ew it, and took not the slightest trouble to get out of the
way of the men with the swinging ropes.

Not so the fresh horses, however. They had no intention of being
caught, if they could help it, but dodged and twisted, hid and doubled
behind the moving screen of their friends. The latter, seeming as
usual to know they were not wanted, made no effort to avoid the men,
which probably accounted in great measure for the fact that the herd as
a body remained compact, in spite of the cowboys threading it, and in
spite of the lack of an enclosure.

Our horses caught, we saddled as hastily as possible; and then at the
top speed of our fresh and eager ponies we swept down on the chuck
wagon. There we fell off our saddles and descended on the meat and
bread like ravenous locusts on a cornfield. The ponies stood where we
left them, "tied to the ground", the cattle-country fashion.

As soon as a man had stoked up for the afternoon he rode away. Some
finished before others, so across the plain formed an endless
procession of men returning to the herd, and of those whom they
replaced coming for their turn at the grub.

We found the herd quiet. Some were even lying down, chewing their cuds
as peacefully as any barnyard cows. Most, however, stood ruminative, or
walked slowly to and fro in the confines allotted by the horsemen, so
that the herd looked from a distance like a brown carpet whose pattern
was constantly changing--a dusty brown carpet in the process of being
beaten. I relieved one of the watchers, and settled myself for a wait.

At this close inspection the different sorts of cattle showed more
distinctly their characteristics. The cows and calves generally rested
peacefully enough, the calf often lying down while the mother stood
guard over it. Steers, however, were more restless. They walked
ceaselessly, threading their way in and out among the standing cattle,
pausing in brutish amazement at the edge of the herd, and turning back
immediately to endless journeyings. The bulls, excited by so much
company forced on their accustomed solitary habit, roared defiance at
each other until the air fairly trembled. Occasionally two would clash
foreheads. Then the powerful animals would push and wrestle, trying
for a chance to gore. The decision of supremacy was a question of but
a few minutes, and a bloody topknot the worst damage. The defeated one
side-stepped hastily and clumsily out of reach, and then walked a