ther men were already busy at this important
business. From the tail of the chuck wagon he took a tin cup and a tin
plate. He helped himself to coffee, soda biscuits, and a strip of steak
just forked from a large kettle of boiling lard. Presently more coffee,
more biscuits, and more steak went the way of the first helping. The
hard-riding life of the desert stimulates a healthy appetite.

The punchers of the D Bar Lazy R were moving a large herd to a new range.
It was made up of several lots bought from smaller outfits that had gone
out of business under the pressure of falling prices, short grass, and
the activity of rustlers. The cattle had been loose-bedded in a gulch
close at hand, the upper end of which was sealed by an impassable cliff.
Many such canons in the wilder part of the mountains, fenced across the
face to serve as a corral, had been used by rustlers as caches into which
to drift their stolen stock. This one had no doubt more than once played
such a part in days past.

Expertly the riders threw the cattle back to the mesa and moved them
forward. Among the bunch one could find the T Anchor brand, the Circle
Cross, the Diamond Tail, and the X-Z, scattered among the cows burned
with the D Bar Lazy R, which was the original brand of the owner,
Emerson Crawford.

The sun rose and filled the sky. In a heavy cloud of dust the cattle
trailed steadily toward the distant hills.

Near noon Buck, passing Dave where he rode as drag driver in the wake of
the herd, shouted a greeting at the young man. "Tur'ble hot. I'm spittin'
cotton."

Dave nodded. His eyes were red and sore from the alkali dust, his throat
dry as a lime kiln. "You done, said it, Buck. Hotter 'n hell or Yuma."

"Dug says for us to throw off at Seven-Mile Hole."

"I won't make no holler at that."

The herd leaders, reading the signs of a spring close at hand, quickened
the pace. With necks outstretched, bawling loudly, they hurried forward.
Forty-eight hours ago they had last satisfied their thirst. Usually Doble
watered each noon, but the desert yesterday had been dry as Sahara. Only
such moisture was available as could be found in black grama and needle
grass.

The point of the herd swung in toward the cottonwoods that straggled down
from the draw. For hours the riders were kept busy moving forward the
cattle that had been watered and holding back the pressure of thirsty
animals.

Again the outfit took the desert trail. Heat waves played