n the east and north of him.

My brothers and I were happily saved a good deal of business worry in
connection with the purchase of our _estancia_, so, too, were the new
settlers, for Moncrieff, with that long Scotch head of his, had everything
cut and dry, as he called it, so that the signing of a few papers and the
writing of a cheque or two made us as proud as any Scottish laird in the
old country.

'You must creep before you walk,' Moncrieff told us; 'you mustn't go like
a bull at a gate. Just look before you "loup."'

So we consulted him in everything.

Suppose, for instance, we wanted another mule or horse, we went to
Moncrieff for advice.

'Can you do without it?' he would say. 'Go home and settle that question
between you, and if you find you can't, come and tell me, and I'll let you
have the beast as cheap as you can buy it anywhere.'

Well, we started building our houses. Unlike the pampas, Mendoza _can_
boast of stone and brick, and even wood, though round our district a deal
of this had been planted. The woods that lay on Moncrieff's colony had
been reared more for shelter to the flocks against the storms and tempests
that often sweep over the country.

In the more immediate vicinity of the dwelling-houses, with the exception
of some splendid elms and plane-trees, and the steeple-high solemn-looking
poplar, no great growth of wood was encouraged. For it must be remembered
we were living in what Moncrieff called uncanny times. The Indians[6] were
still a power in the country, and their invasions were looked for
periodically. The State did not then give the protection against this foe
it does now. True, there existed what were called by courtesy frontier
forts; they were supposed to billet soldiers there, too, but as these men
were often destitute of a supply of ammunition, and spent much of their
time playing cards and drinking the cheap wines of the country, the
settlers put but little faith in them, and the wandering pampa Indians
treated them with disdain.

Our houses, then, for safety's sake, were all built pretty close together,
and on high ground, so that we had a good view all over the beautiful
valley. They could thus be more easily defended.

Here and there over the _estancias_, _puestos_, as they were called, were
erected for the convenience of the shepherds. They were mere huts, but,
nevertheless, they were far more comfortable in every way than many a
crofter's cottage in the Scottish Hi