tle danger of the cattle returning to their favorite range
during the night, but for fear of stragglers, at an early hour in the
morning the drag-net was again thrown out from camp. Headquarters was
passed before the horsemen began encountering any quantity of cattle,
and after passing the old winter corral, the men on the points of the
half-circle were sent to ride the extreme limits of the range. By the
middle of the forenoon, everything was adrift, and as the cattle
naturally turned into the valley for their daily drink, a few complete
circles brought the total herd into a general round-up, numbering over
fifteen hundred head of mixed cattle.

Meanwhile the wagon and remuda had followed up the drift, dinner was
waiting, and after the mid-day meal had been bolted, orders rang out.
"Right here's where all hands and the cook draw fresh horses," said
Sargent, "and get into action. It's a bulky herd, and cutting out will
be slow. The cook and wrangler must hold the beeves, and that will turn
the rest of us free to watch the round-up and cut out."

By previous agreement, in order to shorten the work, Joel was to cut out
the remnant of double-wintered beeves, Manly the Lazy H's, while Sargent
and an assistant would confine their selections to the single-wintered
ones in the ---- Y brand. Each man would tally his own work, even
car-loads were required, and a total would constitute the shipment. The
cutting out began quietly; but after a nucleus of beeves were selected,
their numbers gained at the rate of three to five a minute, while the
sweat began to reek from the horses.

Joel cut two car-loads of prime beeves, and then tendered his services
to Sargent. The cattle had quieted, and a fifth man was relieved from
guarding the round-up, and sent to the assistance of Manly. A steady
stream of beef poured out for an hour, when a comparison of figures was
made. Manly was limited to one hundred and twenty head, completing an
even thousand shipped from the brand, and lacking four, was allowed to
complete his number. Sargent was without limit, the object being to trim
the general herd of every heavy, rough beef, and a tally on numbers was
all that was required. The work was renewed with tireless energy, and
when the limit of twenty cars was reached, a general conference resulted
in cutting two loads extra.

"That leaves the home cattle clean of rough stuff," said Sargent, as he
dismounted and loosened the saddle on a tired horse