l rode up to the girls then and greeted them in his big voice.

"Right in the thick of it, hey? Wal, thet's sure fine. I'm glad to see,
Miss Majesty, thet you ain't afraid of a little dust or smell of burnin'
hide an' hair."

"Couldn't you brand the calves without hurting them?" asked Madeline.

"Haw, haw! Why, they ain't hurt none. They jest bawl for their mammas.
Sometimes, though, we hev to hurt one jest to find which is his mamma."

"I want to know how you tell what brand to put on those calves that are
separated from their mothers," asked Madeline.

"Thet's decided by the round-up bosses. I've one boss an' Don Carlos
has one. They decide everything, an' they hev to be obyed. There's Nick
Steele, my boss. Watch him! He's ridin' a bay in among the cattle there.
He orders the calves an' steers to be cut out. Then the cowboys do the
cuttin' out an' the brandin'. We try to divide up the mavericks as near
as possible."

At this juncture Madeline's brother joined the group, evidently in
search of Stillwell.

"Bill, Nels just rode in," he said.

"Good! We sure need him. Any news of Danny Mains?"

"No. Nels said he lost the trail when he got on hard ground."

"Wal, wal. Say, Al, your sister is sure takin' to the round-up. An' the
boys are gettin' wise. See thet sun-of-a-gun Ambrose cuttin' capers
all around. He'll sure do his prettiest. Ambrose is a ladies' man, he
thinks."

The two men and Florence joined in a little pleasant teasing of
Madeline, and drew her attention to what appeared to be really
unnecessary feats of horsemanship all made in her vicinity. The cowboys
evinced their interest in covert glances while recoiling a lasso or
while passing to and fro. It was all too serious for Madeline to be
amused at that moment. She did not care to talk. She sat her horse and
watched.

The lithe, dark vaqueros fascinated her. They were here, there,
everywhere, with lariats flying, horses plunging back, jerking calves
and yearlings to the grass. They were cruel to their mounts, cruel to
their cattle. Madeline winced as the great silver rowels of the spurs
went plowing into the flanks of their horses. She saw these spurs
stained with blood, choked with hair. She saw the vaqueros break the
legs of calves and let them lie till a white cowboy came along and shot
them. Calves were jerked down and dragged many yards; steers were pulled
by one leg. These vaqueros were the most superb horsemen Madeline had
ever seen, and