ate of
ninety calves to the hundred cows, and once the Clear Fork range was
rid of its drones, a similar ratio was easily maintained on that
range. There was no such thing as counting one's holdings; the
increase only was known, and these conclusions, with due allowance for
their selection, were arrived at from the calf crop of the improved
herd. Its numbers were known to an animal, all chosen for their vigor
and thrift, the increase for the first two years averaging ninety-four
per cent.

There is little rest for the wicked and none for a cowman. I was
planning an enjoyable winter, hunting with my hounds, when the former
proposition of organizing an immense cattle company was revived at
Washington. Our silent partner was sought on every hand by capitalists
eager for investment in Western enterprises, and as cattle were
absorbing general attention at the time, the tendency of speculation
was all one way. The same old crowd that we had turned down two
winters before was behind the movement, and as certain predictions
that were made at that time by Major Hunter and myself had since come
true, they were all the more anxious to secure our firm as associates.
Our experience and resultant profits from wintering cattle in southern
Kansas and the Cherokee Strip were well known to the Senator, and, to
judge from his letters and frequent conversations, he was envied by
his intimate acquaintances in Congress. In the revival of the original
proposition it was agreed that our firm might direct the management
of the enterprise, all three of us to serve on the directorate and to
have positions on the executive committee. This sounded reasonable,
and as there was a movement on foot to lease the entire Cherokee
Outlet from that Nation, if an adequate range could be secured, such a
cattle company as suggested ought to be profitable.

Major Hunter and I were a unit in business matters, and after an
exchange of views by letter, it was agreed to run down to the capital
and hold a conference with the promoters of the proposed company. My
parents were aging fast, and now that I was moderately wealthy it was
a pleasure to drop in on them for a week and hearten their declining
years. Accordingly with the expectation of combining filial duty and
business, I took Edwards with me and picked up the major at his home,
and the trio of us journeyed eastward. I was ten days late in reaching
Washington. It was the Christmas season in the valley; every