ment to me, for I had hopes that when the outfit worked the
range around the mouth of San Miguel, I might find some excuse to visit
the McLeod ranch and see Esther. But after turning back up the home
river to within twenty miles of the ranch, we again turned southward,
covering the intervening ranches rapidly until we struck the Tarancalous
about twenty-five miles east of Santa Maria.

We had spent over thirty days in making this circle, gathering over five
thousand cattle, about one third of which were cows with calves by their
sides. On the remaining gap in the circle we lost two days in waiting
for rodeos, or gathering independently along the Tarancalous, and, on
nearing the Santa Maria range, we had nearly fifteen hundred cattle. Our
herd passed within plain view of the rancho, but we did not turn aside,
preferring to make a dry camp for the night, some five or six miles
further on our homeward course. But since we had used the majority of
our _remuda_ very hard that day, Uncle Lance dispatched Enrique and
myself, with our wagon and saddle horses, by way of Santa Maria, to
water our saddle stock and refill our kegs for camping purposes. Of
course, the compliments of our employer to the ranchero of Santa Maria
went with the _remuda_ and wagon.

I delivered the compliments and regrets to Don Mateo, and asked the
permission to water our saddle stock, which was readily granted. This
required some time, for we had about a hundred and twenty-five loose
horses with us, and the water had to be raised by rope and pulley from
the pommel of a saddle horse. After watering the team we refilled our
kegs, and the cook pulled out to overtake the herd, Enrique and I
staying to water the _remuda_. Enrique, who was riding the saddle horse,
while I emptied the buckets as they were hoisted to the surface, was
evidently killing time. By his dilatory tactics, I knew the young rascal
was delaying in the hope of getting a word with the Dona Anita. But
it was getting late, and at the rate we were hoisting darkness would
overtake us before we could reach the herd. So I ordered Enrique to the
bucket, while I took my own horse and furnished the hoisting power. We
were making some headway with the work, when a party of women, among
them the Dona Anita, came down to the well to fill vessels for house
use.

This may have been all chance--and then again it may not. But the
gallant Enrique now outdid himself, filling jar after jar and lifting
the