Stations were infrequent on the line of the railway, as the country is not densely settled. The rearing of cattle and horses is the principal industry, and occasionally, as Frank looked from the windows of the railway train, he saw the guachos pursuing their herds, which generally manifested an unwillingness to remain in the neighborhood of the snorting, puffing locomotive. Sometimes the engine-drivers added to the fright of the half-wild animals by sounding the whistle, which rarely failed to create a stampede. They did not indulge in this amusement if the guachos were in sight, as the latter are not friendly to the railway, and would greatly prefer the old state of affairs. Naturally they resent the frightening of their herds, and the engine-driver who deliberately blows the whistle and alarms horses or cattle is liable to be roughly handled whenever the guachos can lay hold of him. Some of the stations were the abiding-places of the guachos, and Frank embraced an opportunity to see the life of these denizens of the pampas. The result of his observation coincided with that of Lieutenant Strain, and he had no desire to remain among them. [Illustration: ARRIVAL OF TRAVELLERS AT A GUACHO VILLAGE.] Many of the guachos are descended from the best blood of Spain, and in spite of their rough ways they frequently display a great deal of courtly dignity. They salute each other with much formality, remove their hats on entering a house, are always polite to strangers passing through their country, though often quite the reverse to those who come to settle among them. Their houses are generally mud hovels of but a single room; beds and chairs are unknown, as the guachos and their families sleep and sit on the floor along with the dogs, which are generally quite numerous. Sometimes the skeleton of a horse's head is used in place of a chair, and the traveller is always bowed to it as though it were a velvet-covered fauteuil. Few of the guachos can read or write, and evidently they do not place a high regard upon education. For the first year of his life the guacho has no clothing whatever; he crawls around in the dirt, of which there is an abundance, as the floor is rarely swept, or he is hung to the rafters or the wall of the hovel, in a basket made of a bullock's hide. When he can walk he is provided with a lasso and practises upon dogs and chickens; when four or five years old he is put on horseback, and by his sixth year he has become useful in assisting with the cattle and horses. His lasso practice continues, and it is no wonder that he is proficient with it; throwing the lasso and bolas and riding on horseback complete his schooling, college course and all.