Down
comes the rod; with a vigorous kick Facundo upsets the pedagogue's rickety
throne, and takes to his heels. After a three-days' search, he is
discovered secreted in a vineyard outside the town.
This little incident, of so trifling import at the time, was remembered
in after years as an early indication of the ferocious and uncontrollable
_caudillo's_ character. But it was soon eclipsed by the reckless deeds
that followed each other in quick succession between his fifteenth and
twentieth years. He speedily became notorious in the little town for his
wild moroseness, for his savage ferocity when excited, for his inordinate
love of cards. Gaming, a passion with many, was a necessary of life to
him; it was the only pursuit to which he was ever constant; it gave rise
to the quarrel in which, while yet a schoolboy, he for the first time
spilt blood.
By and by we lose sight of the student of San Juan. He has absolutely
_sunk_ out of sight. Yet, if we peer into filthy _pulperias_ here and
there between San Luis and San Juan, we may catch a glimpse of a shaggy,
swarthy savage, gambling, gambling as if for life; and we may also hear of
more than one affray in which his dagger has "come home richer than it
went." A little later, the son of wealthy Don Prudencio has become--not a
common laborer--but a comrade of common laborers.
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