ey let two bunches of cattle
mix! Wouldn't that make a saint swear!"

"Those other fellows had no man in the lead or on the point," protested
Dell dejectedly. "They were looking away off yonder, and their cattle
walked into ours. Where were you?"

"One of my men was telling me about an old sweetheart of his down on
the Trinity River, and it made me absent-minded. I forgot what we were
doing. Well, it's too late in the day to separate them now. We'll pen
them until morning."

The appearance of Priest and the readiness with which the strange men
assisted in corralling the herd shortly revealed the situation to the
crafty Joel. On the homeward canter, the gray-haired foreman managed to
drop a word which lightened Dell's depression and cleared up the
supposed error.

That was a great night on the Beaver. The two wagons camped together,
the herds bedded on either side of the creek, and the outfits mingled
around the same camp-fire. Rare stories were told, old songs were sung,
the lusty chorus of which easily reached the night-herders, and was
answered back like a distant refrain.

The next morning the herds moved out on their way without a wasted step.
Two men were detailed from each outfit, and with the foremen and the
boys, a branding crew stood ready for the task before them. The chute
had been ironed and bolted the evening previous, and long before the
early rays of the sun flooded the valley of the Beaver, the first
contingent of cattle arrived from the upper corral.

The boys adopted Bar Y as their brand. The chute chambered ten grown
cattle, and when clutched in a vise-like embrace, with bars fore and
aft, the actual branding, at the hands of two trail foremen, was quickly
over. The main herd was cut into half a dozen bunches, and before the
noon hour arrived, the last hoof had passed under the running irons and
bore the new owner's brand or tally-mark.

Only a short rest was allowed, as the herds were trailing the limit of
travel, and must be overtaken by evening. When crossing the railroad a
few days before, it was learned that Grinnell was the railroad depot for
settlers' supplies, and the boys were advised to file their order for
corn, and to advance a liberal payment to insure attention. All details
of the ranch seemed well in hand, the cattle were in good condition to
withstand a winter, and if spirit and confidence could be imparted, from
age to youth, the sponsors of the venture would have felt little