r sleeping, else one
or more of the herders would have stretched out on the damp earth, with
his bridle reins so interlocked with his arm that his horse could not
wander off, or he would have fallen asleep in his saddle. When worn out
with fatigue and loss of slumber, a cowboy often rides for miles totally
unconscious of what is going on around him.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

A MISHAP.

The weather cleared toward morning, and the sun rose without a cloud
obscuring its face. The halt had been made along a small tributary of
the Wichita, whose upper waters flow through the country of the Kiowas,
Comanches, and Apaches, that of the Cheyennes and Arapahoes lying
further north.

The scene was inspiriting. The cowboys gathered around the wagon for
breakfast, the cook having been thoughtful enough to protect the wood
against the rain. The animals were busy cropping the grass, which was
rich and succulent on all sides of the Trail, the hands for the time
being bestowing only general attention on them, but everyone was ready
to leap into the saddle and dash off at a instant's call.

Captain Shirril discovered that a bunch of thirty cattle were missing,
and believed they had joined his friend's herd a mile to the southward,
from which it would be necessary to separate or cut them out.

Antonio Nunez, the Mexican, and Shackaye, the Comanche (the latter of
whom showed no evidence of having been engaged in questionable business
during the preceding night), were similarly attired, though it would be
supposed that the full-blooded Indian would have dressed in accordance
with the fashion of his people. He claimed, however, to have been
engaged in the cattle business before, and, when he first presented
himself in camp on his wiry pony, he wore the broad-brimmed sombrero,
baggy leather breeches, and red sash around his waist, which were the
most noticeable features of the Mexican's make-up.

The Comanche, however, used no spurs, his feet being shod with
moccasins, and, instead of the revolver worn by the Mexicans, he carried
a knife thrust in at his girdle and a breech-loading rifle, which was
not repeating.

The cowboys sported the same broad-brimmed hats, which in some
instances cost more than all the rest of their suits, the leggings,
flannel overshirts, and gaudy handkerchiefs tied loosely around their
necks.

All, as a matter of course, were expert horsemen, and were furnished
with two or three excellent animals apiece,