r gate of one of the kraals has been unbarred, and the
beasts are run through the opening into the kraal without the slightest
hitch.

Mr. Humphrey walks across and seats himself on the high railing of the
kraal near the trucks. Then a bar is taken out on this side, the first
opening having been closed, and the cowboys send the cattle through this
on to the slanting gangway leading to the first truck. The truck holds
just nineteen beasts, and when nineteen are out of the kraal Mr.
Humphrey drops the bar behind the last.

It is a difficult job to get the nineteen into the truck, for they are
frightened and suspicious and there is only just room enough for them
all to pack in. But at last it is done, the door is fastened, and the
truck moved on so that the next one comes abreast of the gangway. When
all the trucks but one have been loaded, we count and discover that
there are twenty-two cattle left. Mr. Humphrey shouts out that a certain
white steer must go in any case, and he indicates the three beasts which
can be left.

But, of course, when the whole lot come through in a bunch the white
steer remains till the last! They are sent back again and brought
forward once more; the three unwanted ones press forward, and the white
steer remains by himself in the kraal, refusing to come out at all. It
is exactly as if the beasts had understood what had been said and were
determined to give as much trouble as possible.

The boys do their work admirably. This time they "cut out" the three
unwanted ones and send them careering off across the prairie, to make
their own way homeward. The remaining eighteen are fitted into the
truck, and then they turn to tackle the steer, who stands in the middle
of the kraal waiting.

Two or three of them, including Edmund, sidle up to him on their ponies
and try to edge him toward the gangway. But he only paws the ground and
throws his head up in the air. Just as Mr. Humphrey shouts out a
warning, everything happens all together in a second.

The steer makes a mad rush. Edmund, who is nearest the gate, is through
it like a flash. The second man gallops for the other gate leading out
of the kraal on to the prairie, but the third, who is in the middle of
the green space, hesitates for an instant and is lost. The great beast
is at him, the pony wheels, slips, and falls, and his rider is shot off.
Another minute and the steer is on to him, pommelling at him with its
great horns. Edmund, however