was then to ride directly back to camp, driving all cattle
before him. Each was in sight of his right- and left-hand neighbour.
Thus was constructed a drag-net whose meshes contracted as home was
neared.

I was detached, when of our party only the Cattleman and Homer
remained. They would take the outside. This was the post of honour,
and required the hardest riding, for as soon as the cattle should
realise the fact of their pursuit, they would attempt to "break" past
the end and up the valley. Brown Jug and I congratulated ourselves on
an exciting morning in prospect.

Now, wild cattle know perfectly well what a drive means, and they do
not intend to get into a round-up if they can help it. Were it not for
the two facts, that they are afraid of a mounted man, and cannot run
quite so fast as a horse, I do not know how the cattle business would
be conducted. As soon as a band of them caught sight of any one of us,
they curled their tails and away they went at a long, easy lope that a
domestic cow would stare at in wonder. This was all very well; in fact
we yelled and shrieked and otherwise uttered cow-calls to keep them
going, to "get the cattle started," as they say. But pretty soon a
little band of the many scurrying away before our thin line, began to
bear farther and farther to the east. When in their judgment they
should have gained an opening, they would turn directly back and make a
dash for liberty. Accordingly the nearest cowboy clapped spurs to his
horse and pursued them.

It was a pretty race. The cattle ran easily enough, with long, springy
jumps that carried them over the ground faster than appearances would
lead one to believe. The cow-pony, his nose stretched out, his ears
slanted, his eyes snapping with joy of the chase, flew fairly "belly to
earth." The rider sat slightly forward, with the cowboy's loose seat.
A whirl of dust, strangely insignificant against the immensity of a
desert morning, rose from the flying group. Now they disappeared in a
ravine, only to scramble out again the next instant, pace undiminished.
The rider merely rose slightly and threw up his elbows to relieve the
jar of the rough gully. At first the cattle seemed to hold their own,
but soon the horse began to gain. In a short time he had come abreast
of the leading animal.

The latter stopped short with a snort, dodged back, and set out at
right angles to his former course. From a dead run the pony came to a
sta