NEIGHBORLY VISITS AND ADVICE.
It must not be supposed that the Hardys, during the whole of this
time, were leading a perfectly solitary life. Upon the contrary,
they had a great deal of sociable companionship. Within a range of
ten miles there were no less than four estancias owned by
Englishmen, besides that of their first friend Mr. Percy. A ride of
twenty miles is thought nothing of out on the pampas. The estate
immediately to the rear of their own was owned by Senor Jaqueras, a
native. The tract upon the east of his property was owned by three
young Englishmen, whose names were Herries, Cooper, and Farquhar.
They had all been in the army, but had sold out, and agreed to come
out and settle together.
The southwestern corner of their property came down to the river
exactly opposite the part where the north-eastern corner of Mount
Pleasant touched it: their house was situated about four miles from
the Hardys. To the west of Senor Jaqueras, the estate was owned by
two Scotchmen, brothers of the name of Jamieson: their estancia was
nine miles distant. In the rear of the estate of Senor Jaqueras,
and next to that of Mr. Percy, were the properties of Messrs.
Williams and Markham: they were both about ten miles from Mount
Pleasant. These gentlemen had all ridden over to call upon the
newcomers within a very few days of Mr. Hardy's first arrival, and
had offered any help in their power.
The Hardys were much pleased with their visitors, who were all
young men, with the frank, hearty manner natural to men free from
the restraints of civilized life. The visits had been returned in a
short time, and then for awhile all communication with the more
distant visitors had ceased, for the Hardys were too busy to spare
time upon distant rides. One or other of the party at Canterbury,
as the three Englishmen had called their estancia, very frequently
dropped in for a talk, and Mr. Hardy and the boys often rode over
there when work was done, Canterbury was also a young
settlement--only four or five months, indeed, older than Mount
Pleasant--so that its owners, like themselves, had their hands full
of work; but sometimes, when they knew that the Hardys were
particularly hard at work, one or two of them would come over at
daybreak and give their assistance. During the final week's work,
especially just before Mrs. Hardy's arrival, all three came over
and lent their aid, as did the Jamiesons.
As soon as Mrs. Hardy had arrived all their neighbors came over to
call, and a very friendly intercourse was quickly established
between them. As there was no spare bedroom at Mount Pleasant, some
hammocks were made, and hooks were put into the sitting-room walls,
so that the hammocks could be slung at night and taken down in the
morning. The English party always rode back to Canterbury, as the
distance was so short, and the Jamiesons generally did the same;
but Messrs. Percy, Williams, and Markham usually came over in the
afternoon, and rode back again next morning.
When the press of work was over the boys and their sisters often
cantered over to Canterbury to tea, and sometimes, but more seldom,
to the Jamiesons' estancia. The light-hearted young Englishmen were
naturally more to their fancy than the quiet and thoughtful
Scotchmen. The latter were, however, greatly esteemed by Mr. and
Mrs. Hardy, who perceived in them a fund of quiet good sense and
earnestness.
Upon Sunday morning Mr. Hardy had service, and to this the whole of
their friends generally came. It was held early, so that the
Jamiesons and the Englishmen could ride back to their homes before
the heat of the day, the other three remaining to dine, and
returning in the cool of the evening. Canterbury was entirely a
sheep and cattle farm. The owners had five thousand sheep, and some
hundreds of cattle; but they had comparatively a good deal of time
upon their hands, as stock and sheep farming does not require so
much personal care and supervision as must be bestowed upon
agricultural farms. The Jamiesons, on the contrary, were entirely
occupied in tillage: they had no sheep, and only a few head of
cattle.
Mr. Hardy was remarking upon this one day to Mr. Percy, who
replied, "Ah, the poor fellows are very unfortunate. They brought
out a fair capital, and had as large a stock of sheep and cattle as
the Canterbury party have. About six months, however, before you
arrived--yes, it's just a year now--the Indians swept down upon
them, and carried off every animal they had. They attacked the
house, but the Jamiesons defended themselves well; and the Indians
were anxious to get off with their booty, and so they beat a
retreat. Pursuit was hopeless; every horse had been driven off, and
they had to walk six miles to the next hacienda to give the news;
and long before a party could be got together the Indians were
beyond the possibility of pursuit. Two or three hundred sheep and a
dozen or two of the bullocks found their way back, and these and
their land was all that remained to the Jamiesons of their capital,
for they had invested all they had in their stock. However, they
looked affairs manfully in the face, sold their animals, bought a
couple of plows and draught bullocks, hired a peon or two, and set
to work with a will. They will get on but slowly for a time; but I
have no doubt that they will do well in the course of a few years.
Men with their pluck and perseverance are certain to get on. That
puts me in mind, Hardy, of a matter upon which I had intended to
speak to you. We are just getting now to the time of the year when
Indian attacks are most likely to take place. Sometimes they are
quiet for a year or two, then they are very troublesome again. Five
or six years ago, just after I first came out, we had terrible
times with them. Vast numbers of cattle were driven off: the sheep
they less seldom take, because they cannot travel so fast, but they
do drive them off sometimes. A good many shepherds were killed, and
two or three estancias captured and burned, and the inmates
murdered. You are now the furthest settler, and consequently the
most exposed. Your estancia is strong and well built, and you are
all well armed and good shots. You are, I think, in that respect
safe, except from sudden surprise. The dogs are sure to give an
alarm; still I should sleep with everything in readiness."
"Thank you, Percy; I shall take your advice. I expected it from
what I had heard when I bought the place; but from hearing nothing
of Indians all this time, I had almost forgotten it. I will prepare
for defense without the loss of a day. The house has only one
vulnerable point--the doors and shutters. I will measure them this
afternoon, and will get you to take over a letter and forward it to
Rosario by the first opportunity, for some sheets of thin iron to
cover them with."
Mr. Percy promised to forward the letter the very next day by a
bullock-cart he was sending in, and also that the same cart should
bring them back. He said that if a conveyance were sent over in two
days' time for them they would be in readiness at his place.
This conversation caused Mr. Hardy great uneasiness. It was a
possibility he had been quite prepared for; but he could not feel
that the danger was really at hand without an anxious feeling. His
thousand sheep had cost him twelve hundred and fifty dollars, and
his cattle as much more. The lambing season had come and gone, and
the flock of sheep had doubled in number. The cattle, too, had
greatly increased, and the sheep were nearly ready for shearing.
Altogether the value of the stock was over five thousand dollars.
The loss would not be absolute ruin, as he had still three thousand
dollars of his original capital in the bank at Buenos Ayres; but it
would be a very serious loss.
Mr. Hardy had been alone with Mr. Percy when the conversation took
place; but he determined at once to take the boys into his entire
confidence. He therefore called to them to come out for a stroll
down to the dam, and told them word for word what Mr. Percy had
related to him.
Charley's eyes brightened at the thought of the excitement of a
fight with Indians, for which when in England, eighteen months
before, he had longed; and his fingers tightened upon his gun as he
said, "All right, papa, let them come." Hubert's face grew a little
paler, for he was not naturally of so plucky or pugnacious a
disposition as his brother. However, he only said, "Well, papa, if
they do come we shall all do our best."
"I am sure you will, my boy," said his father kindly. "But there is
no fear if it comes to fighting. We three with our arms can thrash
a hundred of them. What I am thinking of is our cattle, and not
ourselves. We will take good care against a sudden surprise; and
it's more than a whole tribe could do to take Mount Pleasant if we
are prepared."
"Do you mean to tell mamma and the girls, papa?"
"I mean to tell them that it is necessary for a time to be on their
guard, that the girls are on no account to venture to ride out
alone, and that they must not stir out of the enclosure even as far
as the hen-house, without first of all going up to the top of the
lookout to see that all is clear. We must see that, in future, the
sheep and cattle and horses are all driven at night into their wire
enclosures--we have not been very particular about the cattle
lately--and that the gates are fastened and padlocked at night. It
will puzzle them to get them out. Our own three horses I will have
in future kept within our own enclosure, so that they may be always
at hand, night or day. I bought them with a special eye to Indians;
they are all remarkably fast; and whether we run away or pursue,
can be relied on. And now, boys, come up to the house, and I will
open the mysterious box."
The box of which Mr. Hardy spoke was a long case, which had never
been opened since their arrival. No entreaties of his children
could induce Mr. Hardy to say what were its contents, and the young
ones had often wondered and puzzled over what they could be. It had
come, therefore, to be known in the family as the mysterious box.
With greatly excited curiosity the boys now walked toward the
house; but there was a slight delay, for as they approached Maud
and Ethel came running to meet them.
"Is anything the matter with the dam, papa? We have been watching
you having such a long talk with the boys. What is it all about?"
Mr. Hardy now told them as much as he thought proper of the state
of things, and gave them their instructions. The girls, who had no
idea there was any real danger, and who had besides an unlimited
confidence in their father and brothers, were disposed to look upon
It as fun, and Mr. Hardy had to speak quite seriously to be sure
that his orders would be strictly attended to. The boys then
informed them that the mysterious box was to be opened, and the
whole party went up to the house.
The box had been placed in the storeroom on the upper floor of the
tower, and the boys took up screwdrivers and hammers to open it.
The latter tools were not necessary, as the case was very carefully
screwed up; and when the top was taken off it was found that there
was an inside case of tin soldered up. As the boys were cutting
through this they expressed their opinion that, from the extreme
care taken, the contents must be very valuable. Still Mr. Hardy
would give no clew; and when the case was finally opened, the
astonishment of all was unbounded to find that it contained four
dozen large rockets and a dozen blue-lights. One dozen of these
rockets were ordinary signal rockets, but the rest were covered
with strong tin cases.
"Fireworks!" they all exclaimed in intense surprise. "What have you
brought fireworks all this way for, papa?"
"I will tell you, my dears. I knew that the Indians of the pampas
were horse Indians, and the idea struck me that as they could never
have seen rockets, they would be horribly scared at night by them.
rockets, you know, are used in war; and even if the riders are not
frightened, it is quite certain that the horses would be horribly
alarmed by one or two of these rushing fiery things charging into
their midst. I therefore had them specially made for me by a
pyrotechnist in London. One dozen, as you see, are ordinary rockets
of the largest size; they contain colored balls, which will give
out a most brilliant light. One of them thrown into the air, even
where we believe any Indians to be, will light up the plain, and
give us a fair view of them. The other three dozen are loaded with
crackers. As you see, I have had a strong case of tin placed over
the ordinary case; and one of them striking a man will certainly
knock him off his horse, and probably kill him. The roar, the rush,
the train of fire, and finally the explosion and the volley of
crackers in their midst would be enough to frighten their horses
altogether beyond control. What do you think of my idea?"
"Capital, capital!" they all cried.
"But how, papa," Hubert asked, "will you manage to make your
rockets go straight at the Indians? All rockets I ever saw went
straight up into the air."
"Yes, Hubert, because they were pointed up. A rocket goes whichever
way it is pointed. Rockets in war are fired through a tube, or from
a trough. We will use the trough. Set to at once, boys, and make a
trough about four feet long, without ends. It must stand on legs
high enough to raise it above the level of the wall round the top
of the tower. Let there be two legs on the front end, and one leg
behind; and this leg behind must have a hinge, so that, when it
stands upright, it will be six or eight inches higher than the
front, in case we want to fire at anything close at hand. When we
want to elevate the head of the rocket to fire at anything at a
distance, we pull the hind leg back, so that that end is lower than
the front. Put a spike at the end of the leg, to let it have a firm
hold on the floor."
Charley thought a moment, and then said: "I think, papa, it would
be firmer, and more easily managed, if we made two legs behind,
with another one sliding up and down between them, and with holes
in it so that it can be pegged up and down as we like."
"That would be certainly better, Charley. Put your idea down upon
paper, and let me see exactly what you mean before you begin."
Charley did so, and Mr. Hardy pronounced it to be excellent; and by
night the trough was finished, and placed in position at the top of
the lookout.
Mr. Hardy, in the course of the evening, explained to his wife that
it was possible the Indians might venture to make a dash to carry
off some of the cattle, and that, therefore, he had ordered the
girls to be on the lookout, and to adopt every precaution upon
moving out. To them he made an addition to his former instructions,
namely, that not only should they look out before leaving the
enclosure, but that, if one went out, the other should go up to the
top of the tower every quarter of an hour to see that everything
was still clear, and that if both were out, Sarah should do the
same. The boys needed no instructions to load their revolving
carbines, and the pistols and a double-barreled gun were handed
over both to Lopez and Terence, with instructions to carry them
always with them. Lopez required no orders on this score. He knew
what Indians were, and had a perfect horror of them. Their friends
at Canterbury were also put upon their guard, as their estates were
also very much exposed. Three days passed over, and then the light
iron plates arrived for the door and window shutters. Before they
were nailed on large holes were cut in them for firing through,
corresponding slits being cut in the woodwork. When they were
fastened in their places all felt that Mount Pleasant could defy
any number of assailants.
Orders were given to Terence that in case of the dogs giving the
alarm at night, the occupants of the hut were to retire at once to
the house; to which he replied characteristically:
"Sure, your honor, I suppose I may stop for a bit and pepper the
blackguards till they get close to me."
"Not at all, Terence; you are to retire at once to the house. When
we are once all together we shall be able to decide, according to
the number of the enemy, as to whether we shall sally out and
pepper them, or stand upon the defensive."
And so, every one having received their instructions in case of
emergency, things went on pretty much as before.