tter
astonishment he saw, not fifty yards from him, a solitary horseman
leading a couple of steers by ropes affixed to their horns. He wondered
how long this strange apparition had been there. The horse was calmly
nibbling at the grass, and the man was quietly resting himself with
elbows propped upon the horn of his saddle. He, too, appeared to be
gazing in the direction of the on-coming cattle. Horrocks tried hard to
distinguish the man's appearance, but the light was too uncertain to
give him more than the vaguest idea of his personality.

The horse seemed to be black or very dark brown. And the general outline
of the rider was that of a short slight man, with rather long hair which
flowed from beneath the brim of his Stetson hat. The most curious
distinguishable feature was his slightness. The horse was big and the
man, was so small that, as he sat astride of his charger, he looked to
be little more than a boy of fifteen or sixteen.

Horrocks's survey was cut short, however, for now the herd of cattle was
tearing down upon him at a desperate racing pace. He saw the solitary
rider gather up his lines and move his horse further away from the edge
of the muskeg. Then the herd of cattle came along. They raced past the
bluff where the officer was stationed, accompanied by four swarthy
drivers, one of which was mounted upon a great chestnut horse whose
magnificent stride and proportions fixed the captive's attention. He had
heard of "Golden Eagle," and he had no doubt in his mind that this was
he and the rider was the celebrated cattle-thief. The band and its
drovers swept by, and Horrocks estimated that the cattle numbered many
hundreds.

After awhile he heard the sound of voices. Then the beasts were driven
back again over their tracks, only at a more gentle pace. Several times
the performance was gone through, and each time, as they passed him,
Horrocks noticed that their pace was decreased, until by the sixth time
they passed their gait had become a simple mouche, and they leisurely
nipped up the grass as they went, with bovine unconcern. It was a
masterly display of how cattle can be handled, and Horrocks forgot for a
while his other troubles in his interest in the spectacle.

After passing him for the sixth time the cattle came to a halt; and then
the strangest part of this strange scene was enacted. The horseman with
the led steers, whom, by this time, Horrocks had almost forgotten, came
leisurely upon the field