The great fiesta for Chicha was the Sunday mass. It represented a
journey of three leagues to the nearest village, a weekly contact with
people unlike those of the ranch. A carriage drawn by four horses took
the senora and the two senoritas in the latest suits and hats arrived,
via Buenos Aires, from Europe. At the suggestion of Chicha, Desnoyers
accompanied them in the capacity of driver.
The father remained at home, taking advantage of this opportunity
to survey his fields in their Sunday solitude, thus keeping a
closer oversight on the shiftlessness of his hands. He was very
religious--"Religion and good manners, you know." But had he not given
thousands of dollars toward building the neighboring church? A man
of his fortune should not be submitted to the same obligations as
ragamuffins!
During the Sunday lunch the young ladies were apt to make comments upon
the persons and merits of the young men of the village and neighboring
ranches, who had lingered at the church door in order to chat with them.
"Don't fool yourselves, girls!" observed the father shrewdly. "You
believe that they want you for your elegance, don't you? . . . What
those shameless fellows really want are the dollars of old Madariaga,
and once they had them, they would probably give you a daily beating."
For a while the ranch received numerous visitors.
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