan Arechiza!” replied one of the interlocutors, “a Spaniard, and one such as we do not often see in this country; one who seemed, by his noble deportment and majestic countenance, to have commanded all his life.”
“Don Estevan Arechiza: the very same,” said the major-domo, “a man who as far exceeds all others in generosity as a gamester who has just won a fortune. But let me return to the expedition; about how many men composed it, do you guess?”
“More than eighty started out with it.”
“More than a hundred,” suggested another.
“You are mistaken—the number was not a hundred in all,” interrupted a third.
“That matters little to Don Augustin, my master. It is far more important to know how many returned.”