"There is a good deal in what you say, Thompson, and I thought the
whole matter over before I bought it, There is a risk--a great
risk, if you like; but I hear the Indians seldom attack the houses
of the settlers if they are well prepared and armed. They do
occasionally, but very seldom. I shall be well prepared and well
armed, and have therefore no fear at all for our personal safety.
As to our animals, we must protect them as well as we can, and take
our chance. It is only for two or three years at most. After that
we shall have settlements beyond and around us; and if emigration
keeps on, as I anticipate, and if, as I believe, Rosario is to
become a very large and important place, our land will eventually
be worth five dollars an acre, at the very lowest. I shall take
care not to invest my whole capital in animals, so that I cannot be
ruined in one blow. I think that at the end of five years you will
agree with me that I have done wisely."

"I have no doubt that your property will increase very much in
value, as you say, Hardy, and that in the long run your speculation
will be a very successful one; but it is a terrible risk, I think."

"I do not think so, Thompson. We shall be a pretty strong party: we
shall have certainly two men besides ourselves. The boys could
bring down their man at three hundred yards, and I should do
considerable execution among a body of Indians at six or seven; so
I have no fear--not the least in the world."

In another two days Mr. Hardy and the boys, accompanied by Mr.
Thompson, went down to Buenos Ayres, and took up their quarters at
the hotel for a night. At parting, Mr. Thompson presented them with