He had never been there, but he had used the cable in
order to compete in pounds sterling with the British owners who wished
to keep such valuable stock in their own country. Thanks to these
blue-blooded sires that had crossed the ocean with all the luxury of
millionaire passengers, he had been able to exhibit in the concourses
of Buenos Aires animals which were veritable towers of meat, edible
elephants with their sides as fit and sleek as a table.
"That book amounts to something! Don't you think so, Frenchy? It is
worth more than all those pictures of moons, lakes, lovers and other
gewgaws that my Romantica puts on the walls to catch the dust."
And he would point out, in contrast, the precious diplomas which were
adorning his desk, the metal vases and other trophies won in the fairs
by the descendants of his blooded stock.
Luisa, the elder daughter, called Chicha, in the South American fashion,
was much more respected by her father. "She is my poor China right over
again," he said, "the same good nature, and the same faculty for work,
but more of a lady." Desnoyers entirely agreed with him, and yet the
father's description seemed to him weak and incomplete. He could not
admit that the pale, modest girl with the great black eyes and smile
of childish mischief bore the slightest resemblance to the respectable
matron who had brought her into existence.
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