"Very well," he assented. "Let each take his own. That seems fair to
me."
CHAPTER III
THE DESNOYERS FAMILY
The "Madariagan succession," as it was called in the language of
the legal men interested in prolonging it in order to augment their
fees--was divided into two groups, separated by the ocean. The Desnoyers
moved to Buenos Aires. The Hartrotts moved to Berlin as soon as Karl
could sell all the legacy, to re-invest it in lands and industrial
enterprises in his own country.
Desnoyers no longer cared to live in the country. For twenty years,
now, he had been the head of an enormous agricultural and stock raising
business, overseeing hundreds of men in the various ranches. The
parcelling out of the old man's fortune among Elena and the other
legatees had considerably constricted the radius of his authority,
and it angered him to see established on the neighboring lands so many
foreigners, almost all Germans, who had bought of Karl. Furthermore,
he was getting old, his wife's inheritance amounted to about twenty
millions of dollars, and perhaps his brother-in-law was showing the
better judgment in returning to Europe.
So he leased some of the plantations, handed over the superintendence
of others to those mentioned in the will who considered themselves
left-handed members of the family--of which Desnoyers as the Patron
received their submissive allegiance--and moved to Buenos Aires.
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