CHAPTER III
A LESSON IN HISTORY
FRANCISCO awoke very early the next morning, for he was unaccustomed tosleeping away from home. He lay quite still listening to the unwontedsounds. He heard the servants scrubbing the marble floors of the _patio_and corridors; he heard the call of the _panadero_[8] and the hurryingfeet to answer; for no private family ever bakes its own bread inArgentina, and the bakers have it all their own way, which isn't a verybad way since their bread is light and deliciously crisp; he heard thechattering of the parrots and paroquets in the servants' _patio_; thenthe clatter of a squad of mounted policemen on their way to the day'sduty, the hoofs of their horses beating a tattoo of haste on the smoothasphalt still wet with the daybreak bath of the sprinkling carts.
Then he became interested in his room. Such luxury as surrounded him! Hesat up in bed and rubbed his eyes, for he had never viewed thesebed-rooms except from the corridor, on his infrequent visits to thehouse. His bed was heavily carved and overhung with a canopy of paleblue plush and silk; the walls were panelled and painted in delicatecolours, with angels and cherubs everywhere; huge mirrors reflected eachother as they hung in their frames of Florentine gold, and after he hadviewed it all for a few moments, he buried his head in his pillow andwished for his own bare room and his mother. Then he longed for Elenathat she might enjoy the beauties about him; and this reminded him ofthe _pesebre_, which was still unfinished, but which he had brought withhim.
He wondered how he could get it to her without her finding out--and--hemust have fallen into a doze, for soon he heard an imitation _reveille_blown through human hands, outside the closed blinds that shaded hisdoor into the corridor, and his uncle called good-naturedly: "A prettytime for a soldier of the Republic to get up!"
Francisco hurried into his clothes and found the Colonel taking hiscoffee and rolls in a shaded corner of the _patio_.
"I am going to give you all of my time to-day, Nino, as I feel lazy, andI find there are many things here in your own native city that you knownothing about, and that a boy of nine should see and learn. Your mothercould not be expected to do it, so it falls to me. We must startimmediately, before the heat of the day drives us indoors. Get your cap,lad, and we will start over in the Plaza San Martin opposite, and have alesson in history."
They donned their hats, and Francisco felt very proud to walk beside hisuncle, who, if not a very large man in stature, loomed up big before theboy's worshipful eyes.
"What do you know of Buenos Aires, Nino?" he asked as they saunteredtowards the centre of the park.
"Not much, Uncle Juan. I know it is the largest city on the SouthAmerican continent, and that it has over one million inhabitants. Myteacher said once that it is one of the largest produce markets in theworld."
"Yes, and there is much more. It is the largest Spanish speaking city inthe world, as it is twice as large as Madrid, the capital of Spain. Butit is also very cosmopolitan."
"I don't think I know just what that means, Uncle Juan."
"Cosmopolitan? Why that, in this case, means that there are manynationalities represented in Buenos Aires. There are thousands ofItalians, Germans, Frenchmen, Englishmen and Russians; and one can hearhalf a dozen different languages in an hour's time walking along thestreets. But, to-day, I want to start with a little history of ourcountry. So let us sit here on this bench and begin. At this early hourwe will not be disturbed."
They sat down almost under the shadow of the high statue of San Martinand the Colonel reverently uncovered his head. Without being told,Francisco took off his cap, and his uncle patted him affectionately onthe back. "Good, good, my boy! He deserves it, for no greater soldierever fought; but we will have to go back several centuries to get therun of things," and as he leaned back he paused and puffed thin cloudsof smoke from his cigarette.
"You see, when Buenos Aires was really founded, it was in 1580,sixty-four years after the River Plate was discovered by Solis, whocalled it the River of Silver, because he believed silver could be foundon its banks. They called the city 'Good Airs,' because of the fresh,invigorating quality of the air that blew over from the vast prairies.This first settlement grew, and others farther into the interior sprangfrom it; all of them Spanish settlements; and in 1661 the King of Spainrecognized them as a colony and appointed a governor. Thus it continueduntil in 1806, when England was at war with Spain, and they sent LordBeresford, with several thousand men, down to this colony to takepossession of it.
"Buenos Aires then, as now, was the key to the entire country, and as ithad but forty thousand inhabitants, and was without any militarydefence, he took it without trouble. But the Spaniards, at last,overcame him; and he was obliged to give up his prize and leave. Englandthen sent another army, but this time the natives were prepared, andtheir victory was complete. General Whitelock, in command, capitulated,and his flag, the flag of the famous Seventy-First Regiment of theBritish army, hangs in the Cathedral over yonder, where you see thedouble spires beyond the house-tops. We are justly proud of that flag,for that Seventy-First Regiment is the one that caused Napoleon no endof trouble in Egypt.
"After this victory our people began to feel the stirrings ofindependence from Spain itself, and a spirit of revolution took hold ofthe officials and people. At last, an open revolt took place in thePlaza Mayo, on the twenty-fifth day of May, 1810, and under theleadership of splendid men--patriots all of them--our independence wasdeclared.
"But this was only the first step, just as it was with the greatrepublic of the United States when on the fourth of July they declaredtheir independence from England. So our twenty-fifth of May was but thebeginning of a long struggle. A _Junta_ was formed to govern, but it wasno easy task. To the north were Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia; to thewest Chile and Peru; all Spanish colonies. The _Junta_ sent troops tothese countries to endeavour to arouse the people to throw off the yoke.They sent General Belgrano to--"
"Oh! Belgrano! I know about him, Uncle. His tomb is in the little squarein front of the church in Calle Defensa, and it was he who originatedour flag. He said the long blue bars were to represent ourfaithfulness, as true as the beautiful blue of our skies; and the whitebar was to symbolize our honour, spotless and fair."
"Yes. Well, he went first to Paraguay; but the Spaniards had sointermarried with the Paraguayan Indians, whom they had found in thatwild country, that they did not respond to the stirring appeal ofGeneral Belgrano. He, however, succeeded in some of the northernprovinces, and thus encouraged, they organized a small navy. Do you knowwho was our first admiral? No? Well, it was an Englishman and his namewas William Brown.
"With this navy, Montivideo, the capital of Uruguay, was taken.Enthusiasm ran high, and it was just here that Don Jose de San Martincame into the light of publicity, as commander-in-chief of the army. Nowlet us take the automobile, awaiting us over in front of the house, andride to the Cathedral where the remains of our hero rest, and I willtell you more about him there."
They rode along the clean streets, the fresh morning air blowingstraight into their faces, the curious, sing-song cries of the streetvenders following them as they sped along Calle Florida.
"Uncle Juan, why is it that most of these street peddlers are Italians?See, there goes an onion-man with his long strings of onions, theirstalks knit together into yard lengths; there is a vegetable cart; thereis a vender of fruit, and all of them speaking broken Spanish with anItalian accent."
"Yes, Nino, most of the peddlers are Italian. I do not know why, unlessit is that each nationality turns to a special kind of work in thisworld. The Italians are naturally merchants, they like to bargain. Theyare also very fine mechanics. Did you ever notice that our plasterers,or masons, who plaster the outside and inside of all our houses, speakItalian?"
"And that group of men on the corner, see, Uncle, they are all dressedalike, and must be of the same nationality; what are they?"
"Those"--indicating half a dozen men wearing full trousers held up byred sashes, adorned with dozens of
coins, their heads covered with roundfull caps also red. "Those are Basques or Vascongados. There are manyhere, and they come from a small piece of country to the west end of thePyrenees, in Spain, bordering the Bay of Biscay. Like the Italians,they, too, follow the work best suited to them, and they are mostlyporters, because of their physical strength and powers of endurance.
"I have noticed, too, that the majority of our milk men are Basques, andI account for that because in their native home they are a pastoralpeople and such pursuits attract them. Listen as we pass: their languageis unintelligible to us although they come from Spain. It is unlike anyother European language."
They were now entering the great square called Plaza Mayo. It is theheart of the city, although it is not in the centre. It covers about tenacres, and is two blocks back from the muddy La Plata River; and scoresof masts and smoke-belching funnels of great ocean vessels can be seenfrom its benches.
"That is our Government House. That much I know," said Francisco,pointing to the rose-tinted building, modelled after the Tuileries, andfacing the plaza. From its rear to the river intervened grass plots andgroves of sturdy palmettoes.
"Yes, that is where our Senate convenes and where all the business ofthe Republic is done. The President has his offices there, and all thepublic receptions are held there. You see, our government does notprovide a home for our President; that, he must look after himself. Why,we are just in time to see His Excellency now."
There was a clatter of hoofs under the wide _porte-cochere_ and a smartclosed coupe drew up before the side entrance. The liveried footman witha cockade of blue and white (the Argentine colours) in his high hatsprang to the ground and opened the door. A man, slightly above theusual Argentine height, quite handsome, with pure Castilian features,and dressed in afternoon garb of tall silk hat and frock coat, got out,and walked spryly up the wide stone steps, past the sentries in scarletand green, into the vestibule.
"Do you know him, Uncle Juan?" asked Francisco, with awe in his voice.
"Senor Alcorta, El Presidente, is a warm friend of mine," replied theColonel, and as he said it he grew fully half a foot in his nephew'sestimation.
"A warm friend? Do tell me about him."
"Another time, Nino, we must hasten to yonder Cathedral; but he is agood man and a good President."
They turned towards the enormous building, shaped like the Pantheon withits blue tile-covered cupola, and its long portico supported by hugeCorinthian columns.
It was built by the Jesuits in the seventeenth century and hundreds ofIndians were employed by these pioneer fathers, in its construction.Like all houses in Buenos Aires, it is of masonry untinted except byyears. With the Bishop's palace next to it, it covers an acre of ground.
Francisco and his uncle entered it and crossing themselves, knelt on thebare stone floor, for like most Argentines, they were Catholics, andthis was their greatest cathedral. After a few minutes spent indevotion, the Colonel led the way to one of the naves, where the tomb ofthe great liberator, San Martin, stands, a huge sarcophagus upon a highpedestal of marble. The Colonel stood in meditation a moment, then drewthe boy beside him on a bench. In a low voice he said:
"Francisco, San Martin, the father of our country, was not only a greatgeneral, but he was also a remarkable organizer, for his troops werecomposed mainly of _gauchos_ of the wild uncivilized kind, who were noteasily trained or drilled. It was he who originated the plan of crossingthe Andes and liberating Chile and Peru from the Spanish yoke.
"With his army of five thousand men, and in the face of public derision,for the undertaking seemed impossible, he crossed the rugged Cordillerasin twenty-five days; met the Spanish general in charge of Chile anddefeated him. He was thus the liberator of the Chilean people, for thatbattle on the twelfth of February, 1817, gave them their independencefrom Spain. In Santiago, Chile, there is a statue to General SanMartin, and one to the city of Buenos Aires. After his wonderfulachievement in crushing the power of Spain, in Argentina, Chile andPeru, he retired to private life, refusing to serve in any civilcapacity.
"Following this revolutionary triumph, Brazil waged war with theArgentine Republic over the disposition of Uruguay. After three years,they agreed on its independence. This was followed by a dictatorshiplasting twenty years, that was a period of the greatest tyranny in ourhistory. Don Juan Manuel Ortiz de Rosas, at the head of a powerful troopof half savage _gauchos_, appeared on the political stage, and literallywrested the reins of government from Dorrego, who held them.
"Some time you will read in history of his twenty years of despotism. Itwas during this reign that my father, your maternal grandfather, losthis life in the blockade of Argentine ports, by French and Englishforces. Rosas was at last overthrown by General Urquiza, who organizedthe government upon its first solid basis, with a constitution modelledclosely after that of the United States of North America. Since then,although we have had a few revolutions and several financial crises, wehave maintained our freedom; and our wonderful natural resources and ourrapid commercial development are giving us a stable place in the world'scongress of nations."
Francisco listened attentively, and when his uncle concluded, followedhim out a side entrance into the street, like one in a dream. Theystepped into the Calle Bartolome Mitre, which seemed congested with atorrent of vehicles pouring down its narrow channel like a noisy streamand discharging itself into the great Plaza in front of the Cathedral.
"What if San Martin could see this now?" ventured Francisco, stillunder the spell of the hero's achievements. "Wouldn't he open his eyes?"
"Yes, lad, the growth of this city has been phenomenal, and thisafternoon I will show you more of it. Why, you're not homesick, areyou?" he asked, noticing the far away look in the boy's eyes as theysped along the _Avenida_.
"Not exactly, but I would like to see Elena, and find out how she isto-day."
"Why, bless my heart! I had forgotten the sick sister. We will go pastthy mother's house and if the little rose is well enough this afternoon,we shall include her in our ride in the city."
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 8: Baker.]