ng only when far up the first slope of them to sweep the
low country for sight of his enemy. That night when he raised his howl
it reached the ears of perhaps a hundred coyotes far out across the
flats and immediately thereafter there was a strange movement in the
coyote tribe. The majority of them rambled in all directions on personal
business or pleasures of their own but through it all, strung out over a
five-mile front, more than a dozen coyotes were running swiftly toward
the hills. They were not to be turned aside but held their course,
gathering to the wolf who had led them to many a kill,--willing to
follow wherever he should lead. An hour later, when Breed raised his
voice from the divide, a wave of coyote answers rose in unison and when
he headed toward the parent range there were fourteen coyotes traveling
with him through the hills. They moved together, but not as man
understands that term, for they did not travel closely grouped. Some
were half a mile to either side and some far behind, and there were gaps
of several hundred yards in the line. Their trails sometimes shifted and
crossed, but noses and ears kept them well informed as to the locality
and actions of the rest.

They entered the rough mass of the main range and pushed on, traveling
in this loose formation. Toward morning Breed stopped and listened to a
far-off sound which reached him. Every coyote in the pack had also
stopped to listen, their red tongues circling hungrily along their lips
as they caught the significance of the sound.

There were no sheep on Breed's immediate range. Trouble between the
cowmen and those who grazed sheep had been temporarily adjusted by
apportioning the range. Sheep now grazed far to the south but the cowmen
allowed the privilege of pastoral transportation across the cattle strip
twice a year for those who summered their sheep in the hills. The snows
were late in falling and the flocks had been held correspondingly late
high in the hills.

Breed had known sheep in the past,--and this was the sound of sheep. Two
herders had combined their bands to work them down to the low country
and the camp tender stayed to help them with the crossing. Breed
listened long to the droning undertone, the maddening blat of five
thousand woollies on the bed ground, its querulous volume persisting
through the sound of water and wind and drifting to him across a
distance of five miles. Then he stretched forth his head and issued his
h