paring
horseflesh, nor of picking a route. We made the shortest line, and
paid little attention to anything that stood in the way. A very fever
of resistance possessed us. It was like beating against a head wind,
or fighting fire, or combating in any other of the great forces of
nature. We were quite alone. The Cattleman and Homer had vanished.
To our left the men were fully occupied in marshalling the compact
brown herds that had gradually massed--for these antagonists of mine
were merely outlying remnants.

I suppose Brown Jug must have run nearly twenty miles with only one
check. Then we chased a cow some distance and into the dry bed of a
stream, where she whirled on us savagely. By luck her horn hit only
the leather of my saddle skirts, so we left her; for when a cow has
sense enough to "get on the peck," there is no driving her farther. We
gained nothing, and had to give ground, but we succeeded in holding a
semblance of order, so that the cattle did not break and scatter far
and wide. The sun had by now well risen, and was beginning to shine
hot. Brown Jug still ran gamely and displayed as much interest as
ever, but he was evidently tiring. We were both glad to see Homer's
grey showing in the fringe of mesquite.

Together we soon succeeded in throwing the cows into the main herd.
And, strangely enough, as soon as they had joined a compact band of
their fellows, their wildness left them and, convoyed by outsiders,
they set themselves to plodding energetically toward the home ranch.

As my horse was somewhat winded, I joined the "drag" at the rear. Here
by course of natural sifting soon accumulated all the lazy, gentle, and
sickly cows, and the small calves. The difficulty now was to prevent
them from lagging and dropping out. To that end we indulged in a great
variety of the picturesque cow-calls peculiar to the cowboy. One found
an old tin can which by the aid of a few pebbles he converted into a
very effective rattle.

The dust rose in clouds and eddied in the sun. We slouched easily in
our saddles. The cowboys compared notes as to the brands they had
seen. Our ponies shuffled along, resting, but always ready for a dash
in chase of an occasional bull calf or yearling with independent ideas
of its own.

Thus we passed over the country, down the long gentle slope to the
"sink" of the valley, whence another long gentle slope ran to the base
of the other ranges. At greater or lesser distances