How tangles straightened out, and
rough places became smooth, as he quietly took matters in hand.
Luckily, old Juan Can had always liked him, and felt a great sense
of relief at the news of his staying on. Not a wholly unselfish
relief, perhaps, for since his accident Juan had not been without
fears that he might lose his place altogether; there was a Mexican
he knew, who had long been scheming to get the situation, and had
once openly boasted at a fandango, where he was dancing with
Anita, that as soon as that superannuated old fool, Juan Canito,
was out of the way, he meant to be the Senora Moreno's head
shepherd himself. To have seen this man in authority on the place,
would have driven Juan out of his mind.
But the gentle Alessandro, only an Indian,-- and of course the
Senora would never think of putting an Indian permanently in so
responsible a position on the estate,-- it was exactly as Juan would
have wished; and he fraternized with Alessandro heartily from the
outset; kept him in his room by the hour, giving him hundreds of
long-winded directions and explanations about things which, if
only he had known it, Alessandro understood far better than he
did.
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