positively asserted to me by
certain cowmen (this was while I was confined in bed from an accident)
that the buyer had a gang of men out operating on the far end of the
range, catching and tally-branding for him the still untallied cattle. A
simple operation enough, in such an immense district, where four men
with their ropes could, in a few undisturbed days' work, cheat the
Company out of enough cattle at $20 a head to be well worth some risk.
Several men were positive in their assertions to me. But I knew these
gentlemen pretty well--cattle-thieves themselves and utterly
unprincipled; perhaps having a grudge against the said buyer, perhaps
wanting merely to annoy me, and also possibly hating to see such a fine
opportunity not taken advantage of. In the end, when brought to the
scratch, not one of these informers would testify under oath. Whether
afraid to, as they would undoubtedly have run strong chances of being
killed, or whether they were just mischief-makers, as I myself have
always believed, it is impossible to know accurately. The buyer, being a
man of means and having many other interests in the district, would
certainly hesitate long before he took such a very dangerous risk of
discovery. All that can be said about it is that though I employed
detectives for some time to try to get evidence bearing on the subject,
no such evidence was ever obtained. The shortage in the turnover was due
simply to the usual miscalculation of the herd; the herd which never
before had been counted and could not, under range conditions, be
counted.

These were still "trailing" days, which means that steers sold or for
sale were driven out of the country, not shipped by rail cars. One great
trail passed right through our ranch (a great nuisance too), and by it
herd after herd, each counting, maybe, 2500 cattle, was continually
being trailed northwards, some going to Kansas or the Panhandle, most of
them going as far north as Nebraska, Wyoming and Montana. These latter
herds would be on the trail continuously for two or three months. Our
own steers were always driven to the Panhandle of Texas, where, if not
already contracted to buyers, they were held till sold.

[Illustration: HERD ON TRAIL. SHOWING LEAD STEER.]

A herd of breeding-stock when on the trail must be accompanied by one or
more calf wagons, wagons with beds well boxed up, in which the youngest
or new-born calves are carried, they being lifted out and turned over to
t