Renaldo (12 page)

JAMES McCREATH

shrinking ranges. They were men of fierce passion and loyalty, once a person

had gained their respect. The general had used their skills to scout against the

Indians many times, and had learned their traits and customs, as if he were one

of them.

Propped against the wall in the corner of the coach sat a beautiful

cherrywood guitar. San Marco reached out and caressed it gently now. He said

that one could not understand the gaucho without listening to their music.

Lonfranco looked on in amazement as the general’s fingers moved with

velvet strokes over the strings and a plaintive chorus flowed from his lips. He

had never heard anything like it before and was surprised by the richness of the

general’s voice. The hours passed too quickly for his liking, but he soon found

himself in an elaborate carriage at the gates of estancia ‘Buenos Recuerdos.’

“Good Memories,” the general explained while pointing to the carved

wooden sign that arched between two huge stone gateposts. “That is what I

have when I think of life here, so the name seemed fitting.”

They sat on a slight rise, overlooking a vast expanse of checkerboard fields.

As far as the eye could see, there were only wide open spaces. The country air

was exhilarating to Lonfranco, and he basked in the view that the warm sun

illuminated before him, filled with wonder and anticipation. He had found a

new home, a new vocation, and a new family, all within a month of receiving

that terrible letter from Livorno. There could not have been a better birthday

present imaginable, and Lonfranco De Seta considered himself to be the luckiest

sixteen year-old alive.

The ensuing six years brought days of magic and merriment, mixed with

hard work and hands-on education in the operation of the estancia. Lonfranco

was placed under the watchful eye of old Roc Sena, the legendary head gaucho.

It was under his tutelage that the Italian received all the knowledge and training

required to immerse himself in his new lifestyle.

The newcomer bunked in a small one-room adobe ranchero with several

other men, not in the main residence with the general and his family. It was the

way both the general and the young boy preferred it. Lonfranco had to prove

himself worthy of the general’s trust and confidence, and he neither asked for,

nor received any special privileges. He had in Roc Sena perhaps the greatest

living mentor of the Pampas lifestyle in all the country.

Orphaned as a young child, Roc had stolen his first horse to escape

incarceration in the provincial youth facility at the age nine. He killed his first

52

RENALDO

man at twelve, fathered his first child at thirteen, and signed on as a military

scout in return for whisky and rifles at sixteen. Years of Indian wars and political

revolutions increased his folk hero status. It was said that he had more wives

and children than even he could remember. Whenever responsibility became

too constricting for his liking, he would simply saddle up and move on.

He had met General San Marco when the future general was a young

captain seeking to end the Indian raids on the estancias once and for all. San

Marco relied on the famous scout’s ruthlessness and daring to bring about a

swift, but extremely brutal, end to the hostilities. The natives that survived

the slaughter were driven south to Patagonia or west into the Andes, never to

return to the Pampas.

The general was hailed as a hero by the Porteños, and this popularity

ensured a meteoric climb through both the military and social ranks of

Buenos Aires. Nevertheless, he could never forget the man that made his fame

possible, developing a deep friendship with Roc Sena, offering him a home and

employment as foreman on the new estancia that he had acquired.

The gaucho was tiring of his rogue’s life and found the general’s offer

to be timely. The two men became inseparable, each learning from the other

about a different way of life. It was General San Marco, however, who became

totally absorbed in the culture and habits of the gaucho lifestyle. He rode,

sang, drank, and caroused with Roc Sena and his men on every occasion that

presented itself.

He drank maté, the intoxicating herbal tea, partook in the asado, or range

barbecue where an entire steer would be devoured except for horns and hoofs.

He learned to play pato, the physical basketball style game played on horseback.

He became proficient with the bolla, knife, and revolver, and picked up a whole

new vocabulary of foul language that could not be put to use in the parlors and

ballrooms of Palermo.

All of these things were passed on to Lonfranco De Seta under Roc Sena’s

guidance, and the boy was a willing, eager student. He took the initial hazing

from the other ranch-hands in good humor, for he knew that they found it

strange for a young Italian immigrant to ride in their midst.

Whatever hurdles Lonfranco had to overcome because of his background

or any perceived favoritism on the part of the general were conquered with

sheer tenacity and a will to learn quickly. It was not long before the boy was

able to pull his full weight in the eyes of his peers.

Other forms of education were being administered to the newcomer at

the same time. These lessons were given not only by the general, but also by

a private academic tutor named Alveara Alcorta, who was brought in from

Buenos Aires.

53

JAMES McCREATH

The general would talk at great length about agricultural facts of the

Pampas and the need for alfalfa to be cultivated to feed the more productive

English cattle that he had recently purchased. Also the need for cash crops of

corn, wheat, and other grains to augment the sheep and cattle. He also spoke

of the need for new, efficient methods of marketing the products that they

produced, that is, an expanded rail system tying the Pampas to the ports in

Rosario and Buenos Aires.

There was no doubt that the general did not consider Buenos Recuerdos

as a leisurely pastime. Properly run, and with the right amount of innovation,

he was certain that it would maintain his family’s economic security through

whatever political upheaval should shake the ruling classes of Buenos Aires.

The general would eventually place a lot of trust in Lonfranco’s judgment,

but first the boy had to read and write so that he could comprehend financial

figures and statements. This was the role that Alveara Alcorta played in the

making of Lonfranco De Seta. The books were a lot more difficult to master

than the bolla or the saddle, but Lonfranco tackled them with the same driven

determination. After two years, Señora Alcorta was no longer required in the

employ of the general.

The San Marco ladies would be in residence at Buenos Recuerdos for most

of the summer months of January and February, and during those months, it

seemed to Lonfranco that the estancia was turned into a continuous garden

party or ballroom soirée. Guests from all over the countryside and the great

cities would enjoy the hospitality of the general and his family for days on

end.

The boy’s relationship with Maria remained extremely cordial, but his

newfound maturity and the worldly stories of the gauchos tempered the

infatuation that had made him giddy with love when they had first met. She

was, after all, the general’s eldest daughter, and he did not want to risk his

emerging identity on any indiscretion that he might be lured into because of

his naiveté. Affairs of the heart must wait for now, for the affairs of business

were uppermost in Lonfranco’s mind.

That aside, he was a constant visitor in the main residence, either talking

business with the general, or playing some spirited game with the younger

sisters as time permitted. He continued to be treated as if he were their favorite

cousin, and even Maria seemed to accept that their personal relationship had to

remain of lesser importance than their mutual educations.

It was for that reason that Maria and a French governess set sail for France

in August of 1902. Maria was about to fulfill her desire to study at the Sorbonne

in Paris, and the entire family, including Lonfranco, joined her on the continent

the following May for a two month family reunion.

54

RENALDO

The first-class passage to Europe was a far cry from what the young Italian

had experienced on his initial crossing of the Atlantic. The other passengers

reveled in his stories of hardship and deprivation as they sipped champagne from

the finest crystal. How things had changed for the boy from Livorno. Steerage-

class hardships were a distant memory. Only the best available amenities were

acceptable for the general and his entourage.

The family traveled on to London after their stay on the continent, where

Lonfranco and the general set about acquiring some of the best polo ponies that

money could buy. The general made a special gift of one fine grey Arabian mare

to Lonfranco, a gesture that brought heartfelt tears to the young man’s eyes.

They even managed to play a few chuckers of polo at an exclusive club

on the outskirts of London, the president of the club being very willing to rub

shoulders with an Argentine war hero and businessman. Lonfranco had played

the game with great enthusiasm many times since that first day at the picnic in

Buenos Aires, and he had displayed such talent that the general now included

him in his first-team lineup.

The polo ponies were not the only business matters that the general

tended to while indulging himself at the sport he loved. The man responsible

for San Marco’s presence at Hocking’s Squire Polo Club was none other than the

president of British Rail Overseas Limited, Wendel Barrington Thompson.

Thompson, a retired cavalry officer in the Queen’s Dragoons, was, like

much of the British public captivated by the stories of daring from the American

Wild West. Several famous frontiersmen were now touring the continent,

displaying their polished western skills with a six-shooter, lariat, and carbine.

Wild Bill Hickok, Sitting Bull, and Annie Oakley were only a few of

the characters that had leapt out of the periodical pages into the arenas and

fairgrounds of Europe. Although less widely publicized than its American

counterpart, the Argentine struggle against its native Indians had followed a

similarly bloodthirsty path. The romantic image of the gaucho and the fabled

tales of Argentina’s most successful Indian fighter raised the profile of General

Figueroa San Marco to celebrity status during his visit to England. It also

opened some extremely coveted doors into the inner boardrooms of British

commerce and finance.

The general, through Wendel Thompson’s influence, had made an

impressive presentation to the corporate board of directors of British Rail

Overseas Limited. The thrust of his message stated the case for extensive

expansion of the rail lines that the British company owned or controlled into

the Pampas heartland of Argentina.

The facts spoke for themselves. Improved agricultural techniques and

revolutionary mechanical devices, combined with the staggering influx of

knowledgeable farmers and astute scientists from Europe, meant that the fertile

Argentine plain was ripe for tremendous expansion and development.

55

JAMES McCREATH

Vastly improved beef cattle were successfully being bred and nurtured on

the Pampas’ endless expanse. Slaughterhouses needed direct lines to the ports

to enable timely export of their highly sought-after products. Sheep, cotton,

grains, and vegetables were all there as well for any person with foresight to

capitalize upon the idea.

The general offered his wide-reaching influence in any and every way

possible to the Englishmen, and the fact that he backed up his enthusiasm for

their investment dollars with a spectacular display of polo skills was not lost