FIGHTING THE INSECTS 



Encouraged by my agreement, he said something else in Spanish 

 which I could not in the least understand, but to which I replied 

 wisely with, "Si, si." I was beginning to enjoy the conversation 

 and so I quoted to him the opening paragraphs of the Declara- 

 tion of Independence. He quite agreed, and was evidently in a 

 conversational mood, since he assented with a smile, "Si, si," 

 and began a long monologue which, for all I knew, might have 

 been a chapter from "Don Quixote." By that time I was 

 ashamed of my revolver, so I took it out of my pocket and put 

 it back in my bag. It was a delightful conversation, but neither 

 of us understood a word the other one said, except the extremely 

 useful "Si, si." 



Eventually we arrived at San Jose, and I was deposited with 

 a letter of introduction at the rancho of a man named Parodi. 

 Parodi was an Italian who had come out from Italy to British 

 Columbia, where he was engaged in mining until the climate 

 and the hardships drove him south, when he went to Mexico, 

 the land of the sun. He had picked up some French somewhere, 

 he knew Italian, of course, and had learned a little English in 

 British Columbia. That was the reason I had been sent to him. 

 He was a successful ranchero, had accumulated quite a large 

 property, and had gained the dictatorial, masterful way of ad- 

 dressing people common to men who associate with peons. I 

 remember that two or three times a day he would come out into 

 the field where I was watching insects and remark in a loud 

 voice, "Well, what you say?" And I would reply with an in- i 

 gratiating smile, "Anything you like." He always said then, 

 "Let's have a drink." If I agreed, as I generally did, he would , 



march majestically back to the rancho, with me following meekly 

 behind. When he reached the porch he would say, "Take a 

 seat," and then would enter the house and come back with a 

 big bottle and glasses and would say as solemnly as though it 



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