e great bull-ring there
he shall kill his bulls before the king and queen, and, have no fear,
senor, Spain shall also proclaim his superiority. Already, if he so
desires, fifty, seventy-five thousand--truly, sir--dollars gold in the
year--shall be his for his splendid genius. Yes, sir--and renown without
death. We are proud of him. Even now he ees with us--how shall I say
it?--ah, senor, even now, but at twenty years of age he ees with us as
the great John L. Sullivano was in United Stat-es when I lived there a
leetle boy--in New Yorrik--twenty years ago.'
"And Cogan said to himself--'This Torellas person must surely be some
class.'
"'And, senor--surely'--Ferrero had only stopped to get his breath--'it
would be criminal not to view Torellas in all his splendor--not as you
have viewed him this mor-rn-ing--that was play--but in the full
strength of his science, his art--deliverin-g, senor, the final stroke
to the ferocious bull.'
"Cogan also began to see that it would be a crime not to view the great
man in action, and he was also told that even more than Torellas the
matador they loved Torellas the man, the good comrade.
"Cogan became quite friendly with the bull-fighters. He inquired further
of Ferrero, who in the ring was a banderillo--that is, one of the people
who stick the decorated stakes in the bull's neck--possibly Senor
Ferrero knew of a mounted capeador by the name of Juan Roca.
"'Juan? Who does not? Yes, sir. Very much, sir,' and went on to tell
Cogan that Juan, the best mounted capeador in all South America, was
that very morning breaking in a new horse on the ranch of Don Vicente
Guillen outside the city.
"Ferrero was a most friendly person, and invited Cogan to eat with him,
and Cogan went. Ten or a dozen bull-fighters boarded in one place near
the bull-ring--a large, square, two-story adobe house; a grand house,
with walls painted in colors and splendid high rooms arranged around a
patio inside.
"It was now high noon, and warm enough in the sunny streets outside,
but in the patio it was cool, with a breeze from the Pacific, and after
lunch the bull-fighters sat around there and smoked cigarettes and
played stringed instruments, all but a few wild ones who went leaping
and springing about the garden walks. Cogan could not hide his interest
in this jumping exercise, and Ferrero, seeing it, invited him to join
in, which Cogan did, and beat everybody there jumping. He did so well
that Ferrero a
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