one for the morning, customarily the youngest (and most
abused) cowboys on the ranch.

Roosevelt's "string" was not such as to make him look forward to the
round-up with easy assurance. He had not felt that he had a right,
even as "the boss," to pick the best horses for himself out of the
saddle band of the Maltese Cross. With Sylvane, Merrifield, Myers, and
himself choosing in succession, like boys picking teams for "one ol'
cat," "the boss" having first choice on each round, he took what Fate
and his own imperfect judgment gave him. At the conclusion of the
"picking," he found that, of the nine horses he had chosen, four were
broncos, broken only in the sense that each had once or twice been
saddled. One of them, he discovered promptly, could not possibly be
bridled or saddled single-handed; it was very difficult to get on him
and very difficult to get off; he was exceedingly nervous, moreover,
if his rider moved his hands or feet; "but he had," Roosevelt
declared, "no bad tricks," which, in view of his other qualities, must
have been a real comfort. The second allowed himself to be tamed and
was soon quiet. The third, on the other hand, turned out to be one of
the worst buckers Roosevelt possessed; and the fourth had a habit
which was even worse, for he would balk and throw himself over
backward. It struck Roosevelt that there was something about this
refractory animal's disposition, to say nothing of his Roman nose,
which greatly reminded him of the eminent Democrat, General Ben
Butler, and "Ben Butler" became that bronco's name. Roosevelt had
occasion to remember it.

[Illustration: The Maltese Cross "outfit".]

[Illustration: The Maltese Cross "chuck-wagon". The man on horseback
is Sylvane Ferris; the man loading the wagon is Walter Watterson,
Roosevelt's teamster and cook.]

The encampment where the round-up was to begin furnished a scene of
bustle and turmoil. From here and there the heavy four-horse wagons
one after another jolted in, the "horse-wranglers" rushing madly to
and fro in the endeavor to keep the different saddle bands from
mingling. Single riders, in groups of two or three, appeared, each
driving his "string." The wagons found their places, the teamsters
unharnessed the horses and unpacked the "cook outfit," the foreman
sought out the round-up captain, the "riders" sought out their
friends. Here there was larking, there there was horse-racing,
elsewhere there was "a circus with a pitchin' bro