There was a _capatas,_ or overseer, and seven or eight paid
_peones,_ the others being all _agregados_--that is, supernumeraries
without pay, or, to put it plainly, vagabonds who attach themselves like
vagrant dogs to establishments of this kind, lured by the abundance of
flesh, and who occasionally assist the regular _peones_ at their work,
and also do a little gambling and stealing to keep themselves in small
change. At break of day everyone was up sitting by the hearth sipping
bitter _mate_ and smoking cigarettes; before sunrise all were mounted
and away over the surrounding country to gather up the herds; at midday
they were back again to breakfast. The consumption and waste of meat
was something frightful. Frequently, after breakfast, as much as twenty
or thirty pounds of boiled and roast meat would be thrown into a
wheelbarrow and carried out to the dust-heap, where it served to feed
scores of hawks, gulls, and vultures, besides the dogs.
Of course, I was only an _agregado_, having no salary or regular
occupation yet. Thinking, however, that this would only be for a time,
I was quite willing to make the best of things, and very soon became
fast friends with my fellow _agregados_, joining heartily in all
their amusements and voluntary labours.
In a few days I got very tired of living exclusively on flesh, for not
even a biscuit was "procurable at this elevation"; and as for a potato,
one might as well have asked for a plum-pudding.
Pages:
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54