no
outfit to pass without chipping in, at least give them the chance, and
this trail hospital will be on velvet in no time. Of course, all Lovell
outfits will tear their shirts boosting the endowment fund, but that
needn't bar the other herds. Some outfits may have no cattle, but they
can chip in a sore-back or crippled pony. My idea is to bar no one, and
if they won't come in, give them a chance to say they don't want to.
You ought to send word back to Dodge; any foreman going east or west
from there would give you his strays."

The conception of a trail refuge had taken root. The supply points were
oases for amusement, but a halfway haven for the long stretches of
unsettled country, during the exodus of Texas cattle to the Northwest,
was an unknown port. The monotony of from three to five months on the
trail, night and day work, was tiring to men, while a glass of milk or
even an hour in the shade was a distinct relief. Straw was reluctant to
go, returning to make suggestions, by way of excuse, and not until
forced by the advancing day did he mount and leave to overtake his herd.

Again the trio was left alone. Straw had given Forrest a list of brands
and a classification of the cattle contributed, and a lesson in reading
brands was given the boys. "Brands read from left to right," said
Forrest to the pair of attentive listeners, "or downward. If more than
one brand is on an animal, the upper one is the holding or one in which
ownership is vested. Character brands are known by name, and are used
because difficult to alter. There is scarcely a letter in the alphabet
that a cattle thief can't change. When a cow brute leaves its home
range, it's always a temptation to some rustler to alter the brand, and
characters are not so easily changed."

The importance of claiming the range was pressing, and now that cattle
were occupying it, the opportunity presented itself. A notice was
accordingly written, laying claim to all grazing rights, from the Texas
and Montana trail crossing on Beaver to the headwaters of the same,
including all its tributaries, by virtue of possession and occupancy
vested in the claimants, Wells Brothers. "How does that sound?" inquired
Forrest, its author, giving a literal reading of the notice. "Nothing
small or stingy about that, eh? When you're getting, get a-plenty."

"But where are we to get the cattle to stock such a big country?"
pondered Joel. "It's twenty miles to the head of this creek."