w, with a fine, misty rain and a
cutting wind. The youth was seated on his fleet-footed and intelligent
Thunderbolt, with his back to the wind, after the fashion not only of
all cowboys, under such circumstances, but of the animals themselves,
who sometimes drift many miles before a driving storm.

He had his thick army blanket gathered about his body and shoulders,
and, though the night was dismal and his situation far from pleasant, it
still lacked the discomfort of many hours spent on the vast plains of
the Lone Star State.

The young man had held his position for less than an hour when the wind
changed, veering completely around, so that, instead of being in front
of the herd and edging gradually from it, he was thrown behind the
cattle, for they immediately faced about and began moving away from
him.

The situation of the young herdsman became a delicate one at once. His
proper place was in front, and to reach that point, he must ride around
the animals, and not among them. One of the many singular features of
herding and driving cattle is the wonderful sensitiveness shown at times
by them. While there is nothing extraordinary in the wild panic often
created by a thunderstorm, there are occasions when a whole herd is
stampeded by a cause too trifling to be understood.

Our experience leads us to agree with many veteran cowboys that the
cattle, when lying on the ground asleep, are sometimes troubled with bad
dreams which cause such fright on their part that their excitement
becomes contagious. Then again the electrical conditions produce a
morbid uneasiness among them as well as among men, and there seem to be
times when they are simply awaiting a pretext for dashing off in
uncontrollable panic.

Avon Burnet's fear was that if he rode directly after the cattle, the
sound of his mustang's hoofs would cause alarm, since it was too dark
for them to identify him. A stampede is the terror of the cowmen's life,
and no labor or trouble is too great to avert it. He, therefore, checked
Thunderbolt and waited a few minutes until the cattle were so far off
that he could wheel and gallop around their flank without frightening
them.

When he thought sufficient time had elapsed, he decided to wait a brief
while longer. His dread of a stampede was so strong that he was
unusually careful, but with no thought of shirking any duty, he
twitched the reins of his horse, spoke sharply, and without touch of
spur, was off like an a