He Had Drifted Into That Outlandish
Place When Young, And Finding The Native System Of Life Congenial Had
Made Himself
As much of a native as he could, and dressed like them
and talked their language, and was horse-breaker,
Cattle-drover, and
many other things by turn, and like any other gaucho he could make his
own bridle and whip and horse-gear and lasso and bolas out of raw
hide. And when not working he could gamble and drink like any gaucho
to the manner born - and fight too. But here there was a difference.
Jack could affiliate with the natives, yet could never be just like
them. The stamp of the foreigner, of the Englishman, was never wholly
eradicated. He retained a certain dignity, a reserve, almost a
stiffness, in his manner which made him a marked man among them, and
would have made him a butt to the wits and bullies among his comrades
but for his pride and deadly power. To be mocked as a foreigner, a
gringo, an inferior being, was what he could not stand, and the result
was that he had to fight, and it then came as a disagreeable
revelation that when Jack fought he fought to kill. This was
considered bad form; for though men were often killed when fighting,
the gaucho's idea is that you do not fight with that intention, but
rather to set your mark upon and conquer your adversary, and so give
yourself fame and glory. Naturally, they were angry with Jack and
became anxious to get rid of him, and by and by he gave them an
excuse. He fought with and killed a man, a famous young fighter, who
had many relations and friends, and some of these determined to avenge
his death. And one night a band of nine men came to the rancho where
Jack was sleeping, and leaving two of their number at the door to kill
him if he attempted to escape that way, the others burst into his
room, their long knives in their hands. As the door was thrown open
Jack woke, and instantly divining the cause of the intrusion, he
snatched up the knife near his pillow and sprang like a cat out of his
bed; and then began a strange and bloody fight, one man, stark naked,
with a short-bladed knife in his hand, against seven men with their
long facons, in a small pitch-dark room. The advantage Jack had was
that his bare feet made no sound on the clay floor, and that he knew
the exact position of a few pieces of furniture in the room. He had,
too, a marvellous agility, and the intense darkness was all in his
favour, as the attackers could hardly avoid wounding one another. At
all events, the result was that three of them were killed and the
other four wounded, all more or less seriously. And from that time
Jack was allowed to live among them as a harmless, peaceful member of
the community, so long as no person twitted him with being a gringo.
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