Chapter 10

           Theestate,or"hacienda,"knownasCasadelCorvo,extendedalongthewoodedbottomoftheLeonaRiverformorethanaleague,andtwicethatdistancesouthwardsacrossthecontiguousprairie.

           Thehouseitself—usually,thoughnotcorrectly,styledthehacienda—stoodwithinlongcannonrangeofFortInge;fromwhichitswhitewallswerepartiallyvisible;theremainingportionbeingshadowedbytallforesttreesthatskirtedthebanksofthestream.

           Itssitewaspeculiar,andnodoubtchosenwithaviewtodefence:foritsfoundationshadbeenlaidatatimewhenIndianassailantsmightbeexpected;asindeedtheymightbe,andoftenare,atthepresenthour.

           Therewasacurveoftheriverclosinguponitself,liketheshoeofaracehorse,orthearcofacircle,threepartscomplete;thechordofwhich,oraparallelogramtraceduponit,mightbetakenastheground-planofthedwelling.Hencethename—CasadelCorvo—"theHouseoftheCurve"(curvedriver).

           Thefaçade,orentranceside,frontedtowardstheprairie—thelatterforminganoblelawnthatextendedtotheedgeofthehorizon—incomparisonwithwhichanimperialparkwouldhaveshrunkintothedimensionsofapaddock.