any hirelings of our enemies, it would have been impossible to have
burned more than a small portion of the range at any one time.
But these malicious attempts at our injury made the outfit doubly
vigilant, and cutting fences and burning range would have proven
unhealthful occupations had the perpetrators, red or white, fallen
into the hands of the foreman and his men. I naturally looked on the
bright side of the future, and in the hope that, once the entire range
was fenced, we could keep trespassers out, I made preparations for the
spring drive.

With the first appearance of grass, all the surplus horses were
ordered down to Texas from the company ranch. There was a noticeable
lull at the cattle convention that spring, and an absence of buyers
from the Northwest was apparent, resulting in little or no trouble
in contracting for delivery on the ranch, and in buying on company
account at the prevailing prices of the spring before. Cattle were
high enough as it was; in fact the market was top-heavy and wobbling
on its feet, though the brightest of us cowmen naturally supposed that
current values would always remain up in the pictures. As manager of
the new company, I bought and contracted for fifty thousand steers,
ten herds of which were to be driven on company account. All the
cattle came from the Pan-Handle and north Texas, above the quarantine
line, the latter precaution being necessary in order to avoid any
possibility of fever, in mixing through and northern wintered stock.
With the opening of spring two of my old foremen were promoted to
assist in the receiving, as my contracts called for everything to be
passed upon on the home range before starting the herds. Some little
friction had occurred the summer before with the deliveries at the
company ranch in an effort to turn in short-aged cattle. All contracts
this year and the year before called for threes, and frequently
several hundred long twos were found in a single herd, and I refused
to accept them unless at the customary difference in price. More or
less contention arose, and, for the present spring, I proposed to curb
all friction at home, allotting to my assistants the receiving of
the herds for company risk, and personally passing on seven under
contract.

The original firm was still in the field, operating exclusively in
central Texas and Pan-Handle cattle. Both my ranches sent out their
usual contribution of steers and cows, consigned to the care of t