me and headed them backward. As the band whirled away from
us the stallion forged to the front and, by biting and a free use of his
heels, attempted to turn the _manada_ on their former course. But it
mattered little which way they turned now, for our cordon was closing
round them, the windward line then being less than a mile distant.

As the band struck the eastward or windward line of horsemen, the mares,
except for the control of the stallion, would have yielded, but now,
under his leadership, they recoiled like a band of _ladinos_. But every
time they approached the line of the closing circle they were checked,
and as the cordon closed to less than half a mile in diameter, in spite
of the outlaw's lashings, the _manada_ quieted down and halted. Then we
unslung our carbines and rifles and slowly closed in upon the quarry.
Several times the mustang stallion came to the outskirts of the band,
uttering a single piercing snort, but never exposed himself for a shot.
Little by little as we edged in he grew impatient, and finally trotted
out boldly as if determined to forsake his harem and rush the line. But
the moment he cleared the band Uncle Lance dismounted, and as he knelt
the stallion stopped like a statue, gave a single challenging snort,
which was answered by a rifle report, and he fell in his tracks.

CHAPTER XX

SHADOWS

Spring was now at hand after an unusually mild winter. With the breaking
of the drouth of the summer before there had sprung up all through the
encinal and sandy lands an immense crop of weeds, called by the natives
_margoso_, fallow-weed. This plant had thriven all winter, and the
cattle had forsaken the best mesquite grazing in the river bottoms to
forage on it. The results showed that their instinct was true; for with
very rare exceptions every beef on the ranch was fit for the butcher's
block. Truly it was a year of fatness succeeding a lean one. Never
during my acquaintance with Las Palomas had I seen the cattle come
through a winter in such splendid condition. But now there was no
market. Faint rumors reached us of trail herds being put up in near-by
counties, and it was known that several large ranches in Nueces County
were going to try the experiment of sending their own cattle up the
trail. Lack of demand was discouraging to most ranchmen, and our range
was glutted with heavy steer cattle.

The first spring work of any importance was gathering the horses to fill
a contract