THE SETTLER'S HOME.
Just before commencing the house Mr. Hardy heard that a sale of
stock was to take place at an estancia about twenty miles to the
west of Rosario, in consequence of the death of its owner. He
therefore took Lopez and the newly hired peons, and started. He was
likely to be away five days. The boys were to do what work they
judged best in his absence. They determined to set about
brick-making. Fortunately, Hans was accustomed to the work and knew
the way that the natives of the country set about it; the American,
Seth, knew nothing about it, but he was always willing to turn his
hand to anything. First, a piece of ground was cleared of grass,
and was leveled for the reception of the bricks when made; then
some planks were knocked together so as to form a rough table. Two
brick molds were made, these being larger than those used in
England. A piece of ground was chosen near. The turf was taken off,
the soil was dug up, and the peons drove the bullocks round and
round upon it, trampling it into a thick mud, some water being
thrown in when necessary.
As it was sufficiently trampled Terence carried it in a trough and
emptied it on to the table close by, where Hans and Seth fashioned
it in the molds, turning the bricks out on to a plank a foot wide
and six feet long. When this was full the boys took each an end and
carried it off to the prepared ground, where they carefully removed
the bricks with two little slabs of wood, and placed them on the
ground to dry, returning with the empty plank to find, another one
filled for them. It was hard work for all, and from eleven until
three the heat was too great to allow them to work at it; but they
began with daylight, and taking a nap during the heat of the day,
were ready to work on again as long as it was light.
The bricks were, of course, to be dried by the sun, as fuel was too
scarce for them to think of burning them; but this was of little
consequence, especially as they were to be used indoors, the heat
of the sun being quite sufficient to make very fair bricks without
the use of fire.
By the afternoon of the fifth day they had made a quantity of
bricks which would, they calculated, be ample for the construction
of the partition walls of their house.
The boys had just deposited the last brick upon the drying ground,
and were moving away, when Hubert cried, "Stop, Charley, don't move
a step."
Startled by the suddenness and sharpness of the cry, Charley stood
without moving, and was surprised to see his brother pick up one of
the wet bricks in both hands, and dash it upon the ground
immediately in front of where they were walking.
"I've killed him!" Hubert cried triumphantly; and Charley, looking
down, saw a snake of about three feet long writhing in the grass,
his head being completely driven into the ground under the force of
the lump of wet clay. Two or three stamps of their heavy boots
completed the work. And the men coming up to see what was the
matter, Hans said that Charley, who would have trodden upon the
reptile in another instant had not his brother called out, had had
a very narrow escape, for that the snake was the _vivora de la
crux_, so called from a mark like a cross upon his head, and
that his bite was almost always mortal.
It was a pretty snake, with bands of red, white, and black upon his
body. Charley grew very pale at the thought of the narrow escape he
had had, and wrung his brother very hard by the hand; while Hubert
was half-inclined to cry at the thoughts of what might have
happened.
The sun was just setting when they saw a crowd of objects in the
distance; and the boys at once saddled their horses and rode off,
to meet their father and to assist to drive in the animals. They
found, upon reaching him, that he had bought a thousand sheep,
fifty cattle, and twenty horses; three of these last being
remarkably well bred, and fast, and bought specially for their own
riding. Upon their arrival at the house the sheep were turned into
the enclosure, the horses were picketed, and the cattle left to
roam at their will, as it was not thought probable that they would
attempt to return to their distant homes, especially after two
days' fatiguing march.
Mr. Hardy was very much pleased at the sight of the long rows of
bricks lying in front of the house, and gave great credit to all
for the amount of work which had been done during his few days'
absence. The next morning he assigned to every one their share of
the future work. Lopez and one of the peons went out with the
horses, cattle, and sheep. After a time it would not be necessary
to have two men employed for this work, as the cattle and horses,
when they once became accustomed to their new home, would never
wander very far. Charley, Hubert, and Terence were to take three
yoke of oxen and the three plows, and to commence to get the land
in order for cultivation; the ground selected as a beginning being
that lying below the house near the river. Mr. Hardy, Hans, and the
two peons were to work at the house, and Seth was to finish the
well, which, although begun, had been stopped during the press of
more urgent work, and the water required had been fetched from the
stream in a barrel placed in a bullock cart. The way in which adobe
or mud houses are constructed is as follows: The mud is prepared as
for brick-making; but instead of being made into bricks, it is made
at once into the wall. The foundation having been dug out and
leveled, two boards are placed on edge eighteen inches or two feet
apart. These are kept in their places by two pieces of wood nailed
across them. The space between these boards is filled with mud, in
which chopped hay and rushes have been mixed to bind it together.
The boards are left for a day or two, while the builders proceed
with the other part of the wall. They are then taken off, and the
heat of the sun soon dries the wall into a mass almost as hard as a
brick. The boards are then put on again higher up, and the process
repeated until the walls have gained the desired height.
In a fortnight's time the walls were finished, and the bullock
carts were dispatched to Rosario to fetch lime, as Mr. Hardy had
determined to plaster the inside walls to keep in the dust, which
is otherwise continually coming off mud walls. By this time a
considerable extent of land was plowed up, and this was now planted
with maize, yam or sweet potato, and pumpkins: a small portion, as
an experiment, was also planted with potato seeds, but the climate
is almost too warm for the potato to thrive.
Upon the return of the carts with the lime the partition walls were
built with the bricks. The walls finished, all hands went to work
at the roof. This Mr. Hardy had intended to have had regularly
thatched; but during his last visit to Rosario he had heard that
the Indians frequently endeavored in their attacks to set fire to
the roofs, and he therefore determined to use tiles. The carts had
to make two journeys to Rosario to get sufficient tiles and lath.
But at last all was finished; the walls were plastered inside and
whitewashed out; the floor was leveled, beaten down hard, and
covered with a mixture of clay and lime, which hardened into a
firm, level floor.
It was exactly two months from the date of their arrival at the
farm that the doors were hung and the finishing touch put to the
house, and very pleased were they all as they gave three cheers for
their new abode. The tower, they all agreed, was an especial
feature. It was built of adobe up to the height of the other walls,
but the upper story had been built of bricks two thick and laid in
mortar. The top had been embattled; and the boys laughed, and said
the house looked exactly like a little dissenting chapel at home.
It was a joyful day when a fire was first lighted in the kitchen
chimney, which, with that in the sitting-room, was lined with
bricks; and the whole party sat down to a dinner of mutton and wild
fowl of three or four sorts.
The same evening Mr. Hardy told the boys that he should start the
next day to bring up their mamma and the girls, who were all
getting very impatient indeed to be out upon the pampas. He
explained to them that he should bring up iron bedsteads with bedding,
but that he relied upon them to increase their stock of
tables and benches, and to put up shelves, which would do until
regular cupboards and closets could be made. Mr. Hardy thought that
he should not be away much more than a week, as, by making a long
ride to Rosario the next day he should catch the boat, which left
the following morning for Buenos Ayres; and as he had already
written to Mr. Thompson saying when he should probably arrive,
there would be no time lost. The next morning he started before
daylight, the last words of the boys being: "Be sure, papa, to
bring the mosquito curtains for us all; they are getting worse and
worse. We hardly closed an eye all last night."
Hot as the weather now was, the boys worked incessantly at their
carpentering for the next week, and at the end had the satisfaction
of seeing a large table for dining at in the sitting-room, and a
small one to act as a sideboard, two long benches, and two short
ones. In their mother and sisters' rooms there were a table and two
benches, and a table and a long flap to serve as a dresser in the
kitchen. They had also put up two long shelves in each of the
bedrooms, and some nails on the doors for dresses. They were very
tired at the end of the week, but they looked round with a
satisfied look, for they knew they had done their best. The next
morning they were to ride to Rosario to meet the party. The carts
had gone off under the charge of Terence that day.
It was indeed a joyful meeting when Mr. and Mrs. Hardy and the
girls stepped off the steamer; but the first embrace was scarcely
over when the boys exclaimed simultaneously, "Why, girls, what is
the matter with your faces? I should not have known you."
"Oh, it's those dreadful mosquitoes; there were millions on board
the steamer last night. I really thought we should have been eaten
up. Didn't you, mamma?"
"Well, my dear, I thought that they would perhaps leave something
of us till morning, but I felt almost inclined to go mad and jump
overboard. It was a dreadful night. I do hope they are not so bad
here, Frank."
"No, Clara, they are nothing like so bad as they were last night;
but still, as we are so close to the river, they will, no doubt, be
troublesome, and I question whether the beds at the hotel have
mosquito curtains; but if you take my advice, and all sleep with
the sheet over your heads, you will manage to do pretty well. It is
better to be hot than to be bitten all over."
In spite, however, of the expedient of the sheets, all the party
passed a bad night, and were quite ready to get up before daylight
to start for their ride to Mr. Percy's estancia. They were all to
ride, with the exception of Sarah, who took her place in one of the
bullock carts; and they would therefore reach the estancia before
the heat of the day fairly set in. Terence having been told that
Sarah was going to ride, had cut some boughs, with which he made a
sort of arbor over the cart to shade her from the sun--a general
method of the country, and at which Sarah was much gratified. She
had at first felt rather anxious at the thought of going without
her mistress; but Terence assured her: "Sure, miss, and it's
meself, Terence Kelly, that will take care of ye; and no danger
shall come near your pretty face at all, at all; ye'll be quite as
safe as if ye were in the auld country. And as for the bastes, sure
and it's the quietest bastes they are, and niver thought of running
away since the day they were born."
So Sarah took her place without uneasiness, and the others started
at a hand canter for Mr. Percy's estancia.
While at Mr. Thompson's both Mrs. Hardy and the girls had ridden
regularly every day, so that all were quite at their ease on their
horses, and were able to talk away without ceasing of all that had
happened since they parted. The only caution Mr. Hardy had to give,
with a side look at Charley, was, "Look out for armadillo holes;
because I have known fellows who were wonderful at sticking on
their horses come to grief at them."
At which Hubert laughed; and Charley said, "Oh, papa!" and colored
up and laughed, as was his way when his father joked him about his
little weaknesses.
They had not gone more than halfway before they met Mr. Percy, who
had ridden thus far to welcome his guests, for English ladies are
very scarce out on the pampas, and are honored accordingly. One of
the first questions the girls asked after the first greetings were
over was, "Have you many mosquitoes at your estancia, Mr. Percy?"
"Not many," Mr. Percy said; "I have no stream near, and it is only
near water that they are so very bad."
After waiting during the heat of the day at Mr. Percy's, the boys
rode on home, as six guests were altogether beyond Mr. Percy's
power of accommodating.
The next morning the boys were up long before daylight, and went
down to the stream, where, as day broke, they managed to shoot a
swan and five wild ducks, and with these they returned to the
house. Then they swept the place with the greatest care, spread the
table, arranged the benches, set everything off to the best
advantage, and then devoted their whole energies to cooking a very
excellent breakfast, which they were sure the travelers would be
ready for upon their arrival. This was just ready, when, from the
lookout on the tower, they saw the party approaching. The breakfast
was too important to be left, and they were therefore unable to
ride out to meet them. They were at the gate, however, as they
rode up.
"Hurrah, hurrah!" they shouted, and the girls set up a cheer in
return.
The men ran up to take the horses, and in another minute the whole
party were in their new home. The girls raced everywhere wild with
delight, ascended to the lookout, clapped their hands at the sight
of the sheep and cattle, and could hardly be persuaded to take
their things off and sit down to breakfast.
Mrs. Hardy was less loud in her commendation of everything, but she
was greatly pleased with her new home, which was very much more
finished and comfortable than she had expected.
"This is fun, mamma, isn't it?" Maud said. "It is just like a
picnic. How we shall enjoy it, to be sure! May we set-to at once
after breakfast, and wash up?"
"Certainly, Maud; Sarah will not be here for another two hours, and
it is as well that you should begin to make yourselves useful at
once. We shall all have to be upon our mettle, too. See how nicely
the boys have cooked the breakfast. These snatch-cock ducks are
excellent, and the mutton chops done to a turn. They will have a
great laugh at us, if we, the professed cooks, do not do at least
as well."
"Ah, but look at the practice they have been having, mamma."
"Yes, Maud," Hubert said; "and I can tell you it is only two or
three things we can do well. Ducks and geese done like this, and
chops and steaks, are about the limits. If we tried anything else,
we made an awful mess of it: as to puddings, we never attempted
them; and shall be very glad of something in the way of bread, for
we are heartily sick of these flat, flabby cakes."
"Why have you only whitewashed this high middle wall halfway up,
Frank?"
"In the first place, my dear, we fell short of whitewash; and, in
the next place, we are going to set to work at once to put a few light
rafters across, and to nail felt below them, and whitewash it
so as to make a ceiling. It will make the rooms look less bare,
and, what is much more important, it will make them a great deal
cooler."
"You get milk, I hope?"
"Yes," Charley said; "two of the cows of the last lot papa bought
are accustomed to be milked, and Hubert and I have done it up till
now; but we shall hand them over to you, and you girls will have to
learn."
Maud and Ethel looked at each other triumphantly. "Perhaps we know
more than you think," Ethel said.
"Yes," Mrs. Hardy said; "the girls are going to be two very useful
little women. I will tell you a secret. While you boys were at work
of a morning, the girls, as you know, often walked over to Mr.
Williams the farmer's, to learn as much as they could about
poultry, of which he kept a great many. Mrs. Williams saw how
anxious they were to learn to be useful, so she offered to teach
them to milk, and to manage a dairy, and make butter and cheese.
And they worked regularly, till Mrs. Williams told me she thought
that they could make butter as well as she could. It has been a
great secret, for the girls did not wish even their papa to know,
so that it might be a surprise."
"Very well done, little girls," Mr. Hardy said; "it is a surprise
indeed, and a most pleasant one. Mamma kept your secret capitally,
and never as much as whispered a word to me about it."
The boys too were delighted, for they had not tasted butter since
they arrived, and they promised readily enough to make a rough
churn with the least possible delay.
By ten o'clock the carts arrived with Sarah and the luggage, and
then there was work for the afternoon, putting up the bedsteads,
and getting everything into order. The mosquito curtains were
fitted to the beds, and all felt gratified at the thought that they
should be able to set the little bloodsuckers at defiance. The next
day was Sunday, upon which, as usual, no work was to be done. After
breakfast the benches were brought in from the bedrooms, and the
men assembling, Mr. Hardy read prayers, offering up a special
prayer for the blessing and protection of God upon their household.
Afterward Mrs. Hardy and the girls were taken over the place, and
shown the storehouse, and the men's tent, and the river, and the
newly planted field.
"The ground is getting very much burned up, papa," Charley said.
"It was damp enough when we put in the crops, and they are getting
on capitally; but I fear that they were sown too late, and will be
burned up."
"Ah, but I have a plan to prevent that," Mr. Hardy said. "See if
you can think what it is."
Neither of the boys could imagine.
"When I first described the place to you, I told you that there was
a main stream with a smaller one running into it, and that I
thought that this last would be very useful. I examined the ground
very carefully, and I found that the small stream runs for some
distance between two slight swells, which narrow in sharply to each
other just below the house. Now I find that a dam of not more than
fifty feet wide and eight feet high will make a sort of lake a
quarter of a mile long, and averaging fifty yards wide. From this
the water will flow over the whole flat by the river in front of
the house and away to the left, and we shall be able to irrigate at
least three or four hundred acres of land. Upon these we shall be
able to raise four or five crops a year; and one crop in
particular, the alfalfa, a sort of lucern for fattening the cattle
in time of drought, when the grass is all parched up. At that time
cattle ordinarily worth only fifteen dollars can be sold, if fat,
for forty-five or fifty dollars. So you see, boys, there is a grand
prospect before us."
The boys entered enthusiastically into the scheme, and the party
went at once to inspect the spot which Mr. Hardy had fixed upon for
the dam. This, it was agreed, should be commenced the very next
day; and Mr. Hardy said that he had no doubt, if the earth was
properly puddled, or stamped when wet, that it would keep the water
from coming through.
In the afternoon Mrs. Hardy, Maud, and Ethel were taken a ride
round the property, and were fortunate enough to see some
ostriches, to the great delight of the girls.
At tea Mr. Hardy said: "There is one very important point connected
with our place which has hitherto been unaccountably neglected. Do
any of you know what it is?"
The boys and their sisters looked at each other in great perplexity,
and in vain endeavored to think of any important omission.
"I mean," their father said at last, "the place has no name. I
suggest that we fix upon one at once. It is only marked in the
government plan as Lot 473. Now, what name shall it be?"
Innumerable were the suggestions made, but none met with universal
approbation. At last Mrs. Hardy said: "I have heard in England of a
place called Mount Pleasant, though I confess I do not know where
it is. Now, what do you say to Mount Pleasant? It is a mount, and
we mean it to be a very pleasant place before we have done with it."
The approval of the suggestion was general, and amid great applause
it was settled that the house and estate should hereafter go by the
name of "Mount Pleasant."
In the morning the boys were at work at two wheelbarrows, for which
Mr. Hardy had brought out wheels and ironwork; and Mr. Hardy and
the men went down to the stream, and began to strip off the turf
and to dig out a strip of land twenty-five feet wide along the line
where the dam was to come. The earth was then wetted and puddled.
When the barrows were completed they were brought into work; and in
ten days a dam was raised eight feet high, three feet wide at the
top, and twenty-five feet wide at the bottom. In the middle a space
of two feet wide was left, through which the little stream at
present ran. Two posts, with grooves in them, were driven in, one
upon either side of this; and thus the work was left for a few
days, for the sun to bake its surface, while the men were cutting a
trench for the water to run down to the ground to be irrigated.
A small sluice was put at the entrance to this, to regulate the
quantity of water to be allowed to flow, and all was now in
readiness to complete the final operation of closing up the dam. A
quantity of earth was first collected and puddled, and piled on the
top of the dam and on the slopes by its side, so as to be in
readiness, and Mrs. Hardy and the girls came down to watch the
operation.
First a number of boards two feet long, and cut to fit the grooves,
were slipped down into them, forming a solid wall, and then upon
the upper side of these the puddled earth was thrown down into the
water, Terence standing below in the stream and pounding down the
earth with a rammer. The success was complete: in a couple of
hours' time the gap in the dam was filled up, and they had the
satisfaction of seeing the little stream overflowing its banks and
widening out above, while not a drop of water made its escape by
the old channel.
While this work had been going on the boys had been engaged up at
the house. The first thing was to make a churn, then to put up some
large closets and some more shelves, and the bullock carts had to
be sent to Rosario for a fresh supply of planks. This occupied them
until the dam was finished. The girls had tried their first
experiment at butter, and the result had been most satisfactory.
The dinners, too, were pronounced to be an immense improvement upon
the old state of things.
Soon after the dam was finished Hans, who had been too long a rover
to settle down, expressed his desire to leave; and as Mr. Hardy had
determined to lessen his establishment--as, now that the heavy work
was over, if was no longer necessary to keep so many hands--he
offered no objection to his leaving without the notice he had
agreed to give. Wages were high, and Mr. Hardy was desirous of
keeping his remaining capital in hand, in case of his sheep and
cattle being driven off by the Indians. One of the peons was also
discharged, and there remained only Lopez, Seth, Terence, and two
peons.