That you may
depend on."
The voting for the new captain did not take long. There was, in
fact, but one man in the band fit for the office. That was Fernando,
the only old man in the band; all the rest were young men under
thirty, or boys. Fernando had been captain for several years, but
had himself begged, two years ago, that the band would elect
Alessandro in his place. He was getting old, and he did not like to
have to sit up and walk about the first half of every night, to see
that the shearers were not gambling away all their money at cards;
he preferred to roll himself up in his blanket at sunset and sleep till
dawn the next morning. But just for these few remaining weeks he
had no objection to taking the office again. And Alessandro was
right, entirely right, in remaining; they ought all to see that,
Fernando said; and his word had great weight with the men.
The Senora Moreno, he reminded them, had always been a good
friend of theirs, and had said that so long as she had sheep to shear,
the Temecula shearers should do it; and it would be very
ungrateful now if they did not do all they could to help her in her
need.
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