right
through a bunch of cattle. I held on with more zeal than did old
Fisheye Gleason when he fell on the back of the hippopotamus at the
start of the Grand Entry.... Say," the midget interrupted his reverie,
"just about how far away from this Paradise Bowl is this Bar-O
hangout?"

"The Bar-O is the lid to yer Gravy Bowl," replied the Nestor. "Hit's
that line of hills to the no'th, en winds up in this crumpled mess of
hills here at the east end. This last section is called The Cliffs. If
thar's any loose yearlin's left, they'll be thar. We'll edge around
that away en then swing over to where old Matt laid out a path to the
southern settlements."

On the way to the Cliffs, Landy recounted much local history. "They
wuz wild cattle in these ravines long before the surveyors surrounded
old Matt with their lines. No one knew whar they come from nor to who
they belonged. Old Matt simply absorbed 'em, as he did anything else
that was loose. They were his foundation stock. That's why there are
so many yaller-hammers en pennariles among 'em. Once er twice old Matt
forgot to put up hay en his livestock wintered in them ravines en
pawed in the snow fer what grass they got. Hit wasn't so bad. A
cow-brute won't thrive in close quarters; they're better off with jist
a wind-break en rain-shelter. But look out when hit's calvin' time! A
cow will pick out the night of the big snow en drop her calf right in
hit. I've often wondered if the colleges that teach farmin' en sich,
ever tackled en solved that heavy problem: 'Is hit better to fret en
worry a cow by pennin' her up in a clean box-stall, er allowin' her in
cheerful contentment to go off by herse'f en have her calf in the
fringe of a mudhole at the far away corner?'"

Davy was looking about as he listened. Here was the tremendous
spectacle of which he had dreamed. It was a spoken drama in
technicolor.

Frosty pricked up his ears. Landy veered the course to the right. A
bunch of yellowish red calves were startled out of a willow clump and
turned to watch the intruders. As the horsemen rode around to the east
and north they resumed their grazing. Near the mouth of another ravine
a few more were encountered.

"There're thirty-seven of 'em," said Landy, as the party completed the
circle, "en that's about twice as many as I expected. They're in good
flesh. With plenty of hay this winter en a mite of grain, they would
do for quick feeders next fall."

"Well, you couldn't feed 'e