boy, as he so often called him, had
somewhere, somehow, already experienced that Gethsemane which soon or
late--the Dean maintains--leaves its shadow upon us all. The cowboys,
for his quick and genuine appreciation of their skill and knowledge, as
well as for his unassuming courage, hearty good nature and ready laugh,
took him into their fellowship without question or reserve, while Little
Billy, loyal ever to his ideal, "Wild Horse Phil," found a large place
in his boyish heart for the tenderfoot who was so ready always to
recognize superior wisdom and authority.

So the stranger found his place among them, and in finding it, found
also, perhaps, that which he most sorely needed.

[Illustration:]

When rodeo time came Patches was given a "string" of horses and, through
the hard, grilling work that followed, took his place among the riders.
There was no leisurely roaming over the range now, with only an
occasional short dash after some animal that needed the "iron" or the
"dope can;" but systematically and thoroughly the thirty or forty
cowboys covered the country--mountain and mesa and flat, and wash and
timbered ridge and rocky pass--for many miles in every direction.

In this section of the great western cattle country, at the time of my
story, the round-ups were cooperative. Each of the several ranchers
whose cattle, marked by the owner's legally recorded brand, ranged over
a common district that was defined only by natural boundaries, was
represented in the rodeo by one or two or more of his cowboys, the
number of his riders being relative to the number of cattle marked with
his iron. This company of riders, each with from three to five saddle
horses in his string, would assemble at one of the ranches participating
in the rodeo. From this center they would work until a circle of country
within riding distance was covered, the cattle gathered and
"worked"--or, in other words, sorted--and the animals belonging to the
various owners disposed of as the representatives were instructed by
their employers. Then the rodeo would move to another ranch, and would
so continue until the entire district of many miles was covered. The
owner or the foreman of each ranch was in charge of the rodeo as long as
the riders worked in his territory. When the company moved to the next
point, this loader took his place in the ranks, and cheerfully received
his orders from some comrade, who, the day before, had been as willingly
obedien