ently than the
stealing of grown cattle and many ingenious devices have been invented
to make such stealing a success. A common practice is to "sleeper" a
calf by a partial earmark and a shallow brand that only singes the hair
but does not burn deep enough to leave a permanent scar. If the calf
is not discovered as an imperfect or irregular brand and becomes a
maverick, it is kept under surveillance by the thief until he considers
it safe to finish the job when he catches it again and brands it with
his own iron.

Different methods are employed to win a calf and fit it for unlawful
branding. Sometimes the calf is caught and staked out in some secluded
spot where it is not liable to be found and away from its mother until
it is nearly starved when it is branded by the thief and turned loose;
or, the calf's tongue is split so that it cannot suck and by the time
that the wounded tongue has healed the calf has lost its mother, and
the thief brands it for himself. Again, the mother cow is shot and
killed, when the orphan calf is branded in perfect safety as "the dead
tell no tales."

The owner of cattle on the open range must be constantly on his guard
against losses by theft. Usually the thief is a dishonest neighbor or
one of his own cowboys who becomes thrifty at his employer's expense.
Many a herd of cattle was begun without a single cow, but was started
by branding surreptitiously other people's property. It is not an easy
matter to detect such a thief or to convict on evidence when he is
arrested and brought to trial. A cattle thief seldom works alone, but
associates himself with others of his kind who will perjure themselves
to swear each other clear.

The cow ponies that are used in range work are small but active and
possessed of great power of endurance. They are the descendants of the
horses that were brought into Mexico by the Spaniards, some of which
escaped into the wilderness and their increase became the wild horses
of the plains. They are known by the various names of mustang, bronco
and cayuse according to the local vernacular of the country in which
they roam. They are wild and hard to conquer and are sometimes never
fully broken even under the severest treatment. Bucking and pitching
are their peculiar tricks for throwing a rider and such an experience
invariably ends in discomfort if not discomfiture, for if the rider is
not unhorsed he at least receives a severe shaking up in the saddle.