to the desired number. Sargent and
Joel passed on every rejected beef, uniform weight being desirable,
until the shipment stood acceptable, in numbers, form, and finish.

The beeves were watered and grazed out on their course without delay.
Three days and a half were allowed to reach the railroad, and a grazing
pace would land the herd in the shipping pens in good season. The day's
work consisted in merely pointing and drifting the cattle forward,
requiring only a few men, leaving abundant help to initiate the cook and
wrangler in their field duties. Joel had been a close observer of the
apparent ease with which a cook discharged his duty, frequently halting
his wagon on a moment's notice, and easily preparing a meal for an
outfit of trail men within an hour. The main secret lay in the
foresight, in keeping his work in advance, and Joel lent every
assistance in coaching his cook to meet the emergency of any demand.

Sargent took the wrangler in hand. The different bunches of horses had
seen service on the trail, were gentle to handle, and attention was
called to observing each individual horse and the remuda as a whole. For
instance, in summer, a horse grazes against the breeze, and if the
remuda was freed intelligently, at darkness, the wind holding from the
same quarter during the night, a practical wrangler would know where to
find his horses at dawn. The quarter of the breeze was therefore always
noted, any variation after darkness, as if subject to the whim of the
wind, turning the course of the grazing remuda. As among men, there were
leaders among horses, and by noting these and applying hobbles, any
inclination to wander was restrained. Fortunately, the husky boy had no
fear of a horse, his approach being as masterly as his leave-taking was
gentle and kindly--a rare gift when unhobbling alone in the open.

"I'll make a horse wrangler out of this boy," said Sargent to the
father, in the presence of Dell and Joel. "Before the summer ends, he'll
know every crook and turn in the remuda. There's nothing like knowing
your horses. Learn to trail down the lost; know their spirit, know them
in health, lame and wounded. If a horse neighs at night, know why; if
one's missing in the morning, name him like you would an absent boy
at school."

The trip down to the railroad was largely a matter of patience. The
beeves were given every advantage, and except the loss of sleep in
night-herding, the work approached loafing agai