J A C K

T H E Y O UN G COW BOY

1472 E a st ern B oy E xperience

’
s on a

W est ern Round— up

G E O R G E B IR D G R INNE LL
“I

WI TH F OUR I LL US T R A TI ON S F R OM P H O T OG R A P H S

NE W Y O RK
F RE DE RIC K A . ST O K ES CO M PANY
PU B LIS H E R S
 Cofiyngfi t, 191
3 , éy
’

F R E DE R I C K A . S T O K E S C O M P ANY

A ll m c /u dmg th a t of tra ns la tion into f

rzg/z ts reser ve d , oreig n

la ng u ages inc lu dmg th e S c a ndina via n

,

Ni nth P rinting August 1

2 , , 1
935

3 0 17 3 ?
D

0 0 0

P rinted in th e United S ta tes o f A merica

 I N TRO DUCTI O N
’
J ack s cowboy li fe began j u s t a s a gr eat change was
sweeping over the cattle range Cattle had first been
.

b rought into the country only a few years be fore "

o ld f as h ioned l o ng horns d ri v en up ov er th e trail fro m

- -

T exa s.

In t h o se days the people i n the Wes t were no t m a ny .

To wns were small farms almo s t unknown wagon

, ,

r o ad s f ew Excep t a bout the pasture s o f the large r

.

ranches t here were no fences Over mo s t o f the

, .

land t he cowboy roamed alo ne .

Hi s seemed a l i fe o f romance Free a s the b i rds

.
,

he w andered over the w ide range going when and ,

where h e pleased B ut this romance was only a p

.

paren t N o man worked harder than h e or for les s

.
,

reward H i s toil ful days and short b rok en nights ;

.

h i s small pay and hi s pt 0? { Q t d wer e rec o ded in th e

'
r

s o ngs tha t he sang as h e rod e about the cattle This .

was i n the early days o f th ecattl e ndustry 4 .

A l ittle later o n t he pl ai n
, s ga me a change from
pi oneer c o ndit i ons to th o se ppro ach ng luxury
a

T he earl i e r ca t tlemen i n the N or t h tho s e who —

ranged the i r st o ck o n the Platte and the v a rious f orks

o f the L o up R iv e r made grea t pro fits Y et as tim e
— .

w en t o n they saw competit i on cons t an t l y gr o win g

shar p er and ranges being o v erstocked As t he new s .

o f thei r pro fits dr i fted ea s tward many young men al ,

lured by the romance o f the co wbo y f e and igno

’

fg
b f
,
 I N T RO D UCT I O N

ran t o f its act ual conditions came i n to the ca ttl e c o un

,

try These belie v ed tha t success with ca t tle was to be

.

atta i ned by ridin g about and watc hing th e ca tt le in w

cre ase and grow and shipp i n g t hem t o marke t whe n

,

they had grown They were glad to be i ntere s ted in a

.

business at once so agreeabl e and s o pro fita ble ; and

many a o ne exchanged his money f or a herd a brand ,

and some log buildings and rode o v e r the range await

,

ing t he advent o f his riches Many o f the early cattle

.

men s o ld the i r herds t o the newcomers who s omewhat

, ,

later di s co v ered that with the cattle they had bough t

,

al s o much ex perience .

These changes were in operat i on when Jack en t ered

o n h i s cowb o y l i f e.
 CONT E NTS
PAGE

TH E T RAG E DY AT P OWE L L s ’

A R O B B E R T U R N E D LOO S E
To TH E R O U N D U P CA M P
-

OLD F RI E N D S
CU T T I N G A N D B RA N D I N G
R I DI N G C I R CL E
A B U LL F I GH T
A B U FFA L O S T O RY
V I CE N TE C O W H A N D
,

T H E F E N CE L E S S LA N D
T A N N I N G A B U CK S K I N
I N DI A N S TORI ES
B I G WO L V E S
A B AD M A N
AN E N G L I S H MA N I N C AM P
A LE SSO N I N R O PI N G
D RI F TI N G
A S TAM P ED E
Co w H O R S E S A N D T H E IR WO R K
R OP I N G A B EA R
A C A L I FO R N I A B EAR H U N T
H U N TI N G W ITH A S I ! S H OO T E R
-

A L OA D OF M EA T
F L AG G I N G A N A N T E L O P E
T H E DA N CE AT TH E S C H OOL H OU S E
 I LLU S TRAT I O NS

C o w b oy s tarting f o r the r o und -

up c a mp F ro ntispiec e
F AC I NG P i cs
The cow s ta rted s t rai ght off o ver the p rai rie 3,

B ra ndin g in the co rral

G entli ng a w ild o ne
J A C K ,
THE Y OU NG C O WB O Y

CH APTER I

T RA G E D Y WE L L
’
TH E AT PO S

WE L L J a ck said M r S turgis
, I do n o t kn o w
.
,

where you ll find them but p o ssibly somewhere o ver on

,

the Little Medic i ne I f I were you I d ride over to

.
,
’

’
Powell s They are s ure to know where t he o utfit is
.
,
’
and i f y o u ca n t reach camp t o nigh t you can s t op a t -
,
” ’
P o well s .

All r ig h t U ncle W i ll ; I ll go o v er there and pr o b

’

a bly ge t t o camp to n i gh t -
.

J ack shook hands wit h h is uncle and stepping back ,

’
to hi s h o rse t hrew t he reins ov er P awnee s head and ,

swun g i nt o t he saddle With a final wa v e of his hand

.
,

he trotted o ff t o ward wh ere his string o f horses were

feeding o n t he meadow be f o re the house and r i ding ,

to and f r o beh i nd t he scat t ered bunch g athered them ,

together and started o n down t he r o ad .

M r St urgis st o od i n f ron t o f t he corral filling h i s

.

p i pe and watch i ng h i s nephew g row smaller and

,

smaller as he m ov ed alon g d o wn t he road cl o se t o the

,

pastur e f ence It seemed t o him a long time since

.

he had first br o u gh t J ack ou t f r o m f ar N ew York

t o t he S w i ft Water Ranch a l ittle s lip o f a lad th i n
, ,

and p ale H e re m embered the i r first dr iv e f r o m the

.
2 JA C K ,
THE YO U N G COWB O Y .

ra i lr o ad : h o w he had k i lled a bear cr o ssing th e road

‘

and h o w Jack had seen what he suppo s ed t o be an

Indian d o g w h ich o f course was a coyote
, , , .

My l said M r S turgis to him s el f

. certainly the ,

years slip by ! Then I could have l ifted that little f el

lo w and held h i m out with one hand ; and now he i s
b i g enough t o l i ft me !
J ack had ri s en that morning soon a f ter dayl ight ,

and had gone ou t to get hi s hor s es together The .

night be fore Joe had brought in and put in the small

,

pasture the few saddle hor s es le ft at the ranch That .

mornin g they had been dri v en int o the corral and Jack , ,

aided by Joe s k nowledge o f the animal s had selected

’

s ix for his string t o ride o n the r o und up taking along -

,

hi s old favorite Pawnee for a regular riding horse ,

but no t for a co w horse G o od saddle animal a s .

Pawnee was Jack t h ought too much of him t o be

,

willing t o use him in the long rough work o f riding

circle o r branding calve s or throwi ng big cows i f
, ,

an y o l d ma v ericks s houl d be found For the most

.

p art P awnee should tra v el in th e c dvaya * though ,

so mtimes he might be used on nigh t herd Jack made .

up hi s m i nd that h a rd work Pawnee shoul d not do .

Gi v e him J ust en o ugh exerci s e to make him enj oy

hi s v ictuals Joe had said that morning when they
,

were talking the s t ring ov er .

The horses had been brought i nto the c o rral and ,

o ne a f t er another o f th o se cho s en had been cut out

and sent o u t thr o u gh the big gate all except the one ,
’
that was t o ca rry J ack s bed That one had been .

roped and t aken o u t and ti ed up t o t he f ence T hen .

J ack had go ne up to the house and brought d o wn h i s

Ccivaya f ro m th e S p anish wo rd ca ba lla da th e h o rse h e rd , .
 THE TRAGE DY AT PO WE LL S ’

blanke t s and a few ex t ra cl othes and ha vi n g wrapped ,

“ ”
them up i n his t arp the bundle had been pu t on
,

t he horse with the regular cowboy hitch and t he ani ,

mal had been se t free to feed with i t s f ell o ws T hen .

had come break fas t and he was ready

, .

It wa s nearly a year since Jack had crossed a h o rse ,

and it s eemed v ery pleasant to be trotting al o ng over

t he prairi e the bunch going nicely ahead o f h i m
, .

T hey were fat an d frisky and every no w and then

one o f them would lay back hi s ears and nip a t hi s ‘

neighbo r and perhaps the sudden motion would start

,

the little bunch into a gallop f rom wh i ch they w o ul d ,

almo s t at once come down aga i n t o the s t eady t ro t .

T here had been ra i n en o ugh so they sa i d a t th e

—

ranch during April May and t he first f ew days o f

,

j une, but now the prairie wa s dry a nd a l it tl e cloud o f

’
du s t ro s e f rom under the ho rses hoo fs The bot .

toms and the high hills were brightly green More .

over t hey were do tted with many beaut i ful fl o wers

,

wh i ch o f cour s e Jack c o uld not see because he was ,

mo v in g along s wiftly and down o n one o f t he we t

—

meadows the purpl e iris already i n bloom had colored

, ,

the ground blue in s po t s .

It was a coupl e o f years no w s i nce Jack h ad been

to the ranch and a good many things had happened ;
,

for when a boy is from se v enteen to nine t een years

o f age things are likely to happen to h i m pretty f as t
,
.

H e receives many new impression s has new expe ri ,

e nc es and certainly p i ck s up kno w ledge o f one s or t

,

o r another at a rapi d rate S ince Jac k had last seen

’

the s e prairies and mountains he had pa s sed hi s ex

a mina tio ns entered college and spen t nearly two
, ,

years f iere H e had c ertainly had a g o od time whil e

.
4 JACK , T H E YOUN G CO WB OY
he wa s i n New Haven The t o ughness a nd endu r.
u

ance that he had picked up during his summer s on

the plains and in the mountains had sto o d him in goo d
s tead i n athletics and he had won a place on one o f
the football te ams During a part o f hi s sophomor e
.

year he had had the bad fortune to have a long and

,

tire s ome i llne s s from which he was only now con

va lesc ing and since he had l o st much time i t had been
, ,

thought be s t for h 1m to go out t o his uncle s ranch ’

be f ore the end o f t he c o llege year and t o spend t he

v acation there in ge t t i ng well .

When h e reached the Swi ft Wa t er Ranch two days

-

be fore t he r o und up had already star t ed and now wa s

,
-

i n full swing ; and M r St urgis a f ter sati s fy i n g him

.
,

sel f that Ja ck was stron g enough to do the w o rk had ,

t old him tha t the bes t th i ng f or h i m woul d be to

g o out and fi n d the round up and w o rk w i th -

it , .

Noth i ng could have suited Jack be tter H ugh wa s .

along as a s ort o f camp keeper M r P owell and -

. .

C harley P owell were sure t o be t here and s o were ,

hal f a do z en other men whom J ack knew v ery well ,

and with whom he would be glad t o work H e f elt .

that he was go i ng to have a good time In f ac t he .

,

was hav i ng a good t i me now T he a i r was f resh .

and cool the sun bright ; f ar o ff on the g reen h i lls he

,

could see here and there a little wh it e speck wh i ch

he knew was an antelo pe ; f rom the f e nce pos t s along
w h i ch he passed sounded the clear wh i stle o f th e
w e s tern meadow lark ; and e v erywhere t he a i r was f ull
o f sw e et son g s o f birds though o f the m all the
,
’
meadow lark s was t he loudest and cleares t .

Jack s o utfit was tha t commonly used By th

’

\
e cow
puncher H e w o re a fl annel sh i r t and woolen
‘
~

.
 TH E T RAGED Y AT P O WELL S
’

t r o users gloves and s haps

,
hea vy l eather trousers
,
—

wi t hout any seat to protect t he legs when riding

,

through underbru s h or thorns About h i s wai s t was .

his pi stol belt filled w it h cartridges while t he s i x

-
,

shooter hung well do w n on hi s right hip .

I t mu s t not be suppo s ed that j ack carried a gun

with any purpose o f u s ing it against his fellow men ,

b ut i n those old days o f w i ld pra i r i e and w ild cattl e

a pi s tol was almost a necessity While sometime s .

i t wa s u s ed to kill game or perhaps aga i ns t danger

,

ous animals it o ften came i n play to frighten an angry

,

c o w or to turn a bunch o f s tampeding cattle

,
.

Be fore long J ack had le ft behind h i m the pas t ure

fence and when he looked back could n o longer s ee
,

the ranch buildings which low them s elves and placed , ,

i n a s heltered hollow were now cu t o ff by th e po i n t s

,

o f the rounded hills H is course lay southeast across

.

the bas i n No w and t hen the hor s es unce rt ain as

.
,

to the direction they s hould t ake v eered to one side ,

or the other so th at the dri v er had t o r i de out on the

,

s ide toward wh i ch t hey t urned and shou t a t them t o

head them back .

The miles pa s sed qu i ck l y O ccas io nally on some .

,

nearby hill Jack sa w a l i ttle bunch o f antelopes

old male s with long bl ack horns and yearl i ngs both , ,

male s and females They looked at him as he drew

.

near a nd i f he approached t oo close ran up t o the

, ,

top o f some r i se and wat ched h i m l on g a ft er he had

pa ss ed .

It was a f ter he had crossed th e v alley and was r i d ,

ing up t hrough the low f oo t hill s that stre t ched out -

from the blu f f s on the other s ide that an old doe ,

antelo p e bur s t s uddenly from a l ittle coul ée c l o se to

6 JACK ,
T H E YOUN G CO WB OY
the bunch o f hor s es and passing in f ron t o f them
,

galloped up the hill on the other side Almost im .

mediately behind her was a coyote running hard .

When it saw the hor s es it checked i tsel f and an in ,

s tant later as i t sa w the ride r turned and ran The ,

.

old doe had done her best but except f or the inci ,
’
dent o f the horses being there she would soon hav e ,

been pulled down Her black tongue hung far ou t

.

o f her mouth and she s t aggered as she ran

, (
.

Jack under s tood v ery well wha t was happening .

E v idently two or more coyotes had started this doe ,

and were taking t urn s cha s ing her one rel ieving the ,

other w hich by cutting o ff t he corners could sav e

, ,

it s el f and a fter it had regained i t s w i nd take up t he

, ,

chase again S o the race might have kept up for

.

an hour or mo re until finally the old doe w o uld ha v e

, ,

been overtaken pulled do w n and de v oured

, , .

To Jack all thi s was a matter of common knowl

edge for more than once he had seen almo s t tha t v ery
,

thing happen It took him only a moment there fore

.
, ,

to whirl hi s hor s e G i v ing him a j ab w ith the spur s

.
,

h e wa s close upon the coyote almo s t be fore it had

s tarted to run H e had j erked out hi s s ix s hooter
.
-
,

and a s t w o o r three ball s knocke d up pu f f s o f dust

about the coyote the bea s t put on a tremendou s spurt
,

o f speed It wa s impos s ible to t ake aim from th e

.

back o f the galloping horse but one ball pa s sing over ,

’
the coyote s head caused it to whirl and run broad s ide
for a j ump or two and as i t did thi s it came i n col
, ,

lisio n with another ball which qu i ckly ended it s career

, .

G ood enough ! said Jack to him s el f That i s .

better luck than I deserv ed I didn t hop e to do ’

'

”
more than scare the beast and no w I ha v e go t it , .
 T HE T RA GEDY AT PO WELL S ’

H e r o de o v er and sat o n h i s h o rse lo o king d o wn at

t he coyote f r o m wh o se h i de g reat patches o f fur
,

had been lost for t he an imal s were no w j ust shedding

,

the i r w i n t er coat s Evidently the hide was no t worth

.

taking o ff and so Jack di s mounted and cut o ff the

,
’
coyote s head f o r in tho s e days there was a bounty
,

on these bea s ts and the bounty was w o rth ha vi ng

,
.

H e t i ed the head t o t he saddle rem o unted and s t arted , ,

down t oward hi s horses They had stoppe d a nd were

.

no w f eed i ng bu t be f ore l o ng he had t hem mo v in g

,

aga i n .

R id i ng steadily and f ast across the pla t eau he saw ,

t o hi s le f t something mo v ing and w atching i t for ,

a f ew moments s aw that i t was a badger digging its

hol e E v ery no w and then t h e badger would sit up
.

and l oo k about h i m and t hen again would pu t i ts

,

fore fee t on t he ground and beg i n t o dig When h e .

had got as close to th e badger a s the t rail w o uld b ring

'

h i m; Jack sudde nly t urne d P awnee and galloped to ‘

w ard t he creatu re at a good rate The badger a t .

once not i ced the change o f direct i on and set to work ,

digg i ng harde r B y the ti me J ack had reached the

.

h ole the animal w as already t wel v e o r fi f teen inches

,

under ground and was quite co v ered by t he loo s ened

,

earth o f the hole For a moment J a ck was going to

'

shoo t down t hrough the earth which was heaving and ,

mo v ing f rom the s truggles o f the be a s t below bu t ,

the n i t occurred to h im tha t t here was no espec ial

reason for doing t h i s since the badger could not be,

u s ed in any way I ts hi de w o uld be u s eless and there

.
,

wa s no reas o n for killing it Moreo v er b adgers kill .

,

a good many prai rie dogs which e at gra s s a nd gopher s ,

which destroy garde ns and e v ery badger k i lled me ans

,
8 JACK ,
T HE YOUN G CO WB OY

an increase in the dog and gopher population There .

came to him too the m emory o f w hat Hugh more

, ,

than once had s aid to him that there was no s en s e —

in killin g thing s unle ss you could make some u s e o f

them H e watched the moving earth for two o r
.

three minute s I f he had had a s tick he would ha v e

.

poked it down in the hole to feel the badger but he , ,

had seen too many badgers t o be willing to put hi s

hand do w n in this hole even t hough t he hand were ,

protected by a stout glove .

P resently he was on hi s horse again and the bunch ,

’
w a s once more started on the road toward Po w ell s
ranch The hor s es which had been going all da y
.
, ,

were no w very willin g to stop and were eager at any ,

moment t o get a bite o f gra s s Jack kept them to .

their w ork however and a littl e later when he came

, , ,

to the edge o f the plateau he was glad t o see the

valley be lo w him and Powell s ranch buildings in the ’

di s tance H e rode do w n towa rd the hou s e s follo w

.
,

ing the l ittl e sag ; but as he went do w n the hill the

Po w ell building s were no longer in s ight for they ,

were hidden by the r i dges on either side the roa d .

At the P o well r a nch it was long a fter noon ; din

ner was o v er the di s he s had been put a w ay and Mrs .

Po w ell a nd Bess we re sew i ng in the living r o om All —

.

the men had gone o ff on the round up and the s e t w o -

,

were le ft here alone as so o ften they had been le ft

,

alone before P resently B ess glanced through one o f

.

the win dow s which looked ov er the road leading from

th e va Hey .

Here come some people a coupl e o f men and —

”
a pack h o rse she said to her mothe r
, .
IO JA C K , T H E YOUN G C OWBO Y

up north told o f things tha t were happen i ng a t B u f

,

falo and spok e of ha vi ng passed a r o und up camp

,
-

early tha t morn i ng .

’
That s where our men fo lks are said Mrs Po w , .

el l
. They re all o ff r i ding the count ry and won t
’

,
’

”
be back until the r o und up is o v e r -
.

When the men had finish ed the i r meal t he o l der ,

o ne t hanked Mrs Powell ; and go i n g o utside th e two

.
,

sat down by the door and lighting their p i pes talked

i n l o w t ones Mrs P o w ell and B ess cleared o ff the
. .

tabl e wa s hed and put away the dishes and re t urned

, ,

to the l iving room -

.

Presently the older o f the t w o men r o se t o h i s f eet

and s a i d t o the younger
Come o n no w ! We may as well try it ! It ll
,
’

be a big help to us i f we can get a l ittl e money ; and

w e can ge t on t he tra i n and be well ou t o f the coun ,
”
try be fore anybody knows anything about it .

”
Aw B ill don t do it
’

,
sa i d the younger man ;
, ,
’
t hese people ha v e been go o d to us It ll be mighty .

’ ” ’
mean to frighten em o r take anything from em ,
.

Hol d your yaw p ! gro w led the man called B i ll .

I f they v e go t anyth i ng I m go i ng to ha v e it ; and

’

,
’

you ve go t to back me up and stand hal f the blame !

’

H e rested his hands on hi s hips and looked fiercely ,

a t h i s companion who dole f ully go t up on his f eet

,

and f ollowed B i ll i nto the h o use At t h e d o or o f .

the living roo m B ill stopped

- '
.

” ’ ’
I tol d you ma am h e sa i d , t hat we re goi ng to , ,
’
the railroad and that we re goin g to Cheyenne but
, ,
’
we a i n t got any money t o pay the ra i lroad fare s and ,
’
I thought I d ask y o u i f you w o ul dn t g iv e us wha t
’

we need ?
 TH E T RAGE D Y AT PO WELL S ’
II

I s the man cra z y ! cr i ed Mrs P owell angr i ly .

,

I m not a bank ; and i f you v e been any t ime in thi s

’ ’

country yo u mus t kn o w that people on ranches don t ’

keep money Wha t w o uld we spend money fo r

.

here ?
“ ’ ’
I reckon t hat s so ma am sa i d B i ll ; bu t I
, _

reckon t oo that your man didn t go away and lea v e

’ ’
you w ithout a cent and wha t e v er you ve got I ll take , ,

and take i t quick !

H e s t epped into the room t oward Mrs P owell and .
,

she sa w at once that the man meant what he sa i d and

that a s king for money was no longe r a request but a
demand .

Honestly she pr ot es t ed, I ha v e n o money , .

When M r Powell went away he didn t expect u s to

.
’

’
leave the ranch and he knew w e didn t need any money
,
’
here You ll have t o try to borrow some i n town
.

when you get to th e railroad .

Well sai d the man i f you ha v en t any money

”
, ,
’

’ ’
you ve got a watch there and I ll t ake that and may , ,

be when I get to town I can bo rrow two o r t hree dol

lars on it .

H e stepped forward a nd rea ch ed ou t to t ake f rom

'

her belt a l ittl e watch whose ring he coul d see above

her apron s tring s ; but Mrs Powell dre w back . .

’ ’
You shan t ha v e tha t wat ch ! s he cried I ve .

’
had that e v er s i nce I was marr i ed and I won t g iv e ,

it to you '

T he man caught he r arm with his le ft han d and

reached for the wa t ch with h i s r i ght hand ; and Mrs .

Powell s creamed .

“ ”
Hol d o n ! sa i d B essie Let go my mother ! .

’ ’
I v e got s o me money and I ll gi v e it t o yo u , .
releasing Mr s Powell s arm.
’
.

Yes ; I have twenty two dollars I w a s saving up -

to buy a saddle and i f y o u will clear out right o ff

, ,
’ ”
I ll gi v e it to you .

’
All right agreed B ill
,
We ll go Let s have .
’
.

’ ”
it. B ut don t try to play any tricks young woman ,
.

’ ” ’
I ll get it for you right away Bessie said ; it s ,
”
here in my bedroom .

”
All right repeated B ill
,
B e quick abou t it ! .

Bes s i e ran i nto th e bedroom and was heard to

pull open a drawer and a few second s later a shot
,

sounded B ill s taggered a little felt for hi s pistol

.
, ,

and then turned aroun d and fell to the floor ; while

the young m a n who had s tood in the door ran out

through th e k i tchen j umped on h is horse and galloped

, ,

o ff .
 1
CHA PTER 1

A R O BB E R T U R N E D L O O S E

As Jack rounded a low point o f h lll only hal f a m i le

f rom the house he s aw the buil dings again The sun
,
.

was getting low and he decided that he would put

,
’
the an i mals in Powell s pas t ure and ask Mrs Powell .

t o keep him o v e r night a t the house H e wondered .

i f s he would kno w h im f or s i nce she had last seen

,

him he had gr o wn a s i t seem ed t o him a foot or t w o

, ,
.

As h e came i n si ght o f the house he noti ced h i tched ,

to t he f enc e nea r the door tw o riding horse s and a ,

loaded pack hor s e Evi dently there w ere V is itors a t

.

the hou s e They were travelers not cow punchers

.
, ,

f or the pack animal carr i ed a sawbuck pack saddle and -

a very s mall pack .

’
The s e thoughts had j us t passed through Jack s h ead ,

when to h i s amazement he heard a s hot w hich s eeme d

to come f rom the hou s e and an in s tant later the door
,

fl ew open and a man burst out rushed to the horses , ,

j umped on one o f them and galloped fa s t do w n the

road t oward him Jack coul d not conceive what thi s
.

mean t shooting i n P o w ell s hou s e H e did not ’

.

know the man who was approaching H e was y o ung .

,

fair hai red rode l ike one accu s tomed to the s addle
-
, ,

and had a good hor s e though i t looke d as though i t

,

had gone a long way The rider -was coming directly

.

toward him and as he rode he looked bac k at the

, , ,

h ouse two or t hree ti mes as thou gh f earing pursu it , .

13
x4 JA C K , T H E YOUN G C OWBOY

Jack d i d not kno w wha t all this meant and ye t o ne ,

th ing seemed certa i n h e mus t s to p this man and

—

find o ut wha t he had been doing Y et to stop a man

.

on the road he knew was pretty ser io us bus i ness and ,

might v e ry likely lead to shooting H e had t rav ele d .

e nough on the prairie and had as s oc i ated en o ugh w i th

olde r men to b e cautious about getting i n t o tr o uble ;

but here w as a ca se where troubl e seeme d to be co m
i n g t o w ard h i m so stra i ght that he could no t avoid
it. For the first two or three moments the ri de r
s eemed not to notice Jack but w hen he d i d so he
, ,

checked the s peed o f hi s horse and looked uncertainly

,

to r i ght and l e ft as though s eeking s ome way o f esca pe

, .

B y th is time Jack had s tuck h i s s purs int o Pawne e ,

and w as riding f a s t to w ard the approach i ng man .

H e had h i s hand on h is six shooter ready t o dra w

-
,

it at the l ea s t sign o f trouble As they drew near.

to each other t he young man made a m o t io n as i f

to pu t his hand on h is pi s tol butt but Jack cal l ed to ,

him sh arply H ands up ! and drew his p i stol T he

,
.

’
young fellow s hands flew up in the ai r whil e he ,

stopped h i s h o rse Jack rode around and com i ng up

.

behind him on the righ t side still holding hi s p i stol

,
’
ready reached over and t o ok t he young man s gun
,

out o f his hol s ter and t hen o rdered him sharply to

,

turn around and ride in f ron t o f h im toward the

house H e w atched h i m closely f or it was poss i ble
.
,

that somewhere about hi s per s on t he man might have

an o t he r pistol but the youn g f ello w seemed to have no
,

desire to do anyth i ng save wha t h e was t old Hi s .

nerve had wholly le f t h i m .

They trotted up to the door o f the ranch and Jack ,

called ou t for M r Po w el l Charley and Mr s Powell

.
, .
,
 A R O B B ER TU R N E D L OO S E 15

a nd a m omen t l a ter a t all hands om e br o wn ha i red g i rl

, ,
-

appeared at t he door holdin g a six sh o oter in her hand

,
-
.

Jack instantly rec o gnized her as h is o l d f r i end Bes s ie ,

but B e s sie grown out o f all l ikenes s t o the slim legg ed -

l ittle girl t ha t he had kn o wn hal f a d oz en years be

f ore .

H ello B ess i e ! called J ack

,
Y o u d o n t kno w .
’

me I gu es s but I am Jack D an v ers j us t over f rom

, , ,

M r Sturgi s ranch
’
. I heard a sho t and saw thi s man
.

running away from t h e house and sto ppe d him , .

What ha s happe ned ? D o y o u wan t him o r shall I ,

le t h i m go ?
“ ’ ’
I don t know J ack B ess i e answered ;
, we ll
,

hav e to t h i nk about tha t H e ought to be t ie d up for.

a whil e anyho w until we can t ell you wha t has hap

,
”
pened and can d ecide what to do
, .

“ ”
Well sa i d J ack
, the first th i ng i s t o t ak e his
,

weapons i f h e has any H ere i s the si x shooter h e

-
.
—

h a d when I s t opped h im Will you hold it and keep

.
,

an eye on h im wh i l e I se a rch him ? You used to be

”
able to shoo t w hen y o u were a little girl .

I guess y o u will t h i nk I ca n ye t Jack sa i d B es , ,

s i e J ack no w n o t iced t ha t sh e looked v ery white

. .

’
That man s pa rt ner i s i n here and we w i ll ha v e t o ,

d o someth i n g w i th h im ”
.

J ack sa i d noth i ng bu t d i sm o unted wen t t o t he

, ,

y o un g r i der unbuckled and took o ff h i s bel t and felt

,

him all ov er t o see whe t her he had another p is tol .

N o t h i n g w as f ound o n h i m more dangerous than a

p o cket kn i f e w h i ch J ack to ok H e had the young man
—
,
.

d i smoun t and s it down o n the ground and a s ked ,

B essi e to stand gua rd o v er h im Then with a rope .

taken o ff one o f t he horses he ti ed t he man s han ds ’

16 JACK ,
THE YOUN G COWBOY

an d feet securely and pa ss ing the rope f rom his

,

wri s t s w hich w ere tied b ehind his back over a b a r o f

, ,

the fence four feet from the ground drew up the ,

’
hand s s o a s to keep the man s bo dy bent f or w ard and to ,

give h im v e ry l ittle freedom of motion Then he tied .

the hor s es to the fence and went to the door where

B e s sie s tood .

T ell me all about it no w Be ss ie he said , , .

”
No Jack I can t t a lk no w s he replied
, ,
’
G o in , .

and s peak to mother and t alk it over with her , .

H e pa ss ed through the kitchen and into the l iving

room and the first thing that ca ught hi s eye there w a s
,

a man lying on the fl o o r on his b ack with one arm , ,

s tretched out Stepping up to him ; Jack s a w tha t h e

.

wa s dead and apparently he had been moved a little for

, ,

on the board s wa s a s mear o f blood leading to the ,

man s body which s eemed t o s how that an e f fort had

’

been made to d rag him to w ard the door Mr s Po w ell . .

w as not there but when Jack called her by name sh e

,

opened a bedro o m door and cam e out Jack began t o .

tell her who he w a s but s he kne w him at once and , ,

grasping bo th hi s hands began to cry and to tell him

h o w gl ad s he wa s to s ee h i m .

“ ’
D on t cry Mr s Powell said Jack , Tell m e
.
, .

’
what all thi s i s about for o f cour s e I don t under s tand,

it at all I h eard a s hot and met a man riding hard

.
,

a w ay f rom the hou s e I s topped him and brought him .

back and now h e i s ou tsi de t i ed up wi th Bes s ie watch ,

ing h i m .

Oh Jack ! moaned Mrs Po w ell

,
to think that .
,

an ything l ike thi s could happen in this country ! We

h a ve plenty o f bad men here but I never thought th at ,

any o f the m wo uld be bad enough to attack a w oman ;

-
18 J A CK ,
T H E YOUN G CO W BO Y
’
t o ge t rid o f this carcass here I ll open the f ront .

”
d oo r and drag him out .

Jack opene d th e door and then go ihg back to where

,

t he m an lay a nd moving the furniture out o f the way

, ,

t oo k him by t he two wri s ts and dragged him o ut o f

the do o r and le ft the body lyin g on the ground .

Go i ng back t o the k i tchen door he saw B e s sie lean ,

i ng against t h e fence watching the young man who

was seated o n t he ground and who app arently had ,

no t changed h i s p osition since he w a s tied up .

”
C ome o v er here B essie Jac k requested and she
, , ,

walked with him to a place fi f teen o r t wenty yards

f ro m t he young man and there in a lo w voice they
,

talked ov er the situation Jack tol d her that her .

m o ther h ad explamed wha t had happened and o f ,

Mrs Po well s f ea r lest some o f the peopl e now o ff on

.
’

the round up should come back and find the prisoner

-

at the hou s e and shoul d hang h im withou t ceremony

,
.

“
That i s wha t I a m a frai d o f Jack I want to ,
.

h av e th i s th i ng ended no w a s quickly a s p o ssible It ,

.

seems t erribl e that I shoul d have had t o kill that

’
man ; but I didn t kn o w what else I could do to pro
teet mother and nobo dy knows where he woul d ha v e
,
”
stopped i f something had not been done .

“ “ ’

_ Well suggested Jack

, what s the matter w ith ,

g i vi ng this youn g man his h o rse or horses and turn , ,

ing him loose no w w ithou t any weapons ?

I w i sh with all my heart you would do t hat It .

seem s to me that i s the easies t way and the best wa y , ,

a nd it will certa i nly keep out o f troubl e any o f the

boys that ma y turn up here in the next f ew days .

” “
All right we ll do that B ut first ’
said Jack
, , .

’
I ve got to u s e him for a l ittle while and yo u must ,
 A ROB B ER TU R N E D L OO S E 19

c o me along t oo I a m a f ra i d t o sta nd guard ov er h im

, , .

“
I ll do anythin g I can t h a t you say i s right
’
,

a g reed B ess i e .

Jack went o ver to t he pr i soner and un ty i n g the ,

r o pes t urned him loose .

No w young fellow Jack sa i d

, rub y o ur arm s
, ,

a nd wr i sts and get the sti ff ne s s ou t o f t h em and t hen ,

come down to the barn and help me h it ch up a

”
wagon .

T hey went to the barn and fo und there a c o uple o f

work hor s es and harnessing them hitched them to
, ,

the wagon into w hi ch they threw a pick and a c o uple

,

o f shovel s D r iv in g up to the house they stopped by

.
,

the body o f the man who had been shot and l i ft ed ,

it i nto t he wagon co v erin g it with a piece o f an old

,

tent They then dr o ve o ff up a ra v ine a m i le o r m o re

.

f rom th e house where they stopped t he wa gon ; and

,

here in the side o f a b ank t he two men dug a hole ,

and burie d t he w o ul d be r o bber J ack searched hi s

-
.

pocke t s for some means o f identifica tio n but found ,

in the m n o thing except a p i pe some tobacco ; m a tches ,

and a pocke t kni fe H is belt and cartridges were

-
.

t ak en o ff to be carried back t o the house .

The sun was close t o t h e wes t ern hor iz on when

they reached th e hou s e again Jack l e f t the young .

ma n unhitching the hor s e s and B ess watching him , ,

while he returned to the house t o tell Mrs Powell .

what t hey had decided to do and to ask her appro v al , .

”
That i s the v ery be s t th ing that can be done she ,

said S tart h i m o ff for the railroad and try t o see ,

”
that h e gets there
-

“
I mean to ride w ith him f or a m i le or two sa i d ,

J ack ; and I s h all say t o him tha t t o morr o w mo rn -

2 o JACK T H E YOUN G COWBOY
,

i ng I m going over to the round up camp to tell them

a -

there what ha s happened and that there is likely to be ,

a hunt for him and he had bette r quit the coun t ry as

,
”
fa s t as he knows how .

Good ! appro v ed Mrs P o well R i de w i th him

.

o v er to the big hill and from there watch him a s far

,
’
as you can and then come back We ll ha v e supper
, .

”
ready by dark and W e ll look f or you then ’
.

All right repl ied Jack, B e fore I go though I ll .

, ,
’

t urn my h o rses i nto the pasture i f you w i ll let me , ,

and take my bed o ff the pack horse .

It took scarcely five minute s to d o th i s f or t he ,

hungry hor s es were s ti ll feeding close to the house

‘

Then Jack went to the young man w ho had returned ,

to the place where he had been ti ed and had seated ,

him s el f on the ground there .

’
You ve got yoursel f into a place t ha t w i ll mean
’
hanging for you i f you don t get out o f the country
,
”
quick s ai d Jack
, I a m going to gi v e you a chance
for your l i fe and let you get to the railroad where
, ,

maybe you can strike a freight or a passenge r train ,

-
,

that will take you a w ay I f any o f the people that .

belong in this pa rt o f the country come back and hear

w hat you and your partner have done they will start ,

out and hunt you as long as they can find your track s ,
’
and i f they get h old o f you you ll swing Who w a s , .

thi s man that you came down here with and where ,
.

did yo u come f rom ?

I don t kno w w hat his name wa s an s wered the

’

young man but up there we called him B ill Davi s

,
.

We came do w n from j u s t s outh o f Bu f falo Davi s .

had a little place up there w ith a few head o f cattle and

hor s es on it but the s tockmen thought he was brand
,
 A ROB B ER TURNED L OO S E 2 1

ing too many calve s and they told him that he woul d
,

hav e to get out of the country When he s aw they .

meant it he came to me for I had been living on a

, ,

little place I had taken up not far from him and sai d ,

that he had to get out and propo s ed to me to go some

,

w here and make a stak e and come back with some ,

thing to put on our places H e persuaded me a nd I

'

.
,

went with him I ne v er knew he wa s going to try to

.

rob th ese peo pl e here ; they treated us a w ful white :

’
but he said to me that i f I didn t come with him to
speak to th e women he and I would quarrel I wish
,
.

I had ne v er seen him ! I ne v er got into trouble lik e

thi s be fore You can see for yoursel f that I ain t bad
.
’
.

Didn t I gi ye up j ust as soon as you told me to

’
The
youn g man whimpered and looked as i f he were going
to cry .

’
Well admitted Jack you don t look to me like a
, ,

fello w who wou l d willingly be mixed up in robbing

w omen and children and I am going to let you go ;
,
’
but i f I do you ve got to get out o f the country qui ck
, ,

for i f the men around here find you they w on t s top ,

’

t o talk to y o u the way I ha v e The be s t thing for

, .

you to do is to r i de into th e railroad and get on a

train and ge t out o f reach as quickly a s you can .

Ha v e you any money ?

Yes I ha v e a five dollar bill and some nickel s
,
—
.

What about these horses ? Who owns them ? ”

asked Jack .

One s addle ho rse and the pack horse belonged to

”
Bill ; and the horse I ride i s mine and s o i s the s addle , .

Well s aid Jack

, you d be tter get on your hor s e
,
’

now and pull your freight for the railroad as quick

a s you can I expect your horse i s n t in v ery good
.
’
22 JACK TH E YO UN G C OWBOY
,

shape t o make the ride and m ay be I d bett er lend yo u ,

’

o ne o f mine to go in w i th Do you know anybo dy .

at the railroad th at wo ul d buy your h o rse and saddl e ?

”
N ary a person was the answer ,
I have ne v er .

been down here be f ore The only th i ng that I can do .

i s to leave t he horse and saddle i n t o w n at some l iv ery

”
stabl e o r el se t urn him loo s e on the range
,
.

I w ill t ell yo u what I ll do said Jack ; i f y o u ’

w an t to sell tha t saddl e for t wenty dollars I will buy ,

it from you and give you five dollars on acc o unt You
‘

,
.

can l eav e it w i th B rown at M edic i ne B o w and if I

fi

‘
\
, ,

hear that yo uha v e done so aii d y o u W ill write t o me ,

"

I will send you the fif teen d o ll ars by mail I think .

’ ’
I ll keep Da vi s horses and s addle here un t il somebo dy
call s for t hem and maybe your hor s e You can take
,
.

one o f my string to ride into the railroad and when ,

’
you get t here w ith it either leave it a t B rown s o r
, ,

t urn i t loose on the range It will come back t o our .

ranch sooner or later; No w go and change your sad

dl e to t ha t gray horse you see f eeding out there j ust
"

,
” ’
inside the pa s ture gate I ll ride with you a l ittl e way
. .

The boy wen t over to his horse and m o unted and

Jack followed on Pawnee In a momen t a rope wa s .

on the gray the saddles were changed and the two

,

young men rode o ff in the d irection o f the railroad .

When they reached the top o f the hill a couple o f

mile s fr om the ranch Jack pointed out to the man the
,

way he s hould go to strik e ih e ma in road leading i nto

the to w n and told him to go ahead The yo un g man
,
.

he s itated for a moment .

’
I don t rightly know h o w to thank you f or turn
’

ing me loo s e in this way he s aid I swear that I ,

.

ne v er h a d any idea o f hu rt in g those two w o men and ,

 A R OB B ER T U R N ED LOO S E 2 3
’
I hope some day I ll be able to mak e you bel ie v e t hat .

Will you tell me how I may call you ?

I a m Jack Danver s and you can always reach me
by w riting to the Swi ft Water Ranch near Car bon , .

’
I f you w rite me I ll send you the fi f teen dollar s Wha t
, .

i s your name ?

I m S am W i lliam s I m f rom M ichigan ; a nd I

’ ’
.

’
wi s h t I wa s back there no w H a v e you got a p i ece .

’
o f paper ? I d like to ha v e y o ur address wri tt en d o wn ,
” ’
s o that I ll remember it .

J ack tore a scrap f rom an ol d en v elope i n h is p oc ket ,

and w rit i ng t he address handed it o v er t o t he y o ung ,

man .

Go o d by and thank you aga i n th e la t ter sa i d ;

-
, ,
’
and t urning h is hor s e s head rode to the s o uth .

T he sun had set and i t would soon be to o dark to ,

see far but j ack dre w back f r o m the cres t o f the hill
,

and r i d i ng around a shor t di stance d ismounted

, , .

Walking up he peered ov er the ridge and watched the

,

horseman ri ding fas t until du s k had f airly settled

, ,

down over the valley Then turning he mounted .

,

’
Pawnee and in a short time wa s at the Powell s barn
, .

where he unsaddled and t urned his h o rse into the hay

corr al .
 CHAPTER I I I
TO TH E RQ U N D -
UP CAMP

S U P P ER smelled good to Jack a s he entered th e

hou s e on hi s return for he had had nothing to eat
,

since break fa s t and the ride had sharpened his appc

,

tite Mrs Po w ell and Be ss w ere putting the food on

. .

’
the table and j ack wa s s ent to Ch a rley s room to
,

wash hi s hand s H e noticed as he pa ss e d through

.

the s itting room that all Wa s in order and that here

-
,

a nd there the floor w a s damp s howing that it had ,

been s crubbed a fter he le ft .

When they s at do w n to the table Jack s first word s ,

’

Vvere :

Well he got o ff all right and I w atched him for a

, ,

mile or tw o H e wa s going fa s t to w ard to w n and

.
,

I reckon we won t s ee him again in thi s part o f the

’

country What did you do w ith the other horse s

.
,

Be ss ?

I took the s addle s o ff ; and turned them into th e

p a s ture w ith your s tring The t w o s addl e hor s e s are
.

’
good one s but I don t kno w what we ought to do w ith
,

”
them .

During the evening much o f the talk w a s about the

exciting event s of the day though s ever a l time s the ,

w omen tried to get a w ay from the s ubj ect by a s king

Jack about hi s li fe in the Ea s t and hi s s tudie s or by ,

di s cus s ing the daily happening s o f ranch li fe .

2 6 JAC K , T HE YOUN G C OW BOY

Powel l k i ssed h i s w i f e and hugged h i s daugh t er i n a

way tha t sho wed h o w glad he was to see t hem again .

Then he sa t d o w n and l oo ked about as i f expectin g ,

s o me th i n g Mrs Po well sp o ke at once

. . .

“
I d o n t know i f Jack tol d y o u abou t wh at h ap
’

pened here H enry but I was badly scared and I guess

, ,
”
B ess was too o nly she d i dn t show it
, ,
’
.

“
Well sa i d Po well
, t ell me the s t ory T here s
, .
’

”
no use in bea ti ng abou t t he bush .

Mrs P owell to l d him what had happened and as

.
,
’
her s to ry w en t o n Po well s f ace t o o k on a s t ern hard
, ,

look tha t pr o m i sed badly for the criminals i f one o f ,

t hem sho ul d fa ll i n to h i s hands When th e narra tiv e .

was ended he t urned t o h i s daugh t er

,
.

”
Well B ess he said
, , y o u certa i nly d i d the r i gh t
,

th i ng : and I f eel proud t ha t you were so ready and

so plucky Y o u d i d w ell to o he sa i d t o J ack
.
, bu t , ,

as I unders t and it the thin g wa s all o v e r when you

,
’
stopped the man who was runn i ng away Wha t s b e .

come o f h im P

Then Jack to ok up the s t o ry and t old t he dec i s io n ,

that had been reached and h o w it h a d been c arr i ed

ou t .

Well sa i d Powell
, I belie v e on the whole yo u
,
’
d id the r i ght thing I don t quite think it s wha t I d
.
’ ’

’
have done i f I d been here ; but i f I d been here I
,
’

shoul d have been mad clear through and w ould prob

”
ably have killed the young f ello w o ff hand .

That w ould have been the na t ural th i ng t o do ,

Jack replied ; but o f course it wouldn t ha v e been ’

the plea santest thing for Mrs Powell and B essie and .
,

I felt that they had both had a pretty hard t i me and ,

”
that what they said ought to go .
 T O T H E R O UN D-U P ’

CAM P 2 7

Y es declared P o well slowly as i f c o ns iderin g

, , ,

the th i ng you d i d the righ t t hin g I can see that

, .

no w and I ll feel a go o d deal surer i n the morning

’

, .

I m glad t ha t ne i ther Charley n o r any o f those yo ung

’

fello ws came on wi t h m e fro m t he r o und up camp -

.

I f t hey h ad I kno w they w ould h av e caugh t up fresh

,

hor s es and followed t ha t f ell o w to t he railroad and ,

v ery l ike ly caugh t h i m be f ore he got o n the train .

“ ’
Wel l he wen t o n you v e all had a pretty ex
, ,

c it in g day and I expec t y o u women had be t ter go to

,

bed I ll s it up here and smoke a pipe or t wo and

’
.
,

t alk w ith J ack and then w e ll go to bed t oo I m go

,
’
.
’

i ng back to t he camp i n the morning and I expec t ,

’ ’
you ll want to go along too w o n t you Jack ? I j udge , ,

t h at y o u re headed f or the round up camp

’
-
.

’
Tha t s where I wan t t o agreed J ack I
came her e because I had an idea the camp would be
somewhere i n thi s neighborhood and I thought I could ,
”
get direct i ons to find it .

A fter t he two women had gone to bed P owell filled ,

h i s p i pe an d then drawing hi s chai r close t o Jack they

t alked to gether for a l ittle while i n a low tone J ack .

told h i s ho st all that he had l earned about the man

who had been killed and when he mentioned h is name
, ,

P owell e xclaimed :
Why that migh t ha v e been t he Bi ll Da v i s that
,

wa s m i xe d up i n tha t train robbing busine ss nearly

ten years ag o t he one t he miners hung B ig N o s e
'

-
,

George fo r i n R a wl ins
’
I f tha t s t he man he surely
.
,
”
wa s bad and deser v ed all he go t
,
.

“ ” “
Well s aid Jack
,
I wen t t hrough hi s clothe s
,

but co uldn t find any pape rs The young fellow

’
.

g a v e h im the name o f Da v i s H e was a man I should .

,
2 8 JACK ,
THE YOUN G COWBOY

think bet w een forty and fi f ty j u s t beginning to get

, ,

gray a hooked no s ed man w ith black hair and

,
-
,

mu s tache .

I never saw Davi s s aid Henry Po w ell ; only ,

”
heard o f him .

’
The young fellow Jack w ent o n didn t s eem , ,

to be bad H e s eemed to be worthle ss and no a c

.
,

count H e had no great amount o f s and and was

.
,

al w ays looking around to h nd some way to get out o f

”
the difficulty .

I v e an i dea then that he was not mixed up i n

’

, ,
”
the thing any farther than being in bad company .

“
That s j u st what I thought said Jack
’
and I , ,

believe I m r i gh t Why w hen he talked to me when

’
;
.
,

I turned h i m lo o se he came pretty near crying I ,

.

’
don t think he s a fellow o f any f o rce at all and I don t
’ ’
,

believe that he will e v er get back into thi s part o f

”
the country again .

Coul d he get o ff on the railroad ? a s ked Powell .

D id he ha v e any money ?

Yes he had five doll ar s o f hi s o w n and I gave

, ,

him five more f o r hi s saddle which he said he would ,

’
leave at B ro w n s and then i f he let s me kno w his a d ,

dre s s I will send him fi f teen more by mail B e

, .

’
side s that he le ft hi s hor s e here and it s a better one
, ,

than the gray I gave him to ride o n I f he get s o ff .

on the railroad he s to leav e the hor s e at B ro w n s or ’ ’

turn it loo s e on the range O f course ten dollar s w ill .

,

carry him some di s tance but w ill lea v e him a foot ,

w herever he stop s Still that s a whole lot better .

,
’

”
than being hanged .

“
Well decided Powell , I gue ss you did ju s t ,

right ; and I m glad i t all happened as i t did It s a

’
.
’
 TO TH E R OUN D-
UP CAM P 2 9

mi ghty lucky thing for the women me tha t you a nd

’
rode up here j u s t as you did I shouldn t have b een .

a fraid o f anything more happening to them but it ,

would have been pretty bad for them to h a ve to get

” ’
rid o f that carca s s Well le t s go to bed .
,
.

H e stretched out h i s hand a nd ga v e Jack a grip

tha t made th e boy w i nce and they w ent t o their ,

rooms .

Early the next morning Jack and P owell looked over

the hor s e s le ft there by the stranger s the day be fore .

The men had been w ell mounted and the saddl e and ,

bridle belonging to Davis w ere ne w good and s trong , .

The pack hor s e w a s a l s o a good animal and looked ,

a s i f it mi ght have s peed and endurance .

Nice hors e s a ren t they M r Po w ell ? said Jack

’
. .
, ,
’
But I don t know w ho o w ns them now .

“ ”
Ye s ans w ered Powell ; they are n i ce hor s es
, .

You ll h nd i f you live long enough in thi s country

’

— may b e
’
you ve found i t out already that the s e —

ru s tler s and bad men alway s do have good hor s e s .

’
T hey v e al w ay s got to be ready to s kip o ff w hen any
o ne gets a fter them and they alway s try to be fix ed,

so a s to ride a l ittle fa s ter and a littl e farther than

the man who i s cha s ing them S o they al w ay s have .

good hor s es and good s addle s A s to who o w n s t h e s e .

horses now you and I can t s ay but I gue ss nobody

,
’

has a better tit le to them than w e t w o s o we ll j ust ,

’

hold them until somebody comes along and claim s

them and prove s prope rty I don t know the brand s .
’

o f any o f them That one on the brown hor s e might

i

be old Mi ss ouri John s beer mug blotted I f it i s ’

,
.
,

he ll be along s ome day and likely kno w the hor s e

’
.

No w I ve got to get B e ss ie to w rite s ome letters for

’
30 J A C K T HE YOUN G COW BOY
,

me th i s morning and then I want to get some grub

,

and put it on a horse and after d i nner we can sta rt ,

back to the round up camp and ge t there be f ore dark

—
.

Will that suit you ?

“
Yes replied Jack
, that will su it me to a T ; ,

and I am certainly glad to wai t f or you to ha ve com ,

pany on the road over .

“
Well said Po w ell
,
that w ill be good ; then we ,

can turn my pack hor s e loo s e and drive h i m w ith your

remuda and we can get along pretty fast
”
.
,

A s he s aid thi s a call from the hou s e told them that

,

breakfa s t was ready and they started ba ck , .

”
B y the w ay asked Po w ell as they were approach
, ,

i ng the house w ha t about tho s e guns that you t ook

,

a w ay from the men yeste rday ?

“ ”
Why Jack an sw ered
,
you may as well keep ,
’
t hem here I ha v e my o w n and don t need any more
. .

I think the pai r that Dav is wore o ugh t to belong t o

IBessf
’

Powell smiled .

Well maybe they ough t t o I gue ss we ll keep

, .
’

t hose here but the one you t ook from t he young

,
”
m an you might as well keep .

All right sa i d Jack I will ; but o f course I don t

, ,
’

want t o pack it around with me no w Th i s one I .

a m carrying came f rom a hor s e t hie f Do you re .

member that t ime four or five years ago when w e ran

into a bunch of st o len stock on the Sw eet Water ,

and Hugh killed black Bob D owling ? Hugh gave me

his p i stols and e v er since then I ha v e worn one o f
,

t hem whene v er I was in a place w here I carried a

”
p i stol .

The house th i s morning looked more cheer f ul than

 TO TH E R OUN D-U P C AM P 31

it h ad t he a ft ernoon be f ore Mrs Powell and B ess . .

were bright and s miling and t he b reak fast w as very ,

good S oon a fter the meal w as o v er P o well began

.
,

th e work o f writin g hi s letter s by hi s daughter s hand ’

.

Jack went o ut and strolled about the barn s and cor

rals and killed ti me f o r several hours and then com
“

, ,

i ng back t o t he house i n t errupted the l etter writing ,

by asking P owell i f he could not get ou t the grub

tha t was to be t aken to t he camp .

”
I wis h you w ould s a i d P owell i f you haven t
, ,
’

a nythin g t o do Mrs Powell w i ll show yo u where the

. .

st uf f i s and all I wan t t o t ake i s a coupl e o f s acks

,

o f flour and t wo slabs o f bacon Y ou w i ll find pack .

saddles and r i gging s hang i ng up i n t he storeroom

where the grub i s and i f you f eel l ike doing it you
, ,

m i ght catch up that s o rre l ho rse t ha t you ll find in ’

the pastu re th e one w i th t wo white f eet and e i ther

, ,

tie h im i n t he barn o r put h i m i n t he sm al l corral

, ,

s o t hat we can ge t h i m qu i ck when w e are ready to

”
pack .

“ “ ’
All r igh t answered J ack, I ll d o that F i rst , .

’ ’
I ll get ou t th e grub and then I ll fix t he saddle a nd ,
’
along j u s t be fore dinner time I ll go down and ge t the
hor s es and bring them up and put them in t he c o rral .

’ ” ’
I don t kno w what hor s e you re going to ride .

I ll ride ol d Kate back again You know her S h e

’
. .

i s the b ro w n w ith a bald face and one white hin d

,
f

foot B ring them all up to the corral j ust be fore

.

” ’
dinner and then they ll be handy
,
.

I t took J ack but a li t tle time t o get t ogether the

load for the pack horse and set it outside the store
hou s e ; then he went to the barn saddled up Pa w nee ,

a nd rode into Powell s small pasture where he got to

’
32 JACK , THE YOUN G COWBOY

gether the required horses and drove them up t o the ,

corral .

D inner was not so cheer ful a meal a s break fa s t

h a d been It s eemed to Jack t ha t the women f elt a
.

l ittle ner vo us about lo s ing their men folk and be fore ,

the meal was ove r this wa s so obv i ous t hat P owel l

spoke about it .

’
You women he said don t w an t to get scare d
, , x

’
o v e r nothing It s my belie f that you m i ght rake thi s
.

country over w ith a fine tooth comb and not find a n -

other man that would act as mean a s that Dav i s did .

You ve both o f you got good pluck and have shown

’

it and I w ant you to keep on s ho w ing it no w

,
All .

the s ame i f I were you I w ouldn t let any s trangers

,
’

come int o the hou s e People that you kno w o f .

,

cour s e are all right but stranger s you had be s t keep

, ,
’
o ff . I f they a s k what s the matter tell them you ,

were badly treated once by s ome strangers and that ,

you w on t ri s k it again You Be s s had better w ear

’
.
, ,

your s ix shooter all the t ime unle ss you see s omebody

-
,

coming that you know ; then I expect you would wan t

to s hed it Somebody w ill be coming in from the
.

round up every t w o or three day s ; and in the cour s e

-

’
o f a day or t wo when thi s scare you ve had wears of f
, ,
’
thing s w ill go on j u s t a s they v e al w ay s gone o n and ,
”
you ll have a real good t i me Now he added a s he
’
.
, ,

pu s hed back h is chair Jack and me ll go down and ,

’

’
pack them animal s and then w e ll roll , .

T h e s addling and packing o f the hor s e s took but a

s hort time and a fter the animal s had been turned out
, ,

and were feeding on the flat in front o f the hou s e ,

the men went up to s ay good bye The women clung -

.

to Powell and s eemed loath to let him go and they

, ,
 CHAPTER I V
O LD F RI E ND S

IT wa s almo s t s un s et w hen Powell and J ack rode

over the hill and saw the round up camp in t he v alley -
,

far below them There wa s a big bunch o f cattle s till

.

scattered out and feeding but about them were t he

,

four or five rider s who were keeping t h em together ,

and who a little later and be fore dark would bring

, ,

them up into a clo s e bunch to be d them down Off

, .

to one side was the c avaya or hor s e bunch which

, ,

contained the strings o f the di ff erent riders s ix or ,

se v en or eight hor s e s to a man and the work horse s ,

that were used on the chuck and bed wagons Lo ung .

i ng ar o und the c amp were the men apparently wait ,

ing for supper which the cook announced j u s t be fore

,

Powell and Jack reached the camp ; The men h urried

up to th e t ent ; e ach one supplied himse l f with pla t e ,

cup kni fe fork and Spoon and went o v er to the

, , ,

c o ok -sto v e and helpe d himsel f to food When P o well .

and Jack stopped close t o the camp it was a bo ister ,

o us crowd o f full mou t hed men who shouted and

-

waved the i r hats t o them E v ery one knew Powell

.
,

and hal f a do z en recogn iz ed Ja ck who as a little fel ,

lo w had been known to most o f them Jack wa s .

glad to see them all bu t h is eye ro v ed about l o ok

, ,

ing especially f or Hugh who a fter the first outbreak

, , ,

rose from t he ground w here he had been si tt i ng

,

34
 OL D FR I E ND S 35

filling h is p i pe and walked o v er t o J ack and gav e h i m

,

a cord i al h and cl a s p -
.

I m s ure glad t o see

” ’
Well son drawled Hugh
, , ,
i
y o u a ga i n It s a long t i me s ince we v e met and I
.
’

,
’
reck o n w e ll ha v e l o t s to say to each other no w that ,
’ ”
we v e got t ogether a g ain .

Y o u be t we w i ll H ugh c ri ed J ack ; and we

, ,
’ ”
can t beg i n t o o s o on according to my not i on , .

A momen t late r t he i r talk w a s i nterrupted by

C harley Powell wh o slapp i ng Jack vigoro usly on the
, ,

back t old h i m t o t a ke o ff his saddle and turn h i s

,

horse lo ose f or he was go i n g t o take the horse s over

,

and t urn t hem i n t o t h e cava ya Jack unsaddled and .

l e t h i s horse go and then Hugh sa i d to him

,

Go ge t your supper now and a fter you ve eaten

’
, ,
’
or wh i le y o u re eating c o me out here and set do w n , .

I want to se e you and tal k t o you e v en i f your mouth ,

” ’
i s f ull and you can t t alk t o me .

’
J ack hu rried t o the cook s t en t and presen t ly re
turned w i th a pla t e he aped h i gh w it h foo d and a cup ,

o f co ff ee brimmin g o ver s o t ha t the s t e aming fluid ,

dripped f rom i t at e v ery s t ep H e sa t down and be .

gan to ea t while H ugh wh o s e p i pe was no w goin g

, ,

well began t o t alk

, .

“ ’
Well son you v e surely gro wed a h ea p s i nce
, ,

we saw each other l as t Yo u re t aller no w I reckon .

’
, ,

t han I a m; but y o u a i n t nigh s o thick ; t he f ac t i s ’

,

it looks a s i f i t was ab o u t t i me f or you t o s t op gro w

ingl o ng and begin to grow broad but t hen I reckon
, ,

there s time enough fo r tha t maybe D o you re

’

memb er that last tr i p we made when we wen t up o v e r

.
,

the i ce i n t hose high m o unta i ns i n the ma i n range ?

Do yo u remembe r the ti me To ny B eaul i eu and h is
36 J ACK ,
THE Y O UN G COWB O Y

partner s s hot hol es i n the t en t ? And do you re

member that Indian that s topped us o v er by the cross
”
i ng o f S t M a ry s R i ver and wanted whisky
.
? ’

”
You bet I remembe r i t all Hugh s a i d Jack ; , ,

bu t I think what I remember best o f all i s the way

you held Tony B eaulieu and h o w he burst out cry
ing when he couldn t get away ; a nd t he way old Cal f ’

”
R o be quirted tho s e Indians that h a d stopped us .

“ ”
Yes that s ure was a good trip replied Hugh
, ,
'

’
but then I don t kno w as i t was better than a
, ,

whole lo t o f other trip s we made That first time .

,

when w e went up to the P iegan country when you ,

c o unte d a co up and you and Joe found that sack o f

,

gold ; that mu s t h a ve be en a dandy trip for you be ,

cause you were s o much younger and because every ,

thing that you s aw was new and s trang e a nd exciting .

Now this summer you re going to hav e a mighty ’

quiet time I recko n with plenty o f hard w o rk ; noth

, ,

i ng to see exc ept ride circle getting i n at night f eel

, ,

i ng a s i f your feet belonged a yard apart ; then maybe

going out on night herd and serenading these cattle , ,

i f a s torm come s up and they get anyway s uneasy .

No you c an t expect to hav e much happen i n a co w

,
’

”
camp .

Oh I don t know H ugh

’

, laughed J ack ; t here , ,

are lots o f things that can happen ou t in this country

yet O f course there s no t much except hard work
’
.
,

and grie f that happens in a co w camp and yet there s ,

’

s ome excitement in r i ding and rop i n g and there s ,

’

al w ays a chance that we may run a cr o ss a bear and

”
have some fun w i th him .

”
Well Hugh replied
, t he co unt ry i s g t t in g , e

pretty quiet no w Maybe it s be ca use I m getting ol d

.
’ ’
,
 OL D FRI E NDS 37
’
and maybe it s because I v e seen a good many thing s ’

’
happen bu t I certainly don t get excited the way I u s ed
,

to.

B y t his t ime Jack had finish ed eat i ng Pu tti ng hi s .

things t o gether he carried them back to the cook s

,
’

tent and then re t urned to Hugh and sa t down close

, ,

be side him .

Well Hugh he sa i d there was some t h i n g hap

, , ,

pened yesterday that I want to tell you ab o ut ; though

’
I shouldn t say anything abo ut it to anybody else un ,

le s s i t gets to be talked a bout You s peak about th e .

coun t ry being in a bad way and n o go od any more and ,

s ometimes I think you re right No w some t h i ng hap ’

.

pened yesterday over a t Powell s that I Wouldn t ha v e ’ ’

belie v ed coul d have t ake n place in a country w here

’
there a re men and American men at that ! It i s n t
,

a thing I want t o t alk abou t but I do w ant to tell ,

you about it and to a s k you whether you think what

,

I did was right I am no t doubt ful about it my s el f

. ,

’
but I d like t o ha v e your opinion too ,

With that Jack o pened his h ea rt and tol d Hugh all

the e v ents o f the day be f ore .

The story finish ed Hu gh sa t for some time without ,

speaking lookin g a t hi s pipe which had gone out while

,

he l istened At last he rai sed his eyes

. .

Well son I th i nk that what you d id was t he wise st

, ,
’
possibl e thing to have done O f course you didn t .

have much choice i n t he mat t er You w ere b o und to .

do wha tever Mrs Powell and l ittle B ess sa i d that .

they wanted done but as it happen s what they wanted ,

done was the best thing that could have been done .

It s urely would have been mighty uncom fortable for

tho s e two wome n a s nice women as I e v er sa w — .
38 J ACK ,
THE Y OUN G COW B OY

to have a man lynched on their account as you ,

might s ay right close to the house It w as up to

, .

you to help them out o f th at scrape and y o u did it ,

s en s ib l y and well I m not a mite surpri s ed at .

’

’
Bes s ie s killing that man S he s a mighty smart l ittle
’
.

girl ; thinks quick and acts quick I expec t i f she .

’
hadn t shot as she did there s n o telling what amount
’

,
”
o f deviltry those two men migh t have been up to .

’
You re right Hugh she s plucky and a good s hot
’

, , ,

and she mu s t ha v e been mighty quick to think what

to do ; but I tell you it made her f eel mighty bad to
, ,

be obliged t o do it and for a while a f ter she had s hot

,

she looked as wh ite as a ghos t

D a v i s ? refl ec ted Hugh I am tryin g t o see i f .

I can t recollect that name What s o rt o f look i n g

’
.

fellow was the one that go t k i lled ?

H e looked like mo s t a nybody el s e ex cep t t ha t h e

’

ha d a more or le s s hooked no s e and a black mu s tache ,

.

Mr s P o w ell said tha t hi s eyes looked sharp and

.

‘
’
snappy and sor t o f cru el ; bu t o f course I di dn t see
,
”
his eyes .

I was wondering said Hugh Years ago , .

,

down in old Nebra s ka I us ed to know a co w puncher ,

named B ill Dav i s and he might ha v e been this man

, .

The description h ts him well enough but I don t ,

’

know as it make s much di ff erence s eeing he s dead ,

’
.

You say you didn t find any l et t ers or p a per s on ’

him .

Nothing ; nothing except a pipe and t oba cco and

”
mat ches and a little small ch a nge
, .

“
O f course yo u don t know anything o f what
’

beco me of the other fellow ?

N othing mor e th a n w ha t I ha v e told you said ,
 OLD FR I E N D S 39

H e s t arted for the ra i lroad and th a t s th e

’
Jack ,
”
l a s t I sa w o f him .

I don t bel ieve you ever w ill see him ; unless he

’ ‘

write s yo u f o r the fif teen dollars yo u owe him H e

‘

,
’
may do t hat ; bu t someh o w I th i nk likely he ll be too
, ,
”
scared e v en to do t hat .

’
I don t kno w repl i ed J ack ; he seemed migh tily
,

a f rai d o f the bus i ness end o f the six shooter but he _

-
,
’
didn t se em v ery much a fraid o f me ; h e seemed kind
o f sorry rather than a fraid Well it s P o well s busi .
,
’ ’

ness and no t mine and I a m not going to sa y any

, ,
”
thing abou t it I f he wants to s peak o f it all right
.
,
.

Ily e heard o f might yf ew people ge t t i ng into trou

”
ble by keeping their mouth s s hu t said Hugh but , ,

o f a whole lot that have come to grie f f rom talking

’
too much You ll be all right I think to keep qu i et
.
, ,
.

Jack s tood up .

“
I gue s s I ll go o v er and speak to M r M c Intyre
’
.
,

and get my w o rk laid out for the nex t two or three

H e may w a nt me to go on night
”
days h e said
, .

herd to night I suppose the re are plenty o f fellow s

-
.

wh o w ill be mighty glad to get o ff

”
.

’
Jack s gue ss wa s a good one The r o und up fore .
-

man was glad to see him o f course glad to get a ,

—

new hand and a fresh hand ,

H e tol d Jack that the .

best t hing he coul d do no w wo uld be t o go out and

catch up a horse and t a ke hi s t urn at n i ght herd un
til 10 o clock Then he could come i n and get h y e
’
.

or six hour s sleep be f ore they started to ride in the

’

m orning The c avaya had j ust been b rought in;

.

and Jack tak ing h is r o pe went ou t and caught one

, ,

o f hi s s tring and b rought it i n and sa ddled it Pawnee .

woul d hav e been the horse chosen but Pawnee had ,

4 0 JACK , TH E YOUN G COWBOY
’
already carried him from P owell s t o the round up -
,

and Jack thou ght the hor s e entitled to a little rest .

The night wa s calm and plea s ant and there s eemed ,

no re ason to suppo s e that anything w ould disturb the

cattle so only t w o boy s w ere s ent out to ride around
,

the m a t pre s ent relieving the four or h y e w ho had

,

had charge of them during the latter part o f the day ,

who h a d no w brought them together and waited un

til they had finally lai n do w n and were peace fully
chewing the cud under t he s tar s j u s t then coming ,

o ut .

’
Tulare Jo e wa s Jack s companion : a new acquaint
ance but a nice looking fello w w ho s e name s ugge s ted
, ,

that he came from s ome w here in Cal i fornia H e w a s .

a man eight or ten year s older than Jack quiet plea s , ,

ant s o ft v oiced and apparently a ride r A s the two

,
,
-
,
.

approached the cattl e they separated and began to

ride around them ; and one by one the other rider s ,

as they met them exch a nged a word or t w o and turned

,

thei r hor s es in the di rection o f the camp Pre s ently .

from the other side o f the h erd Jack caught the ,

’
sound o f Joe s v oice droning out a s ong the words ,

o f which he could no t hear but later w hen they were ,

relieved by other bo y s and w ere riding b ack to camp , ,

he asked Joe to teach him the s ong Joe s aid that .

h e knew only one v erse which ran like t his ,

Oh ! th e c o wbo y s l i f e is a d re a ry o ne
’
,

H e w rk f ro m d a w n ti ll th e s e tt i ng
o s of th e sun,

And the n h is w o rk i l e f t und o ne s ,

F o r h is ni gh t he rd i ng th en c o me s o n .

S ing w h o -o , wh o -o , wh o o p c o w s
,
a wa y
H e w o rk s a ll ni gh t a nd h e w o rk s a ll day .

Wh oo p i-wo ; wh oo p i-way ;
— —
 C HAPTER V
C U TTI N G A ND B RA ND I N G

TH E sun wa s j us t getting ready t o l o ok ov er t he

h il ls the next morning and t h e men were hastily bo lt
i ng the i r break f ast when the ho rse wrangle r brought
,

up the cavaya to the camp B e f ore t his s o me of the

.
,

men h ad driven into the ground five stake s f o ur o f ,

them marking the fo ur c o rners o f a square o f con

s idera ble si z e with one stake be t ween two o f the cor
,

ners or on one s ide o f thi s square A sixth stake

,
.

was dr iv en out on the prair i e a few yards from one

end o f the three s t akes i n l i ne and a t rig t angles t o
’

-
i
,

tha t li ne thu s
,

To the t o ps o f the s e st ake s w hich were only three f eet

,

high w ere tied rop es which when pulled tigh t would

,
x

make a rope enclosure complete on three and one hal f

,
-

of its sides but w ith an opening be tween one o f the

,

corner st a kes and th e one st a nd i ng betwee nthe two

corner s From one o f the co rner stakes t o t he o ne
.

st a ndin g alone on the p rairie ran an o ther r o pe m aking

, ,

a sor t o f w i ng wh i ch would st op an i mal s t ending to

42
 CUT TI N G A ND B RA N DI N G 43

walk by t he co rne r and w o uld turn t hem i n t o t he O pe n

,

mg .

D own o n t he plains i n o ld ti mes rope corral s were

o ften made by ty i n g rope s to the f r o nt and h i nd wheel s
o f a wagon and stre t ch i ng t hem ou t at right angles t o
,

the length o f the wagon The horses were dri v en in to

.

thi s corral and then caught there The Texas ponie s .

o f those earl ie r days were cu nn i ng l ittle ra s cals and

'

many o f them had lea rned to put the no s e down close

to the ground and get the head under the rope and
then rai s ing the head to push out O i course when .

one had got out and ru s hed away the others w o ul d ,

follow pu s hing do w n the rope and getting free

, .

O ften t he man who was holding the end o f the rope ,

s eein g a hor s e about to pu s h und er w oul d slacken ,

the r o pe until i t wa s under the pony s no s e and then

"
’

, ,

g i v i ng the rope a quick j erk it would spring up and

,

hit th e horse making him t hrow up hi s head In the

,
.

mounta i ns such corrals were sometimes used but ,

as o ft en those made with the stakes .

T he c avaya was driven v ery slowly t oward th i s

rope corral and s o me o f th e boys ran o ut to it o ne ,

handli ng the r ope which was to act as a w ing and th e

others the ropes which ran f rom corner to corner o f
the corral The horse w rangler drove h i s animals
.

a lon g at a walk and turned t hem i nto t he open i ng o f

th e corral the men a t the ropes raising them as the

,

h o r s es entered The horses stopped and made n o

.

attempt to push against the r o pes A fter the whol e . ,

bunch had entered the corral the man at the win g ,

rope w alked aroun d and s tood by the middle one o f

the three stakes in li ne thus completely clo s ing th e
,

c o rral D ucking under t he ropes the bo ys no w We nt

.
,
44 JACK ,
T HE YOU N G COWB O Y

s lo w ly and qu i etly i nt o t he enclosure and caught the ,

gentle horses which one by one they led out and

, , ,

t ied O ver t he head s o f any horse s that were not

.

willing t o be caught ropes were quietly tossed and , ,

the horses led o ut .

j ack,
who was tak i ng pa rt in all this work wa s ,

i nterested a s he had been s o many time s be fore in

, ,

s eeing the remarkable change o f demeanor in a hor s e ,

j ust as s o on a s i t feels a rope on it The animal .

may be wild and f ri s ky apparently untamable in

the corral but let th e r o pe drop over it s head and it
, ,

i s at once trans formed i nto the meekest and most com

mo nplac e o f animals .

O f cour s e this i s not t rue o f young colts that have

,

not been broken but the hor s e that ha s had a f ew fall s

,
.

and has learned the power o f the rope always fear s ,

it
.

When all t he men h ad caught up the i r horses and ,

the ropes had been taken from the corral the re s t o f ,

the bunch were allo w ed to wander o ff while the horse ,

w rangler went to t he cook tent to get hi s break fast .

No w follo w ed a scene more or l e s s amu s ing and

exciting or irritating and tire s ome as o ne happened to
, ,

look a t it Many co w hor s e s even though well broken

.
, ,

alway s obj ec t to being s addled while s ome obj ect both ,

t o being s addled and to be ing mounted Now a nd .

then was found a horse tha t had to be blinded be fore

he c ould be saddled ; and occas ionally one that re
f u s ed to be bridled The younger men shouted and
.

made much f un o f their fellows who had horses that

were d is posed to be nervou s or to obj ec t t o the s addle
, .

T he older men when a fter s ome trouble they had

,

succeeded in gettin g the s addle s on thei r horses a nd ,

 CUTTI N G A ND B RAND ING 45

t he cinch e s dra w n were likely to lead the animal s up

,

and do w n by a rope and let them buck w ith the empty

,

saddle .

The horse selected th i s morning by Tulare J oe was

-

y oung skitti s h and rather di s po s ed to make trouble

,
.

When Joe approached him carrying the blanket in ,

h i s hand h e reared and sometimes came f orward on

,

h i s hind legs strik i n g with hi s fore fee t The young .

man was cool and qu i ck and sho w ed no i mpatience

,
’
whatever bu t a f ter a f ew m i nu t es f ruitle s s work o f
,

t hi s s ort he called to Jack who was standing look ,

ing o n having s addled hi s o wn quiet hor s e and a s ked

, ,

him t o bring hi s rope As Jack approached Joe

.
,

called to him :
T h e next t i m e t h i s horse goes up i n th e ai r catch
him and thro w him for me .

The opportunity came a momen t or t w o la t er .

Jack threw the rope from a l ittle behind t he hor s e

, ,

caught i t and gave a sidew is e tug while the hor s e

was o n its hind l egs T h e animal f ell heavily Joe
. .

j umped on i ts head wh i l e J ack quickly looped the

,

lari a t around it s hind legs and tied the hor s e f as t .

Without t he s l ighte s t sign o f i mpat i ence Joe l i fted ,

’
the horse s head and bridled him while Jack brought
, ,

the saddle ; and a momen t l ater ha v ing had t he rope ,

loo s ed whi ch boun d i ts f eet t he hal f daze d animal ,

stood up and in a f ew second s w a s saddled .

”
Much obliged Jack said Joe, , You saved me .

a littl e t i me and h a ve cut those fellows out o f a

,

whole lot o f the j o s h i ng they w o uld have giv en me

wh i le I wa s fooling with th i s horse alone Then .
,

t oo you had added s o me t o M cIntyre s peace of

,
’

mind H e t h i nks t he h o rses brough t on a r o und up

.
-
46 JACK , T HE Y O UN G COW BOY

ough t t o be gen tl ed be fore the round up starts a nd -

,

hate s to s ee time was t ed with a horse that i s h a rd

”
to handle .

“
Well Joe was the respo nse
, , I like the way ,

you handle y o ur horse Mo s t o f us lose o ur pa ti ence

.

and kick and swear and pound a hor s e with a quirt ;

and t hat i s some t h i ng that does no go o d I know .

years ag o when I was a li t tle f ello w and wa s first

, ,

out here Hugh used to tell me that the main rea s on

,

why a man was better than a hor s e wa s that he h a d

’ ’
s ense and i f he didn t u s e his sense why he wasn t
, ,

o f much account .

Joe l aughed .

Yo u take it f rom me he said that old man

, ,
’
knows a he a p and i f you ve been tra v eling around
,

with him for some year s l ike you say yo u have I , ,

reckon t hat you know t hat a heap sigh t b et ter than

”
I can t ell you .

B y this time mo s t o f the men had already s t arted

o ut toward the large bunch o f cattl e now scat tered over

the prairie feeding M c I ntyre the foreman h ad

,
.
, ,

given order s to the men as to w here the v arious bunches

were t o be held and th e representa t i v es o f the di f
,

f erent brands were talking w ith each other a bo ut th i s .

In t his bunch o f cattle there w ere four principal brands ,

wh i ch mus t no w be separated and divided into four

herds each o ne o f wh i ch would be driven o ff by
,

the represen t at i ves o f the brand B esides th e cattle .

bearing t he s e f our brands there were o f course in, , ,

the large bunch a number o f stray s cattle that per —

haps had wandered on to the range from a di s tance ,

or that had been dropped by s ome one driving a

herd thr o u gh t he country or th a t were owned by ,
 C U T TIN G AND B RANDI NG 47

small people the size o f whose bunch did not j u s ti fy

,

them in sending a repre s entative w i th the round up -

.

O f t h ese s t rays many would be recogni z ed by the c o w

men presen t T hose wo uld be turned in t o the bunch
.

o f cut cattle t ha t would pass neare s t to the ranch o f

th e o w ner while others bearing brands unknown to
,
'

any o f t he cow punchers would be kept w i th the

big ges t herd t urned ou t on the home range o f that
,

bunch and perhap s watched f or a while in th e ho p e

,

tha t an owner w ould turn up I f none wa s f o und the .

,

stock as s ociation would be no tified and the an i mal

tu rned over to it .

As J ack and J o e dre w near t he b i g bunch hal f a ,

dozen men were circl ing arou n d it bringin g it t o ,

gether i n a close compact ma ss while two or t hree

, ,

other riders were urging their horses amon g the cat

tle scrutin i z i ng the brand w hich each bore Mo st
, .

o f t he cattle had completely s hed thei r win t er coats

and were sho rt haired and smooth so that the brands
-
,

s ho w ed up well and could be read at a cons i derabl e

dis t ance .

I t wa s i nteresting to Jack a s it i s t o e v ery o ne who

,

w itnesses it to see the trained cow horse f ollow an

,

animal There fo r exampl e was a blue roan cow

.
, ,

pushing her w a y through the thick mass o f the herd ,

j us t ahe a d o f the hor s e ridden by Rube The hor s e .

was going at a trot and was close to the h eels o f the

cow w h ich s eemed to pu s h al w ay s toward the
'

pla ce w here the cattle were crowded th i cke s t Pre s .

e n t ly Rube got her out from t h e center o f t he herd

a nd ov er t o w ard the edge and every t i me tha t she

,

turned t o go back to w ard the center the l ittle horse ,

w ith ears pricked forward dodged more quickly a nd,

48 JA C K , THE YOUN G COWB OY

got in her w ay S o l i t tle by little s he was ed g ed o ut

.
, ,

to the border o f the bunch ; and then it was seen th at ,

running clo s e by her side and almo s t under her belly ,

wa s a s trong and sturdy cal f that m ust have be en born ,

i n M a rch or early April A s s oon as the co w h a d .

reached th e edge o f the herd the l ittle pony galloped

for w ard driving straight to w ard her except w hen
,

she tried to break back a nd then always getting in her

,

way Rube now s w ung h i s qui rt over hi s head and

.

pre s ently the cow givin g up the struggle to return

, ,

s tarted straight o ff over the prai rie to a little bunch

o f the Sturgi s cattle that had already been brought
’

together and that Hugh and another man were keeping

by th emselves Ju s t as the cow reached the edge o f
.

thi s little bunch a cow puncher threw h i s rope and

caught the cal f s hind leg s ; the horse w heeled in
sta ntly and s tarted on a quick gallop dragging the ,

cal f o v er the prair i e to a fire in which the branding

i rons were heatin g Here two o f the boy s j umped
.

down and held the cal f anothe r snatched a hot iron

f rom the fire and swi ftly pu t the S turgi s brand on
it
. Then it was turned loose and hurr i ed back t o
, ,

the l ittle bunch from which its anxious mother trotted

out w ith threaten i ng calls and a fter n o s i n g i t all o v er
,

Walked back i nto the cro wd .

M c Intyre had detaile d Jack to ac t t hr o ugh t he day

a s one o f the cal f branders and al l day long he w as ,

bu s y roping calves dragging them up t o the fire a nd

,

helping to hold them down while some one clap ped ,

on the iron I t was not pleasan t w ork

. the smoke —

’
o f s inged hai r ro s e from the animal s side and the ,

poo r crea t ure bawled piteou s ly ; but a fter all a great , ,

 CUTT I NG AND B RA N DI N G 49

many pain ful and disagreeable things ha v e to be done ,

and thi s was one o f them .

A s the day went by and Jack got hotter and more

,

thir s ty and more du s ty and more tired he derived ,

a little amusement from w ondering w hat s ome o f

tho s e eastern pilgrims who had talked t o h i m o f the
,
’
romance o f the co w boy s l i fe would think o f that
li fe i f for one day they had to do the work that the
co w boy has to do every day N o one can imagine .

th e weary monotony o f doing thi s work o v er and over

again ; the strength that i t may tak e to hold the cal f
t he hea t f rom t he fires ; the cloud o f du s t grime and ,

a s hes among which on e work s ; th e con s tant trifl ing

annoyances o f being bu rned by a hot i ron being kicked ,
’
by a fr is ky cal f or ha v ing one s hand s hurt by the
,

rope All the s e things combined w ith the physical

.
,

force t ha t i s con s tantly called into play make the ,

work laboriou s and tires o me The romance o f the .

cowboy s l i fe exi s ts only in the im a gination O f

’
.

course the boys are cheer ful and merry laughing and ,

j oking all the time making fun o f their o w n mi s haps

, ,

or o f those o f thei r neigh bor s and thi s con s tant flow

,

o f good spirits ma kes t he work far lighter than it

o t herwise would be .

No w an
x
{

d then dur i ng t he day a l ittle v ariety was,

o ff ered by some co w that pestered beyond endurance

, ,

at las t re f used to run any longer and turned to figh t .

Such a co w becomes a t once a dangerou s animal and

to get her cal f aw ay fr om her unless it can be fright
,
~

ened into le av ing i ts mo th er f o r a short d istance is ,

s ometime s difficult .

Jack met wi th such a cow which a fter was t ing a lit

, ,
5 0 JACK ,
T HE YOU N G C OWBO Y

t le energy i n char g ing him con t en t ed hersel f w it h ,

standing still a nd threatening w i th her h o rns while t he ,

cal f s t uck clo s e to her side Two o r three t imes Jack .

r o de s wi ftly by her and threw his rope at the cal f ,

but the little bea s t stood so close under its mother s

’

s i de tha t in no case did the rope catch it J ack tried .

to r i de nea r enough to the cal f to la s h it wit h h is

rope in the hope that this would start it ou t f rom it s
,

position o f sa fety but the attempt was a failure and

, ,

the second time he did this the c o w charged him

v iciously H e w heeled h is hor s e and got a w ay but
.
,

the long horns swept so cl ose that it g ave him a mo l

’
ment s uneasiness lest hi s hor s e should be harmed .

H e whirled quickly to get back to the co w thinking -

t ha t possibly the cal f might have be en le ft behind ,

but thi s had not happened : i t w a s s till clo s e to its

mo t her .

About t h i s time Joe swept by him dragging a cal f

,

at the end o f hi s rope and a f ew moment s later a fter

, ,

the cal f had been turned loose Joe returned ,

.

Why here s my chance to pay you o ff for w hat

,
’

you did for me this morning he s aid to Jack Rope ,

.

the old cow s horn s and I ll take her hind feet and
’ ’

”
w e ll stretch her
’
.

N o sooner sai d than done In a moment Jack s .

’

’
ro pe settled over the cow s horns and as she at first ,

pulled back and then starte d f orward Joe v ery cle v erly ,

picked up both her hind feet and turned h i s horse

the other way ; instantly the co w was stretched ou t
helpless on the prai ri e Jack made h is rope fast to .

the horn o f hi s saddle and le ft hi s horse to h o ld the

,

c o w while he ran back to her Joe i n the meantim e .

’
rode forward toward th e c o w s head thus bringing her ,
 CUTT I N G AND B RA N DI N G 5 1

h i nd f ee t up under her breast ; and in a moment sh e

w a s securely t ied The cal f had run o ff a fe w yards
.
,

and stood there be w ildered .

There s your cal f sai d Joe a s he swun g in to th e

’

, ,

saddle a gam Go and brand him

. .

’
Jack freed his rope from the cow s head rode o v er ,

and caught the cal f and when i t was branded dragged

, ,

i t back to it s mother Then he untied the cow and

.
,

hoppin g into the saddle be fore sh e regained her f ee t ,

was s oon o ff a fter another cal f .

S o the day went o n : a long day filled w i th f un ,

j ollity laughter pro v oking incident s and i rri t at ing

, ,

ha ppening s ; so t hat at night w hen the men re t urned to

camp they w e re all w eary and enormou s ly hungry .

T he representatives o f each one o f the four di f feren t

bra n ds dro v e o ff thei r cattl e to some distance from
t he main herd and watched t hem while t hey f ed and
,

d rank filling thei r bellies fo r the n i gh t

,
.

A li ttle later these representatives woul d be re

lieved by the nigh t he rders who no w with s everal ,

herd s to watch instead o f one as the night be fore ,

would ride abou t and keep a part the d i f ferent bunches .

Hungry and tired as t hey were a number o f the

punchers instead o f go i n g directly to camp rode do w n
, ,

i n the stream bed w ell below the camp and there

-

stripping o ff thei r upper clothing whipped the dir t out

o f it a s be s t t hey could and scrub bed their white
,

healthy bodies f ree from t h e dus t t hat had s i f ted

through thei r s hir t s T he e f fort to get th e grime and
.

sand from their ha i r wa s hopele s s excep t for those ,

men w ho had been thought ful enough be f o re s t art

ing out on the round up t o ha v e the i r ha i r cl i ppe d
-

sh o rt
, and o f the se t h ere were o nly two o r t hree ,
5 2 JACK ,
THE YOU N G C OWBOY

Bythe time they reached camp s upper was ready , ,

and it w a s a ravenou s lot o f cow punchers who

s crambled for plates cup s and knive s and fork s and, , ,

e nj oyed the hearty whole s ome food that s immered on

,

t he fire .

At lengt h stu ff ed to repletion Jack threw him

, ,

sel f on the ground near Hugh .

I f eel l ike a boa constric t or that has eaten an o x

-
,

h e laughed .

”
Well repl ied H ugh
,
I gue s s you re stu ff ed ,
’

’
pretty full It s h a rd work b randing calve s and it s
.
’

,
’
work that yo u ain t used to right no w It won t be
’
.

’
s o hard on you a week or t w o from this when you v e ,
”
got more into the run o f thing s .

”
O f co urse you re ri ght
’
said Jack I h ave not , .

done any w ork j u s t like this for a good while and

’
it does s eem har d and t i resome now but it s l ike most ,
’ ”
e v erything else : we ll get u s ed to it a fter a while .

’
I reckon you didn t see Vicente get chucked to
? ” “
day did you
, a s ked Hugh No he went o u , ,

I m s ure you didn t because you were over there

“ ’ ’

by the fire when it happened H e tried to throw a .

c o w and when he stopped his horse the s addle cinch

,
’
broke and he went a tiyin It didn t hu rt him none
-
.
’

,
”
but he was pretty mad .

Why ho w did it come to break ? asked Jack

, .

That w as the funny part o f it You kno w he .

o nly came in day be fore ye s terday and comi ng down ,

through the mountains the night be fore he got here ,

they c amped and along in the night Vicente was waked

,

up by hearing a porcupine w alking around ca mp O f .

cour s e he thought o f hi s s addle at once and go t

, ,

up out o f hi s blanket s It was brigh t moonlight and .

 CUTTI N G AND B RA N DI N G 53

in a minute he sa w th e porcupine close t o his saddle .

H e grabbed up a stick o f firewo o d h e had got in —

late and cooked h is s upper w ith j ust a few odd s and

end s o f bru s h and limbs that he had picked up around
camp —
and w ith one o f the s e sticks h e went for the
porcupine The s tick was no good and broke the
m
.

first t i e he hit th e animal and it ran o ff ,

into t he bru s h .

“
Vicente knew i t woul d come back and h e go t ,

a stou t club so as to kill it i f it bothered him The n .

h e took his saddle to be d with him and tried to stay

’
a w ake ; but he didn t s tay awake Pre s ently he heard .

the porcupine whimpering abou t hi s bed and he ,

j um ped up and mighty soon pounded the li fe out o f

t he bea s t H e looked at hi s s addle the next morn
.

i n g and it seemed to h im to be all r i ght and he rode

, ,
’
d o wn the hill w ith it and d idn t h a ve occa s ion to use
it hard until to day -
.

When he looked a t it a f ter he go t chucked he, ,

found that that bla s ted porcupine had j ust t aken a

nip or t wo at th e string that tied the latigo to th e ring
o f the s a ddle Maybe there was a little salt in that
.

s tring from the hor s e s w eat or maybe it was j u s t ,

an accident Anyho w the string w a s cut enough s o

.
,

that when a pull came t he saddle fle w and Vicente ,

”
with it .

“
Well I am glad t hat h e killed the porcupine
, ,

said Jack . They are p retty useles s bea s ts according ,

”
to my way o f thinking .

’
I don t think much more o f them than y o u do ;
but up in some part s o f the North the Indians think
they are about the finest eating there i s and I reckon ,
’
the Indian s clothing in o l d times wouldn t h a v e been ’
54 J ACK ,
THE YOUNG C OWBO Y

hal f a s fancy a s it u s ed to be i f it hadn t been fo r ’

p o rcupine quills You know in old time s b e fore the

.
,
‘

Indians got gla s s beads by t rading with the white

folks they u s ed to u s e quills and feathers and hair
, ,

and sometimes black root s to ornament their clo the s , ,

and thei r lodge s O i cour se they dye d the quill s or

.
,

feather s and the roots too all s ort s o f colors and

, , ,

made thei r moccasin s and leggings and shirt s and robes

”
real pre t ty .

Yes said Jack ; I have seen bu ff alo ro bes that

,

were handsomely w orked with quill s ; and up there

in the Piegan country pretty nearly hal f the s hirt s ,

and a good part of the pipe s t ems were ornamented ,

”
with quills .

’
That s so said Hugh ,
The Pi egans are great
.

f ellows to u s e quills and so are the Cheyennes

,
.

Th a t s one thing I w a nt t o a s k yo u abo ut Hugh

’
,

h o w they colored all the s e di ff eren t thing s yellow and

red O f cour s e they didn t have to dye the quill s
.
’

”
black be cau s e most o f them are part black a lready
,
.

”
Well Hugh promi s ed
,
we ll have a tal k about ,
’

that sometime ; but I reckon that j ust now as my ,

pipe is out I m going to bed I v e not much hard

,
’
.
’

work to do on thi s round up and M c Intyre i s n t go

’
—
,

ing to put me on night herd bu t I re ck o n I need all ,

”
th e s l eep I ca n get t o night —
.
5 6 JA C K ,
T HE YOU N G CO W B O Y

w hich w ere going directly acros s c o untry and not ,

’
around by w ay o f Powell s ranch .

The cows mo v ed v ery deliberately and were con

sta ntly stoppin g to feed ; and by the time Jack had

ridden four or h y e miles back and forth behind the

herd pu s hing on the lagging one s and breathing the
,

dus t kicked up by the feet o f the cattle he was glad ,

that the task o f driving the bunch b ack t o the ranch

had fallen to others .

Finally he turned abou t to go back to the round ,

up camp .

’
I reckon you ll see us again in abo ut four day s ,
‘
’
Hugh said It ll take us pretty nearly three day s
.

to get to the ranch w ith these cows and a day to ,

’
get back to camp We ll s trike it do w n close to the .

’
Platte likely on S and Creek I don t suppos e you
,
.

have any me ss age for your uncle ?

“
Ju s t tell him I a m all right and having a good
time You might tell him too what happened over
.
, ,
’ ’
at Powell s And o f course i f there s any mail for
.
, ,

me bring it back with you I don t expect to hear

,
.
’

anything from that man I bought the saddl e from .

.

Maybe in s tead o f leaving the s addle at Brown s he

,
’
,

j u s t took it w ith him on the train ; but i f he did I ,

wouldn t be a bit s u rpri s ed i f he s ent me back my five

’ '

dollars .

Well s aid Hugh , it will be all guessing f o r a ,

’ ”
while yet ; but I ll bring any mail there i s .

”
S o long c alled Rube ; and Jack turned and rode
,

back t oward the camp The di s tance that had seemed .

so v ery long when driving the herd no w s eemed s ur ,

p r is in l
g y short for he rode fast H e did not ride
, .

back to the old camp becau s e they were going to

 R I D I N G CI R C LE 57

mo v e tha t morning and when he rode down o ut o f

,

th e hill s he coul d see a co up le o f miles away on the

,

prairie the two w agon s and the c ava ya cra w l ing alon g
,

o v er the sage brush flat to w ard the next camp whi ch

-
,

was to be on B ox Elder Creek .

When he overtook the wagons F rank the co o k , , ,

who w as driving the chuck wagon told him that Mc ,

I ntyre had le ft word that Jack should start out and

make a short circle to the ea s t w ard taking i n the low ,

hills on the edge o f the ba s in but not going f ar back, ,

and should turn anything that he found down into

the flat country w here it could be readily ga t hered
,

the nex t day Jack accordingly rode on to the c ava ya

.
,

roped a fresh horse and turned loo s e Pawnee and

, ,
’
then rode back to the cook s w agon where he begged ,

from F rank a chunk o f bread and some bacon H a v .

ing disposed o f that he r o de o ff to w ard the low hill s

,

to the east.

When he had gone a short di s tance i nto the hills

he sa w f re s h tracks o f hor s es and o f cattle running ,

and from th i s he concluded that riders had pa ss ed over

thi s ground the day be fore and gathered w hat cattle
had been feeding there ; and pre s ently coming across ,

a trail o f a good many head w ith hor s e track s follow

,

ing the trail and on top o f the cow tracks he made ,

sure that h i s conclu s ion was r i ght .

After riding a mile or t wo farther h o we v er he , ,

c am e across a l ittle bunch o f cattle feeding on the

steep hillside s o f a r av ine and going around them he
,

pu s hed them do w n t he h ill and in the direction in

which he wa s riding The cattle were not wild and
.
,

it woul d have been ea s y to drive them in any di

rect i on ; but o f course they wen t slo w ly and i f Jack ,
5 8 JACK TH E YOUNG C OWBOY
,

simply d rove them i nto the round up camp he could -

not cover much country ; on the other hand i f he ,

drove them do w n into the valley he kne w tha t at thi s

t i me o f the day they w ould at once turn about and
re turn to the hills w here there was water and in the ,

ra v ines the green gra ss that the cattle l ik e

,
.

Wh i le he wa s mulling over thi s and w o ndering ,

what he would better do the cattle ahead o f h im ,

pas sed over a ridge and do w n the s teep sides o f a n

othe r ravine and two or three yearling s in pl a y ran
,

down the hill and through a thick patch o f lo w bru s h

that gre w at the bottom o f the ravine As th ey ru s hed .

into that from it s upper end a s mall black animal

, ,

which wa s unmi s takably a bear cub ran out , .

Jack w a s riding a good quick horse and almo s t ,

without thinking he turned and galloped along the

s teep hill s ide to try to head o ff the cub which kept ,

on up the bottom o f the ravine The ground wa s .

very steep and broken every no w and then by l it

,

tl e wa s hout s and t w o or three times Jack held hi s

,

breath as he w ondered whether the hor s e would get

acro s s them or not But the animal wa s sure footed
.
-
,
’

be s ide s being sw i ft It d id not even s tumble ; and

.

be fore long Jack wa s bearing down well to w ard the

bottom o f the ra v ine and was a little ahead o f the
bear When the two w ere pretty clo s e together
.
,

the bear suddenly turned and began to scramble up the

hill aw a y from J a ck T wo or three j ump s o f the
,
.

acti v e hor s e ho w ever quickly brought it within rop

, ,

ing dist ance and in a moment the noose was over

,

the bea r s head The hor s e had turned and w ith a

'

.
,

mighty pluck the little bear flew out from the hill
side and seemed to land on it s head in th e middle o f
 RIDI N G CI RC L E 59

th e ra v ine Jack kept the rope tight for a moment

.
,

but s eeing that there w as no m o vement at the other

end he dismounted and walked back to the bear
, .

The l ittl e bea s t h a rdly larger than a s etter dog

—

w a s quite dead Jack could not tell whether the .

pull o f the rope had bro k en it s neck or it had been ,

kil led by it s fall .

The w ork o f dres s ing the cub t ook but a f ew mo

ment s ; but to get it on the s addle w a s more difficult ,

for the hor s e rega rded the carcas s wit h s u s picion

and declined to s tand w hen the bea r was put on it .

Jack wa s fina lly obliged to blind the animal w ith hi s

coat until the load wa s firmly tied behind the s addle .

Then —
being un w illing to take ri s ks in thi s rough
country h e led the animal do w n the ravine
—
It .

did not pitch though it s h ied and several time s tried

,

to ri d it s el f o f the s addl e by prolonged kicking At .

length however w hen Jack reached a place where

, ,

the ra vine wa s w ider and the ground more or le s s level ,

he mounted and the hor s e went well enough

,
.

Then Jack went back to look for h i s cattl e H e .

soon found them and a fter follo w ing them over three
,

o r four ridge s c ame on another much large r group

,
.

G athering them a ll together he s tarted do w n to w ard ,

the prairi e with about se v enty five head o f cattle b e -

fore him H e took good note o f the point w here he

.

le ft the hills intending to drive hi s cattle into camp

,

and then i f dayl ight lasted to c o me back and resume

, ,

hi s se a rch for others .

H e pu s hed the cattle pretty hard and about the ,

middle o f the a fternoon had brought them w ithin a

mile o f camp whe re he left them and getting a fresh
, ,

hor s e r eturned to the hills

,
.
60 JACK , T HE YOU N G COWB O Y

During the a fternoon h e found two or t hree more

l ittle bunche s o f cattle and s hortly be fore sundow n
,

started in w it h about thirty head As he wa s rid .

w

i ng toward camp he met the bunch that he had dri v en

,

in that a fternoon w orking back to w ard the hill s ; so

he finally brought in and deli v ered at camp about
one hundred head .

The other part ie s that had been r i ding circle dur

i n g t he day had gathered a good many cattle ; s o
that there wa s again a good s ized herd being held near -

the camp to be taken on the next day and to be adde d

,

to daily until enough had been gathered for another

,

cutting .

’
Jack s roping o f the little bear was i nteresting t o
the c amp ch iefl y becau s e o f the variety that it woul d
give to the daily f are o f bee f and bacon ; but another
one o f the cowboy s had had an adventure that had
’
not turned out s o com fortably as Jack s .

Juan a Mexican who had dri fted into the country

, ,

from the southwest and who was a mo s t skil ful ,

c o w hand in riding along a steep mountain s ide rough

,
-
,

with rocks had startled from hi s bed beneath an old

,

cedar tree a big bull elk w ith thick gro w ing horn s ,

j u s t beginning to branch Juan o f cour s e rode a fter.

, ,

him a s hard as he could go The roughne s s o f th e .

ground and the great rock s that lay every w here s cat
tere d along the mountain side o f fered no impediment -

to the elk s speed but the hor s e could not do its bes t
’

on this ground and had difficulty in overtaking the

,

elk At len gt h a l ittle patch o f smoothe r ground

.

wa s reached Juan pu s hed hi s hor s e up within throw

.

i ng di s tance and made a good throw w hich s ettled

’
around the animal s head and neck The loop wa s .
 RIDI N G CI RCLE 61

’
s o large howeve r that it fell do w n against the brute s
, ,

che s t ; a nd j ust at that moment pur s ued and pur s uer

came to a piece o f ground s o ro ugh w ith great rocks
that even Juan did not dare to ride i nto it H e tr i ed to .

s top and thro w the elk ; but there w a s not time for
him to t urn ; and the s teady pull o f the elk s chest ’

on the rope dragged the hor s e staggering onward for

a f ew f eet when Juan to save hi s mount was o bl iged
, , ,

to f ree hi s rope from the horn o f the saddle The .

elk s a i led up the mountain s ide the rope draggin g

-
,

behind it while Juan sat there on his panting hor s e

,

and uttered Mexican malediction s That e v ening the .

cowboys had a good deal o f fun with J uan .

A fter supper Jack sa w Tulare Joe si t tin g o n th e

,

ground working at s omething a little way from the

camp and walking over to h im saw that he was tak
,

ing o ff bits o f fle s h from a s mall deer h i de which

was ent i rely fre s h .

Where did you get your hi de Joe ? asked Jack

, .

”
Why said Joe , s ome o f the boys s tarted the
,

dee r to day out o f a l ittle patch o f b r ush It ran

-
.

from them up over the hill and met me j u s t on top .

I happened to have my rope in my hand and I caught

I m going to keep it and get two or three others
’
it
.
,

i f I can and make me a buckskin s hirt for winter

,
.

’
They s ay they re the warme s t thing s you can wear
’
w hen you re riding in a col d wind and they don t ,
’

muffl e you up the w ay a c o at doe s they lea v e you —

’
free I d like to stretch thi s hide it I could ; but I
.
,
’
won t ha v e time to do it on the round up I f I could -
.

stretch i t and get it dried flat it would make it easier

to pack and easier to handle w hen it come s to tan
ning it ; but o f course on the round up I ha v en t th e -
’
62 JACK , T HE Y OUN G COWBOY

ti me to peg the h i de o u t and no t ime to do t he t an ,

’
ning w hile it s f resh the way it really ought to be ,
’
done ?
“ ’
I didn t kno w sa i d Jack that it s better to
, ,
’

t an a hide right fresh than a fter i t i s dried .

”
Yes said Joe , it i s ; at lea s t that s what I ve
, ,
’ ’

been told All I kno w about tanning w a s taught me

.

by the Navaj o s do w n s outh and they make a w ful ,

”
good s o ft buck s kin .

I have never done any tann i ng ; but I have s een

a heap o f robes dre ss ed by w omen in the Black feet
country They tan a bu f falo robe in a w onder ful w ay
.
,

s o that it i s as s o ft as a piece o f cloth ; but they don t ’

make good buck s kin According to all I have heard .

,

the mounta i n Indians make the best buckskin .

’
That s what they say ans w ered Joe I ve , .
’

s een some wonder ful bucksk i n made by the Ute s and ,

by the Navaj o s too .

You ha v e been down among the Navaj o s have ,

”
you ? Jack a s ked a s he sat down on the ground ,

and taking out hi s pocket knife began to w ork on

,
-
,

the s kin I m intere s ted i n them for w hen I w as

’
.
,
’
a little f ellow I used to read Mayne Reid s book s ,

and they had lots to say about the Na va jo s and about ,

”
the raids they u s ed to make down i n Mexico .

”
Yes repl i ed Joe they were certa i nly great raid
, ,
’
ers ; and they v e got lot s o f men and women and chil
dren t here i n the camp t hat are as white a s I a m .

Mo s t o f them they say were captured down in Mexico

, ,

as l ittle children and brought up and rai s ed in the

tribe and now so far as their feeling s go are j u s t
, , ,
”
a s pure Navaj o as anybody could be .

’
I gue s s that s so There i s n t anything in blood
’
.
64 JACK ,
THE YOUN G COWBOY

and you can get F rank to carry it in s ide h i s chuck

”
wagon tied to the bo w s .

”
I ll go with you s aid Joe
’
i f you ll j ust sh o w
, ,
’

me what to do .

Along the border o f the s tream w a s a gro w th o f

rather tall w illow s t w o or three years old and Jack ,

soon cut hal f a dozen long and rather s lender s hoots .

Then the boy s returned to the place w here the deer

hide had been le ft Here Jack trimmed the willo w
.

shoots in the proper w ay leaving many t w igs at the ,

smaller end s and s ho w ing Joe ho w to do it they

, , ,

s oon made an oblong hoop s omewhat longer and wider

than the fre s h deer hide s tretched out on the ground .

“ ” “
No w expl a ined Jack
, if you ve got a piece ,
’

’
o f twine we ll s ew the edges o f this hide j u s t in s ide
the hoop stretching the hide all we can and the hoop
, ,
’
will keep it per fectly flat and s tretched till i t s d ry .

’ ”
That s a new one on me declared Joe I ,
.

never knew any w ay o f s t retching a deer hide ex

cept to peg it out flat on the ground or maybe to ,
’
nail it on the side o f a barn That s mighty cute .
,

though the way you made the hoop by j ust tying

,

the s lender w illow t w ig s around the main piece o f

wood . It seems firm too a s i f i t were going to , ,
”
hold .

Oh it will hold all right ; and it will do the w ork

,

it s intended to do You s ee there isn t much s train

’
.
’

’
coming on any particular part o f the hoop It s evenly .

distri b uted all around and it gives a st raight out ,

ward pull to the hide That s the w ay we always .

’

used to dry our beaver s kin s ; but o f cour s e they are

pretty nearly round s o that w e made tho s e hoop s in
,
”
the shape o f a circle .
 RIDI N G CI R C LE 65

Jo e went o v er to his bed and fro m hi s war sack -

fish ed out a p i ece o f tw i ne ; and be fore long the deer

hide w as nicely stretched on t he hoop carried ove r ,

to the cook w agon and put in charge o f Frank and , , ,

’
f or s a fety s sake tied to the bows at the t op o f the
,

wagon .

Well said Joe as they walked o v er t o the fire

, , ,

I m mightily obliged to you for that I f you want

’
.

me to I d like to s how you h o w to tan a deer hi de

’

N a v aj o fa s hion Maybe I ll get a chance to do that

.
’

’
be f ore t he round up i s over that i s i f you d l ike
- —
,

to know h o w .
”

’
I s ure w ould Joe ans w ered Jack I don t
, ,

k no w anything abo ut tanning my s el f though I h ave ,

s een a w hole lot o f hides dre ss ed It w ould be pret t y .

”
nice to be able to make good buckskin .

About the fire al most the whole camp was gathered ,

the men smoking thei r l ast pipes or cigarettes b e ,

f o re turning in while tho s e who were soon to go

,

out on night herd had already brought up thei r

h orses wh i ch were standing s addled not f a r f rom the
,

fire. As Jack a nd Tulare J o e strolled up M cIntyre ,

called to t hem :
You t wo kids had better get y o ur horses no w ,

and be ready to go ou t on the last relie f D o yo u .

th i nk you can wake up a t two o clock Jack ?

’

“
I don t beli ev e I can M r M c Intyre J ack re
’

,
.
,

plied . I ll have to get one of the boy s to come in

’

and call me .

Well said M cIntyre

,
”
i f you re going to get up ,
’

at that time you d better turn i n qui ck or else you ll

,
’

,
”
be sh o rt o f sleep .
 CHAPTER VII
A B U LL F IGHT

J A CKwas slow to respond to the call the next morn

ing but a fter a minute or two he reluctantly rolled
,

out o f bed and putting on hi s s hoe s

, and hi s coat —
,

for the morning seemed cold he rolled up and roped

hi s bed When he reached his hor s e he could hear
.

Joe not far o ff dr a wing the latigo o f hi s s addle and

w hi s tling so ftly to him s el f and in a few minute s the
,

t w o were riding o f f to w ard the cattle The night .

wa s black and the s tar s s parkled in th e clear air but ,

o ff to the ea s tern horizon the light grew constantly

s tronger a s they rode along .

’
That can t b e day coming i s it Joe ? Jack re , ,

marked It s eemed to me that I got up a s s oon a s

.

I wa s called and i f I did it won t be getting light

,
’

for an hour yet .

N0 said Joe
’

,
tha t s a littl e bit o f the old moon
,
”
le ft and w e ll s ee it be fore long
,
’
.

And j u s t before they reached the herd the s mall ,

moon no w a crescent s ho w ed it s el f over the hill

, ,

i n the east and for a moment the trees that crowned

,

the hill w ere outlined s harply against the light .

The boy s whom Jack and Joe w ere relieving s ai d

that th e cattl e had been quiet ever s ince they came
on . The animal s were tired from the drive that they
had had durin g the day and the ni ght was clear , ,

66
 A B U LL FI GHT 67

calm and s till so t here was no reason fo r t he i r be

,

ing unea s y Now follo w ed a couple o f hours o f

.

monotonous ridin g around t h e herd while one boy ,

o r the other droned out a s ong and occa s ionally s poke ,

as they passed Pre s ently the ea s t s ho w ed gray and

.
,

then yello w changing to orange ; and at lengt h the

,

s un with a bound a s it s eemed cleared the hilltop

, , ,

tha t h id it and beg a n its j ourney across the s ky B y !

.

thi s time the cattle had ri s en to thei r feet and were

beginning to feed and the herder s in st ead o f trying
, ,

to keep them in a bunch rode out on either s i de merely

, ,

to prevent their s traying too far .

At lengt h the boy s who w ere to rel ieve them came

out and Jack and Joe raced thei r hor s e s back to camp
, ,

caught up fre s h hor s e s un s addled those that they

,

had been u s ing and pre s ently s at do w n to break fa s t

,
.

All the o utfit had s tarted to w ork and Frank had ,

his wagon packed ready to roll a s s oon a s the s e la s t

,

t w o had finish ed break fa s t .

M c Intyre told me to tell you he said that you , ,

t w o had better go along and help move the herd to

’
the next camp That s what you get for going on
.

”
night herd —
a n ea s y j ob for the re s t o f the day .

’
T h at suits me w ell enough laughed Joe We ll ,
.

take i t ea s y to day Jack and I ll bet M c Intyre w ill

’
—
, ,
’
make i t up to us in the next few d ays and we ll have ,
”
plenty o f riding to do .

I hope we w ill replied Jack

,
.

When they returned to the herd they found that

the cattle had about finish ed feeding and had been ,

driven do w n to a little s tream to drink Now came .

the w ork o f pu s hing them along o ver the ten or t w el v e

miles to the next camp It was a slow and more or .
68 JACK , THE YOUN G COWBOY

less weari s ome task ; but as J o e said it wa s all in

, ,

the day s work The cattle w ere full and lazy and
’
.

un w il l ing t o mo v e Each one would go on j ust as

.

long as it was being driven but all the others stopped , .

It wa s constantly neces s ary to ride up behind the lit

tle groups and urge them o n and the time o f t w o ,

men was spent i n riding backward and for w ard at

the t a il o f the herd pu s hing on the laggards One .

man rode ahead o f t he herd at a slow walk ; and ,

there was o ne at either side to keep the cattle from ,

scattering .

A fter the herd had been mo v ing along for t w o or

t hree hours B ill Duncan the man in the lead called
, , ,

back something to the others ; but they did not hear

what he sai d and as h e wen t o n paid no particular
, , ,

attention to it A few moment s later there w as quite

.

an excitement among the leading cattle They were .

lowing and clu s tering together in a thick bunch and ,

as the c o w puncher s pu s hed up to w ard them they

could see that they were pa w ing the ground and some
o f them were kneeling and thr us ting their horn s into
the s oil and there was much commotion Quietly
,
.
,

but v e ry s teadily the boys urged th e cattle along and

at length broke up the gathering ; but the animal s w ere
excited and th e yearlings and young stock ra n ahead
, ,

kicking their heel s in the air and s triking at each o ther

with their horn s .

A fter they had pas s ed the place the explanation o f ,

the excitement w a s s een Some animal had recently.

been killed there and it s blood and other remains

,

s melled by the cattle had greatly excited them .

That must have been wh at Bill was t alking abo ut

When he called back to us Jo e sa i d to the others ,
.
 A BU LL FIGHT 69

We ought t o have sent so me one up t o find out

”
what he was s aying .

”
That s so agreed Jack ; but say Joe you kno w
’

, , , ,

more ab o ut cattle th a n I do w hat i s it that makes ,

O f cour s e i t s ea s y enough to s ee
’
stock s tampede ?
,

why they mi ght get frightened at the s mell o f blood ,

but I under s tand that sometimes they s tart o ff with

out any reason whate v er any rea s on w e can s ee a t ,
”
le a s t .

’
Well Joe answered slowly
, you ll have to a s k ,

s omebody who knows more than I do I ve s een .

’

cattl e s tart o ff without any cau s e at all that I coul d

see and they mo s t always start o ff without any rea
,
’

son On a s to rmy night I ve s een them s tampede at

.
t
’

a fla s h o f lightning and then again one still night , ,

I saw a bunch start when one o f the boys l ighted

a match for his cigarette One fall I was helpin g .

drive a bunch o f bee f to the railroad ; they wen t down

into a l ittl e v alley and w hen they got clo s e to the
s tream a big flock o f b lackbirds flew up i n a thick
cloud making o f course some noi s e with their wings
, , , ,

and them fat bee f j us t turned and ran fo r hal f a day .

Some o f the cattle w e never did find and tho s e that ,

we got I gu e ss had lo s t fi f ty pounds t o the head .

”
I s uppo s e s ai d Jack , that i t i s j u s t pan i c and
, , ,
”
o f c our s e in a panic nothing e v er stops to rea s on
, .

“ ’ ’
I gue s s that s about the size o f it I ve read in .

the paper s s torie s abo ut people getting s cared and

stampeding j u s t exactly the way cattle or hor s e s do
, ,

and I reckon that all animal s are a good deal al ike

”
i n thi s whether they go on two legs or on four
, .

”
IV h y ye s
’
s aid Jack ; some o f the stories I v e
, ,

read told about people getting s cared in a theate r

70 JACK , THE YOUN G COWBOY

when it t o ok fire and they all s eemed to lose their

,

s en s es and s ometime s the firemen w ould h nd the bodie s

,

all piled up in a corner or again s t the w all the un ,

der ones dead from s u f focation j u s t the w ay s cared ,

sheep will pile up sometime s in the corner o f the

shed w hen you are catching them to dip them T h
,
.

men are j u s t a s bad a s the w omen and children and ,

seem to try to figh t w ith them trying to get out first , .

Down South I once saw a bunch o f mule s s tam ~

’
pede They didn t s eem to have any idea w h ere they
.

w ere going and a part of the bunch ran right s lam

,

”
into a freight car and o f cour s e killed them s elve s
-
, , ,
.

Well it s urely i s not ea s y to explain the s e thing s

, ,

declared j ack I would like mighty w ell to have

.

s ome o f the s e pro fes s or s who are al w ay s s tudying

about the way the mind work s tell me how th e mind

o f a hor s e or a cow acts when i t is s tampeding
”
.

Joe laughed .

“
Hold on there h e said You w ant to get
, .

s traight on that I r eckon I never heard and I don t

, .
,
’

believe anybody el s e ever did of a hor s e or a co w ,

stampeding T o have a stampede you ve got to have

.
’

a lot o f animals together and they act on each ot h er ,

and make each other more and more s cared all the
time You can frighten a s ingle hor s e or a s ingle
.
,

cow and it w ill run away but it won t run far ; but
, ,
’

you s tampede a bunch o f stock and it w ill run and

run and keep on running and for a w hile it keeps ,

running harder and harder all the time , .

I s ee what yo u mean ; and I gue ss you re right ’

”
about it conceded Jack
, .

One o f the other boys had come up while they

were talking .
72 JACK ,
THE YOUN G COWBOY

My father h e s a id
,
came out w ith one o f the
,

early emigrant train s w ith hi s brother s and s i s ter s his ,

father and mother having a nice little o utfit o f their

o w n Someho w or other when they were cros s ing
.
,

through the mount ains in the late fall j u s t be fore ,

reaching Cal i fornia they got s eparated from the main

,

train and got o ff in a little pocket by themselve s and

, ,

d idn t seem to be able to find thei r way o ut o f it

’
.

I never rightly under s tood ho w it was for my father ,

died when I w as a l ittle fello w bu t it seem s tha t ,

they got up there and the s now w as so deep that they

could not get o ut Their s tock w as getting poor and
.

they didn t have enough provi s ion s to last them

’

through the winter I ve heard my grandmother tell

.
’

h o w grand father w orried about what he ought to do ,

a nd how at la s t he made up his mind tha t he had to

g do w n to the main trail and get help or else they

o ,

w ould all s tarve to death H e made him s el f a pair o f

.

s no ws hoes le ft hi s rifl e with his wife took one day s

, ,
’

grub and star ted to try to find the trail My grand

, .

’
mother didn t want him to go a bit ; she was a fraid
that he w o uld get lo s t and then they d be worse o ff
,
’

than ever I f they had to die she wante d all o f

.
,

them to die together .

“
H é st a rted o ff and did get lo s t but somehow , ,

o r other he managed to get down near to the trail

, ,

and w a s found by a man w ho w as hunting deer for

a little train that wa s coming along That train wa s .

all right It went into camp and the men started out
.

and broke a way up into the littl e valley where my

grandmother was and brought down the whole out
,

fit and took them on to Cali fo rnia There my grand .

f ather got wor k and d i d pre t ty well and when my ,

 A B U LL FIG HT 73

f a t h er grew up he wen t down near Los Angeles and ,

took up a ranch there and we have a lways be en com ,

f o rta bly o ff But I al w ays wanted to ride a hor s e

.

rather than go to school and a s s oon as I was big ,

enough I got work w ith one o f the ca t tle companies

’
do w n there and I v e been punch i ng cows ever since
, .

O f cours e I wa s a b ig fool not to go to s chool and

g e t a good educat i o n i nstead of j u s t being able to
read and w rite as I am now ; but I v e seen a lot o f
,
’

work with cows and I tell you some o f those greasers

, , ,

do w n t here ca n stay wi th a horse and handle a rope

”
better than any man you e v er see i n this c o untry .

I expect they re mighty fine riders J oe ; and in

’

t he old times when there were cattle all over the

,
’
country there most all the men mu s t have been grea t
,

cow hands j ust as I s uppo s e they are no w in Mexico

,
.

E v ery fello w was put on a hor s e a s s oon as he w as

a ble to toddle and I suppose he s t ayed w i th i t unt i l
,

he was an ol d man .

’
Yes i f he didn t get killed be f ore he g rew old
,
.

Hold o n Jack ! Watch tho s e bulls down there ! Joe

,

exclaimed I th ink we re going to ha v e a scrap ! ’

For s ome t i me Jack had heard lo w rumblings com

i ng from the bunch o f cattle bu t had paid no attent i on
to them ; but now he s aw that a coupl e o f big bulls
seemed to be making preparation s for a figh t One .

o f them was a white faced red and white animal which -

might be a grade Durham or Here ford while the ,

other sol id red i n color looked more like one o f th e

, ,

old fa s hioned long h orned Texan s or at least wha t

- —
,

they used to call out in that country a Cherokee .

Fi fteen years earl ier as Jack had o ften been told , ,

a lmos t all the ca tt l e i n the c o untry wer e Texas cattle

74 J A CK ,
T HE YOU N G COWBOY

dr iv en up f rom the s outh to t he plains and t her e ,

purchased by the northern cattlemen tak en out t o ,

thei r ranche s fed for a year or two and then sh i pped

, ,

t o market The excellent grazin g and the cold

.

w i nters seemed to make t hese ca ttle gro w l arger and

fatter t h an the Texa s cattle were and they brought ,

good prices in Chicago Moreover the calve s ra is ed .

,

on t he n o rthern range were bigger and better than

thos e brought up from the south and i t was n o t lon g ,

be fore the northern cattle o w ners go t i nto the way

o f buying herd s o f Texas co w s and grading them
up with more or less w ell bred bulls This cour s e -
.

made a v ery great change in the cattle They gre w .

l a rger in body shorter in l imb lo st th eir long horns

, , t

and became far more like real bee f s teers t han the
old Texas long horn s ever were I t wa s no w getting
-
.

to be almost unusual to see an animal that looked

l ike a Texas long horn or even l ike a Cherokee steer
-
,
.

One o f t he s e bull s however was o f t he old type

, , ,

while the other seemed to represent the new The .

tw o s tood facing e ach other not very far apart mu t , ,

teri ng moaning pa w ing up the du s t and throwing it

, ,

high in the air to fall on their broad backs and roll

back to the ground Presently the short horned bull
.
-

went do w n on his knees and thru s t his horns i nt o

the earth and then rose and shook the dirt f rom h i s
,

head The other bull did the same thing h i s long

.
,

horn s tearing up a great mass o f s o il and when he ,

ro s e to hi s feet his shaggy face and head were covered

w ith di rt and stick s picked up f rom the ground .

Slo w ly the bull s drew nearer to each other and at ,

len gth w hen but a fe w feet apart the red bull s pran g
, ,

f orward ; the o ther ben t d o wn and l un g ed t o mee t

 A B U LL FI GH T 75

h i m and their horns came to gether wit h a s harp

,

cl ash The shock af f ected neither bull ; ne i the r ga v e

.

back ; and for some moments they pushed and pu s hed

aga i nst each other their feet plowing up t he s o il and
,

the t ense corded muscles standing o u t l ike r i dges on

thei r great hams .

The remainder o f th e herd had drawn o ff a l ittle

to one side Most o f the animal s were s till feed
.

ing or looking o ff ove r the prairie heeding the battle ,

not at all but a little fringe o f co w s and young s tock

,

on the edge o f the herd faced th e figh ting bull s and

looked at them wi t h mild intere s t .

Jack and Joe wa t ched th e figh t eagerly .

The chances are all in favor o f the big bull de ,

”
c la red Joe He s got the weight and he ll win out
’ ’
.

“ ’ ”
I don t know sa i d Jack I t looks to me a s
,
.

i f he were going t o push the red bull all o v er the

pr a irie ; but on the other hand th e l ittle one i s t w ice
, ,
’
as qui ck and twice a s active What s more I ll bet .
’

the red fello w h as t w ice the w ind o f the other and ,

’
i f h e can ti r e o u t t h a t bi g f a t bull he ll make h i m
”
run .

“ ’ ’
Yes agreed Joe
, there s no doub t tha t i f he s
,

got th e wit to w ork th e figh t right he ll be able t o ,

’

drive the big bull ; but i f the big bull i s smart he ,

’
w o n t le t h imsel f be tired out .

’
Well let s see Look at the way the big f ellow
,
.

i s pu s hin g back the l ittl e fellow now !

And certainly it seemed as i f weigh t w ere beg i n
ning to tell for l ittle by little the red bull mo v ed
, , ,

back w ard and appeared to be qu it e unable to hold hi s

,

oppo nent In the meantime the horns o f bo t h bulls

.
,

be gan to show red a s i f smeared w ith blo o d .

76 JACK ,
T HE YO UN G COW B OY

Farther and f arther the red bull wa s pu s hed back .

P re s ently he s topped re s i s ting ; by a nimble bound he

s prang o ff to one s ide and quickly circling returned , ,

to the attack a s i f trying to gore the big bull in the

,

neck or s houlder s The big one had turned h o w

.
,

ever and received the shock o n hi s horn s ; and thi s

,

time without much delay he pu s hed hi s enemy back .

The red bull again j umped and again made a circle ,

and the big bull s eeing w hat w a s intended faced to

‘

, ,

receive the ch a rge on hi s horn s The two came to .

gether hard and the s ound o f the s hock w a s plainly

,

heard B y thi s time both w ere w eary and winded

.
,

and their long tongue s hung out o f their mouths and

almo s t reached to the ground .

It s eemed no w a s i f the red bull were trying to do

preci s ely what Jack had s poken o f a little while be
fore —
to ti re out hi s stronge r oppone nt and it —

soon began to look as i f he were s ucceeding The big .

bull t urned more slo w ly to receive th e charge ; and ,

while he had not as yet received any noticeable w ound ,

he looke d as i f he w o uld like to stop figh ting and ,

to call the battl e a draw H e began to look from one

.

s ide t o the other and at la s t it was evident that he

,

w a s trying to get a w a y .

B y go s h ! the l ittl e fellow h as got him w hipped !

Joe cried .

A moment or t w o later the big bull when he had ,

the oppo rtunity turned tail and trotted heavily o ff

,

over the prairie a w ay from the herd The l ittle one .

follo w ed him o f cour s e a nd butted h im in the hip s

, ,

with great force but hi s w ide s pread horn s did not -

cut the flesh Each time the red bull hit his opponent
.
,
 A B U LL FI GHT 77

the b i g bull roared with fear and the s i gh t greatly

,

amu s ed the cowboys .

” ’

Come o n Joe said at la s t

, we mu s tn t let tho s e
’
fellows go too far They v e got to be brought back
.

”
t o t he bunch.

J umping on their horses they follo w ed the t w o ,

first turning the red bull which w a s loath to leave the

,

pur s uit j oe hurried h i m back to the herd w hile J a ck

.
,

rode on a little way t urned t he bi g bull and sl o wly

, ,

drove him to the bunch .

Soon a fter thi s and long be fo re they had fi n i shed

,

talking over the figh t t he othe r men came back from

,

camp and Jo e and Jack wen t i n t o get the i r supper

, .
 CH APTER VI II
A B U F F AL O S T O RY

T wo days late r Jack pretty tired and ridin g a ti re d

,

horse came into camp a fter a lo ng day and wa s de

, ,

lighted to s ee Hugh s tanding by the cook fire a s u s ua l ,

s moking hi s pipe Jack s houted a greeting and Hugh

.

waved hi s p ipe in s alutation and a moment later w hen ,

the s addle had been thro w n on the ground and the ,

tired horse wa s rolling the t w o s hook hand s

,
.

”
Well exclaimed Jack what s the news ? D id ’

, , 3

anything happen t o you on your way back with the

cattle ?
’
No answered Hugh ; we j u s t pushed em along
,
’
a s fa s t a s w e comfortably could brought em to camp ,
’
late at night pretty tired and didn t bother to bed
, ,
’
em do w n or watch em They got in hungry and a s
’
.
,

s oon as they had eaten a plenty they lay down and

stayed down all night When w e got within h y e or
.

s ix mile s o f the ranch I sent Rube in ahead and pushed

the cattle on mysel f and be fore very long your Uncl e
,

and Joe came out and we drove the herd down b e

low the littl e lake and t urned em loose there That ’
.

wa s ye s terday a fternoon pretty early Rube and I .

went up to the bunk house and gos s iped a w hile with

-

M r Sturgis and then a fter w e had had s omething to

.
,

eat w e turned around and rode until d a rk a nd then

,
”
c a mped and came on here to day
,
-
s

7 8
80 JACK T HE Y OUN G COWBO Y
,

heard that there is a little bunch up in the Rat tle

s nake Mountain s but I ve never s een any s ign down
,
’

”
thi s w ay .

“ ’
No returned Hugh ; I don t gue ss there are
,

any bu f falo around here The carca ss to day i s the .

-

first I ve s een for s ix or s even year s I remembe r

’
.

a bou t the time you first came out to the ranch w e ran
acro s s a bu ff alo that had been killed not very long be
fore I figured that it had w andered out from th e
.

Rattlesnake Mountain s and cro ss ed the Platte but I ,

never kne w what had killed it I don t kno w what .

’

killed thi s one that I found to day It w a s killed thi s -

.

spring sometime but had been dead too long for me

,

to find out much about it I wouldn t be s urprised i f .

’

there were a very fe w bu f f al o up in th e Rattle s nake

hills ; and every no w and then i f one come s out and ,

goes down to the Platte River s omeb ody takes a s hot ,

or two at it and it get s killed I haven t heard o f

,
.
’

anybody killing a bu f fal o around here for a good

many years .

“ ’
I reckon I ve tol d you son about w hat Uncle , ,

Jack Robin s on used to say about bu f falo on the L ara

mie Plain s and in this high country away back long
, ,

be fore I came out here and in fact I gue ss w hen Uncle ,

Jack wa s quite a young man a nyway not more than ,

a middle-aged man H e s aid that in his young day s . ,

when he first came into the country the L aramie ,

Plain s and all this high country was full o f b ufi alo ’

,

but that one w inter there came a terrible s now s torm

w ithout any w ind and the sno w lay four or five feet,

deep on t he ground After thi s s no w came a change .

o f we ather either a big thaw or a w arm rain and

, ,

then a freeze and the w hole country w a s cr us ted o v er

,
 A B UFFALO S TO RY 81

so that none o f the anima ls could get down to the

gra ss to feed That winter Uncle Jack said killed
.
, ,

j u s t about everything in the country and among the ,

other things the bu ff alo H e s aid that since that

, .

time there never had been any bu f f alo o n the Laramie

Plains or in thi s hi gh country I al w ays figured
, .

from what he told me that thi s big s torm must hav e

come in the w inter o f 1839 4 0 Uncl e Jack said -
.

that for years a fter that it wa s hard to find any game

up in thi s country but o f cour s e a s time went on , , ,

t he deer and the elk and the antelope go t plen t i ful

again but the bu f falo ne v e r came back
,
.

”
I suppose the fac t i s Hugh s aid Jack th a t by
, , ,

that time the people on the plains w ere killin g t hem

so that t hey had no chance t o w o rk back i nto t he
”
mountains .

Likely tha t wa s so assented Hugh ,

.

There s another thing about bu f falo I wan t to ask

’

“ ’
you ,
sai d Jack ; though I think you ve tol d me
a bo ut it be fore S ome o f the ol d book s talk as I
.
,

remember it about bu ff alo s pending the su mmer up

,

in th e no rth and t hen migrating south in the fall

~

, ,

s pending the winter down in Texa s or Mexic o and ,

then going back again when spring came I m pretty

’
.

sure you t old m e once t h at t here was ne v e r anyt hin g

like thi s .

”
No answered H ugh
, there ne v er w a s ; and i f ,
’ ’ ’

y ou ll think about it a l ittle bit you ll see there c o uldn t

be . I t s a long way from the C a nada line down to
’

Mex i c o and j us t as far back a gain I f t he bu f falo

,
.

’
made j ourneys l ike t ha t spr i ng and fall they d never ,

ha v e time to do anything el se and they sure would ,

nev er be f at O f course bu ff alo sh i fted t he ir range s

.
82 JACK ,
THE YOU N G COWB OY
’
more or less spring and fall They d mo v e up i n to
,
.

the high country on the flanks o f the mountain s and ,

o ften up mountain valleys in summer and then i n ,

’
fall they d dri ft east on to the prairie and ge t into
breaks or broken country o f o ne kind and another ,

and s to p t here So metime s they d mak e quite long

.
’

j ourneys and it w o uld be hard fo r the Indians to h nd

t hem bu t they ne v er s t ar t ed o ff to travel a th o usand
,

m iles o r s o t o av o id cold wea t her and then t u rned ,

ro und and came back to avoid hot weather .

’
The bu f falo didn t mind the cold v ery much ; on
the other hand they like shelter in the worst weather
, .

I ve s een places on the flank s o f the mountains i n

’

the br o ken c o untry where the bu f falo w intered

places they used to go t o f o r shelter in the worst
storms where yo u would h nd the dung four or
—

h y e fee t deep I re member one such place in a littl e

.

side ra v ine runn i n g i nto a draw that goe s d o wn into

the Rosebud whe re I to o k the t rouble t o dig down
,

into the dry dun g and I made a hole hal f as deep as

,

I am t all and d i dn t get to the bottom then Thi s

,
’
.

wa s a sheltered place under thick pine trees and all ,

the signs showed t ha t the bu f f alo u s ed to gather there

to get out o f t he wind and sn o w and stand there ,

pretty nearly as warm as they woul d be in a barn .

Right within hal f a mile t here was the best k i nd o f

feed.

’
Don t you remembe r Hugh i nterrup t e d J a ck
, , ,
’
that year we went up to the head o f the S t Mary s .

River h o w you s howed me the place where th e sheep

,

u s ed to come down and s tand in winter ?

” “
Sure said Hugh ,
That s another sort o f an
.
’

’
animal but it shows what I ve sa i d to yo u be fore that
, ,
 A B UFFAL O STO R Y 83

a l l an i mal s except those tha t are hun ti n g o t her ani

,

mals are very likely to live in a small range o f coun

,

t ry and no t to get away from it except at some change

,
’
o f the sea s on s or w hen they are driven away It s
, .

j ust t he same with range stock cows or h o rses —

.

’
Yo u ask J oe here and I reck o n he ll t ell you t he same
,
”
thing .

“ ’
That s so as s er t ed Joe , E v erybody kn o ws .

that a f ew horses w ill stop in a pa rticular place and

l i ve there all through the summer or all through the ,

w i n t er ; t hey always drin k a t the same stream ; they

always feed about the s ame place ; they go up on the
same hi gh point to s tand and look It s something .
’

’
l ike tha t t o o with the cattle ; and I reck o n it s th a t
, ,
”
way w ith all animal s .

’
Tha t s wha t I believe sa i d Hugh ; and I can ,

tell y o u a story abou t someth ing that I saw o nce and ,

that plenty o f o ther pe o ple sa w t oo th a t seems t o ,

me t o pro v e it .

In the fall o f 186 6 I was working f o r the go v ern

ment so rt o f hal f scout and hal f general handy man
, ,

and wen t w it h L i eutenant St ouch a m i gh t y fine —

o ffic er he w as down into Kansas to build up old-

Fort Fle t cher wh i ch w as on the n o rth fork o f B i g

,

C reek and about sixteen miles be low Fort Hayes

, .

It was nice bright c o ol fall weather and when

, , ,

w e go t t o the place that had been p i cked o u t for the

Fort and went into camp we sa w qu i te a bunch o f
, ,

bu ff al o feeding in the stream bottom hardly m o re

’

than hal f a mile above u s O f course the country .

t hen was full o f bu f falo and this wa s one o f their ,

great range s I s uppose there must ha v e been e i gh t

.

o r n i ne hundred i n this bunch .

84 ! ACK , TH E Y OUN G COWB O Y

When Lieutenant S touch s a w this herd h e had ,

wha t always struck me as a mighty s mart thought and ,

a thought too that showed that he knew a wh o le lot

about animals and about t he plains coun t ry ; and yet
,

he hadn t been out there v ery long becau s e the wa r

’

,
’
w a s only j ust over and he d fought through the w a r .

It occurred to him not to meddle with th ese bu ff al o

and that j u s t a s long as they st o pped w here they w ere ,

he could get fresh meat for his command with mighty

littl e trouble S o he ga v e o rders to the soldiers not
.

to hunt up the creek but t o do their hunting down ,

s t ream and espec i ally no t t o d o anything t o fr i ghten

,

the s e bu ff alo .

H e picked out a man and sen t h i m to go up th e

creek to kill a bu f falo but told him not to show him ,

s el f be fore h e shot nor a f ter ; j ust to kill the cow and

,

then stay there hid until a wagon came up for the ,

meat The man obeyed orde rs When he fired the

. .
,

bu f falo he had s hot at ran a f ew s teps and then ,

s topped and lay do w n Those neares t to it ga v e a .

j ump or two and looked around bu t as t hey saw n o ,

one they went on feeding .

They were watching in camp and when t hey saw ,

w hat had happened they s ent out a wagon t o br i ng

in the meat and as it drove up s lo w ly to the place
, ,

the bu f falo near it j u s t walked out o f the way The .

dead animal w a s butchered and loaded into t he w agon

and brought back to camp .

This happened every day N oth i ng occurred to .

s care the bu f falo They got u s ed to seeing the peo

.

pl e at work on the building s and got u s ed to the

wagon s .

After a while a couple more compan i es o f sol

,
 A B UFFALO STO RY 85

dier s came to the po s t ; one company o f ca v alry and

one o f in fantry L ieutenant Stouch told the o fficers
.

w hat he had been doing and asked them to follow out ,

the same pl an They did so and the bu ff alo s t opped

.
,

right there Thi s went on until well into the winter

.
,

when one day in the morning Lieutenant S touch sent

for me a nd told me that a sergeant w ho had j ust come
in from a scout h a d report ed that h e had met our
bu ff alo herd trav eling up the creek about fi f teen miles
di s tant The Li eutenant told m e he beli eved that
.

these bu ff alo could be brought back and asked me ,

’
w hat I thought about it I told him I didn t know .
,

but they ought to be mighty tame and I bel ie v ed t ha t ,

they could j u s t quietly be driven back .

’
Well John s on he said to me I belie v e so to o
, , , ,
’ ’
and we re going to try it .

H e took about twenty h y e s oldiers and three or -

,

four o f the o ffic ers went along and w e rode o ff up ,

the creek and a fter a w hile pa ss ed the herd and went

,

do w n into the v alley above it There we scattered .

out all the w ay acro s s the bottom like s kirmisher s ,

and commenced to walk slo w ly to w ard the bu f falo .

When they first saw us they s tood and looked for

quite a long time and I thought it w a s mighty un
,

certain whether they woul d drive or w hether they

would run o ff over the blu f f s but a fter a little tho s e ,

that were nearest to u s turned around and began to

feed do w n the valley working back the way they had ,

come and be fore night w e had the bunch back on

,

its old feeding ground j u s t above the post and when ,

i t got there we rode out o f the valley and round o v er

the hill s to camp .

That bunch o f bu f falo s t ayed there for t w o

86 JACK ,
THE YOUN G COWBOY

month s longer and for all I kno w they w o uld have

,
’
been there yet i f it hadn t been that along in April
, , ,

the S eventh Cavalry under G eneral Cu s ter came into , ,

the po s t for s upplie s and s ome o f hi s command ran ,

into those bu f falo and cha s ed them to kill meat for

the command and they s c attered out and ne v er came
,

b a ck again .

“
That bunch o f bu f falo stayed there in t ha t one
place for about s ix months not scared although a n1 , ,

mal s enough w ere killed out o f it to supply a hundred

and fif ty o fficers and men with fresh meat during all
that time I reckon there wa s an animal killed e v ery
.

day or two ; only they were kill ed i n a sensible w ay and

”
the herd wa s never frightened .

”
Well w ell s aid Joe ; tha t seems t o me one o f
, ,

the strange s t thing s I ever h eard o f and it j us t sho ws

how near bu ff alo are to being cattl e Y o u can imagine .

a thing o f that kind happening to a bunch o f cows ,

”
but it s new to me that it could happen to b uf falo
’
.

I t seems to me replied Hugh that it show s that

, ,

wild animals don t s pend all their time wandering o v er

’

the country a s mo s t people think they do but each

, ,
’
set of animal s has s ome little range o f coun t ry that s
”
like home to them .

”
Ye s s aid Jack I gues s that s the fact ; and yet
’
, ,

I believe mo s t peopl e don t under s tand it at all I v e ’

.
’

heard my uncle s ay the s ame thing abou t w ild ani

mals and about s ome kinds o f bird s I mean bird s
, .

’
like partridge s and qua i l tha t don t go s o u t h in winter ,

the way mo s t bi rd s do .

“
Well exclaimed Hugh
, the fact i s tha t most ,
’
peopl e do n t know anything at all about how wil d
 CHA P TER IX

VI CE N TE , cow H A ND

IT w as plain daylight but the sun had not ri s en when

, ,

Vicente Tulare Joe and Jack s et out from the camp

,

to ride circle through the rough hills to the north

east They wo uld gather whate v er cattl e they could
.

h nd and bring them to the camp which w ould be ,

m oved a s hort di s tance farther during the day .

Vicente was a Mexican of at lea s t middle age H i s

,
.

h ai r and mus t ach e w ere j et black but hi s s ide whi s kers

,
—

were gray With hi s s ti ff conical black hat and a l it

.

tle military cape w hich he o ften wore s itting erect ,

i n hi s saddle w ith an ai r o f great dignity he looked

, ,

more like a Spani s h h idalgo than an everyday c o w

boy o f the plain s N o one knew Vicente s history nor
.
’

where he came from Thi s was not especially b e

.

cau s e he was a s ilent man for in fact he o ften talked

,

quite freely but ho w ever much h e talked he him s el f

, ,

wa s never the s ubj ect o f his conver s ation .

Not w ith s tanding his dignity hi s unu s ual clothing ,

and hi s more or le ss preci s e and elaborate manner ,

Vicente w a s a w onder ful co w hand I f anything .

e s pecially diffic ult had to be done he w a s u s ually called ,

upon to do it I f s ome s teer s had to be handled in

.

a s mall corral Vicente w a s l ikely to ride into the cor

,

ral on hi s favorite gray roping hor s e and to pick ,

out one animal a fter another throw and tie it and , ,

88
 V I CENTE , co w H A ND 89

then w hen all hand s on foot had gotten through with

it and had bolted for the fence Vicente w ould untie
, ,

the steer and dodge it until it wearied o f the e f fort

to figh t him and wen t back to crowd in among the
other animal s .

The younger cowboys st o od somewhat in awe o f

Vicente and ne v er tried to pl ay j oke s on him nor
, ,

made fun o f h im a s they did o f each other though o f

course they cheered and shoute d i f by chance he
mo unted a horse w hich bucked w ith unusual feroc ity .

No horse ho w ever V ic i ous energet i c or long winded

, ,
-

had as yet been f ound so far as any one on this ,

round up knew tha t was able to stir Vicente from

-
,

hi s s addle .

Hugh once said that only once in his l i fe had he

s een a man who rode a s well and a s certainly as
V i cente Thi s was an old Mexican known as One
.

”
Eye d J uan who u s ed to live do w n at B ent s Old
’

F ort on the Arkansas I t was said that i f a partie

.

ula rly b a d horse had to be ridden down there at

i

B ent s F ort’
one tha t none o f the Mexicans or In
—

dian s coul d d o anything with Juan would mount —

it and putting a s ilver dollar bet w een the sole o f each

,

foot and th e stirrup woul d ride the bea s t to a stand

,

s till and when he dismounted the s ilver dollars were

,

always fo und in the s tirrups One who saw Vicente .

ri de a bad horse coul d bel ieve this story H e rode .

in quite a di f ferent way from the American cow

punchers even those who w ere never thrown Some
, .

o f them lopped about on the hor s e riding on one ,

thigh or th e other and s o me s eemed w holly unco n

,

cerned a s to w hat the horse did ; but while they rode ,

well and w ere ne v er shaken from thei r seats t hey

, ,
9 6 JACK ,
THE YOUN G COWBOY

did no t r i d e grace f ully firmly and stead i ly as did ,

Vicente .

The three men r o de f as t to t he edge o f the h i lls ,

and had l i ttle to say to each o ther bu t when they ,

reached the po i nt whe re they mus t separate t o l o ok

f or the cattle Joe and J a ck by comm o n consent turned
, , ,

to the older man and asked h i m f or instructions .

’
Vicente s Engl i sh wa s extra o rd i nary and un ti l one ,

w as famil i ar w i th it not easy to understand ; but , ,

brokenly as he spoke e v ery o ne i n this c o w camp um ,

dersto o d him as i ndeed did e v ery one i n all the region

,

round abo ut f or he had li v ed here f or a long t ime

, ,

and on all t he ran g e wa s a well known personage -

.

H o w shall we w o rk Vicente ? asked Jo e Y ou ,

.

’ ”
tell us and w e ll t ry t o do as yo u say .

”
I t l o o ks to me best V i cente answered th a t , ,

Joe rides along the edge o f t he hills lo o king up t he

v alleys ; and you Jack ride a mile o r two back f rom
, ,
’
the edge ; and I ll go s till farther back t o ward t he di
vide maybe up on the div i de
, anyhow s o as to see the ,

head s of all the coul ée s Wha t cattle J o e finds and .

what cattle I find we ll drive along and t urn d o wn ’

to Jack and Jack w ill pu s h along the bunch wh i le w e

, ,

try to get all the co w s that are f eedin g i n thes e ra

”
V ine s .

’
We ll do that s aid Joe ; and that means t hat,

I turn o ff now be fore we ve gone very far and t ake ’

,
”
in the s e lo w e r hill s .

A fter they had ridden a mile f arther Joe turned ,

to the north o r north w e s t while Jack and V i cente ,

kept on until the Mexican pointed out a place where

he s aid Jack had better start no rth by himsel f while ,

he went farther o n .
9 2 JACK ,
T HE YOUN G C OWBOY

only six and s eemed to w ork them twice a s hard as any

other hor s e s on the round up were always i n good -
,

s pirit s fat and sp ringy N ow and then on th e hill

,
'
.

s ide abo v e and always i n advance o f V icente h e

, ,

could see little bunche s o f cattle hurrying along H e .

kept a sharp lookout to his right thinking that pos ,

s ibly some o f tho s e being driven by the M exic a n

might turn o ff and dri ft down the hill in his direction ,

and i f they di d so he di d no t wish to go so f ar or ,

so carelessly as to leave them behind

,
.

Keeping hi s eye out w arily both up and down t he ,

hill he presently sa w ab o ve him ru s hing diagonally

, ,

to the f ront five black tail deer none o f them with

,
-
,

horn s apparently an old doe two yearling s and t w o ,

s potted fawn s T hey had been startled e ither by

.

Vicente or by t he cattl e h e was driving and no w ,

were making grea t time down the hill and toward

sa fety Even for them the work o f crossing the s e
.

ridge s was tiring and be f ore lo ng Jack c o uld see that

,
r

’
the ol d doe s tongu e w a s hanging out o f her mouth
and that s he was be ginning to lose her wind Jack .

h a d no cattl e immediately in front o f him and he ,

wa s riding down into a rather wide v alley w ith a

flat bottom A s the deer were dra w ing near and
.
,

w oul d apparently cro s s in front of him he put hi s ,

hor s e into a fa s t gallop in order to reach the top o f

the next ridge about the time the deer got there Thi s .

h e s ucceeded in doing and a s he rode up on t o p o f

,

the ridge and drew rein j u s t be low some scrubby pine

tree s he could see the deer coming at a gallop along
,

the top o f thi s ridge ap parently intending to follo w

,

it do w n to the lo w er country in s tead o f continuing ,

their way across the ra v ines Jack wa s partly hid .

 VI CENTE COW HAN D
, 93

den by the trees and was making no movement The

, .

deer kept on along the ridge s lackening their pa ce

,

as they got near to h im until j u s t be fo re they re a ched

,

the pine trees the t w o leading doe s w ere trotting ,

the two fa w n s had almost stopped and the old doe

w as coming along heavily in the rear B y the pine s .

they all s topped and looked back up the hill a s i f ,

to try to learn what had become o f th e cause o f thei r

alarm They were s o close to Jack that he could
.

readily have thro w n a rope over the head o f any one o f

them Their red flank s were heaving and the old
.

doe wa s quite tired The little fawns which could

.
,

not have been more than six weeks or t w o months

old w ere the embodiment o f grace and l ightness
,
.

A fter looking back for a moment or two the dee r ,

seemed to feel that there was nothing more to fear

from the enemy that ha d frightened them up the hill .

T w o or three time s they looked at Jack but neither ,

he nor his horse moved and a fter a stare or two

,

the deer looked unconcernedly a w ay Presently with .

,

a s lo w almost slouching gait they s tarted t o w alk

, , ,

on do w n th e ridge to w ard some underbrush on the

hillsi de ; and i n doing this they cro ss e d the wind
which w as blo w ing from the southea s t and so in , ,

t heir changed po s ition blew from Jack to them As

, .

each deer walked i nto thi s tainted current it bounded

i nto the ai r as i f sho t up by a gigantic spring and
, ,

com i n gdown aga i n the headlong flight w as resumed

,

with eve ry appear a nce o f terror It was not the first .

time that Jack had seen s omething o f this s ort and ,

Hugh had more than once s poken to him o f the e f

f ect o f the scent o f man on wild animal s ; but to
day Jack wondered at it a s much as he had ever done
94 JACK ,
T HE YOU N G COWBOY

be f ore The deer had looked s quarely at him w i th

.

out recognizing him a s anything dangerous or host i l e ,

but the in s tant that their no s e s told them tha t he was

there they raced o ff in headlong fligh t
,
.

A f ew more ridge s s urmounted and Jack cam e ,

aga i n upon the little bunch o f cattl e that he h a d

started in the morning Though s till wild t hey did
.
,

not rush o ff in the same al arm that they had s h o w n

earlier in the day Above them on the hill s ide and
.

near the head o f the s a me ravin e w ere other cattle

lying on the steep s ide hill and Jack ridi ng up , , ,

s t a rted them on their way These animals had evi

.

dently j ust lain down a fter feeding and w ere not at ,

all w ild It s eemed probabl e to Jack that he might

.

h ave to do s ome lite ral cow punching with the s e logy

beast s and he took them do w n the hill w ith him and
,

started them forward about in the l ine that he was

r i ding .

All through th e morning thi s went o n and Jack ,

had gathered forty or fif ty head o f cattle while f rom ,

what he coul d s ee on the hill s ide above him Vicente

had a still larger bunch It was i mpo ss ible to get any
.

i dea o f what Joe was do i n g because the slope here

,

was too gradual .

In the early a ft ernoon i t w a s e v ident that Vicente

had turned his cattle down the hill t o w ard Jack .

Many o f them s howed them s elves working do w n

ahead o f him and no w and then he could he a r the
,

whi s tles and calls by which Vicente w a s urging them

on
It was no t long a fter th is that Vicente w as seen
hurrying along the hill s ide up and do w n gathering ,

the cattle i nt o a more or les s clo s e bunch and then ,

9 6 JA C K T HE YOU N G COWBOY
,

cattle should be mean and try to break back a s they ,

”
are l iable to I ll have to do s ome riding my s el f
.
’
.

”
Some o f the s e cattle are pretty wild s aid Vi cente , .

I s tarted three or four bunche s that tried hard to

’
break back but now th a t they re together in a big
bunch they 1 1be eas ier to handle Only Jack look .
, ,

”
out and don t lo s e any i n the s e ravines
’
.

All right ; I ll try Jack promi s ed

’

,
.

A l ittle later the three mounted again and Jack

,

rode do w n toward the cattle and put th e bunch i n

motion It wa s s lo w work to get them s tarted bu t
.
,

a s Jack went along he could s ee from the tops o f the

ridges he cro ss ed that the range o f hill s along whic h
they had been w orking bent away to the east j u st
ahead o f him and that be fore long he would have
,

the cattle on s moother ground w here it woul d be

easier to w atch them and to keep them travelin g
straight No w the r a vines began to gro w w ider and
.

s hallo w er Joe j oined him w ith a few more head

.
,

and at len gt h they got the bunch out into fairly flat
country A l ittle later Vicente wa s s een o ff to the
.
,

right coming with a f ew more co w s ; and pre s ently

the herd with the three riders guiding it w a s travel
ing s lo w ly al ong under its cloud o f dust to w ard the
camp which they could now s ee ahead o f them
, .

The s un was still pretty high above the w e s tern

horizon w hen they drove the cattle down to the s tre a m
to drink and a fter that began to w ork them o v er to
,

w here the main herd w a s feeding .

”
I s u ppose Jack s aid to Vicente
, that no w w e ,

have got so many cattl e w e ll have to s pend a day

’

”
or t w o cutting and branding calve s .

” “
Yes replied Vicente ;
, I think so Seem s to .
 VI CE N TE c o w HAND , 97
’
me I s aw a big lot o f s trays in thi s bunch that w e ve
got ahead o f u s Not many brand s o f people aro und
.

here I don t know w here they come from Some

’

. .

’
o f the brand s I don t know .

’ “ ’
That s right put in Joe ,
I v e seen plenty o f .

brand s that are new to me S ay Vicente he went .

, ,

“ ’
on,
there s a big fat maverick hei fer among tho s e
that I gathe red I wonder i f M c Intyre wouldn t
.
’

like to kill her for bee f ?

You s ure she s got no brand o n ? a s ked Vicente

’
.

Yes I m s ure
,
’
.

S upp os e you ride to camp and a s k M c Intyre and ,

maybe w e can cut her out be fore w e get to the herd .

”
All right s aid Joe ; and galloped o ff in the di
,

rection o f the cam p .

B e fore long he returned riding a fre s h hor s e ,

.

M c Intyre say s to bring that maverick over to

”
th e camp and w e ll kill her t h ere
’

,
he repo rted , .

N o sooner s ai d than done Vicente and Joe pu s hed .

thei r hor s e s into the bunch o f cattle and be fore long

had cut out the unbranded hei fer which wa s v ery ,

fat and were driving her back to the camp A lit

, .

tl e later the herd Jack wa s driving m i ngled w ith

the main herd and he al s o turned t oward camp ; but
,

be fore he got there he heard a s hot and a s h e rode

,
,

into the camp he coul d see two o f the b o ys dress

in g the y o ung co w .
 CHAPTER !
TH E FE N C E L E SS LA ND

TH E next day Jack wa s ordered to travel with t he

herd in company w ith Jack Ma s on and Rube Maso n .

w as a man who h a d not been long in this part o f

the co untry H e was not a p ilgrim for he had b een
.
,

born among the mountain s o f the We s t and had s pent ,

all hi s li fe i n the fencele ss country As a v ery young .

man he had worked h i s w ay up to the no rth and for ,

se v eral years had lived on or near the Blackfeet Re s er

v ation and Hugh kne w him w ell When he found
, .

him in the round up camp Hugh had spoken o f him

-

t o Jack in high term s .

“
He s harum sca rum he had said
’
-
but he s a
, ,
’

’
good prairi e man and I don t think he s a fraid o f
,
’

anything tha t wears hai r or feathers H e does n o t .

always bel ieve in obeyin g la ws that he doe s not a p

’
pro v e o f and I v e heard he has been in trouble o nce
,
’
o r t w i ce o n that account ; but he s a square man and ,

a man that i t s sa fe fo r y o u to kno w and to tie to

’

under o rdinary condit i ons S ometime s howe v er h e .

, ,
’
g o es of f hal f c o cked and when he does that I shouldn t
—
,
’ ’
wan t yo u to t i e to h i m He s a man that s growin g
.

better every day but he need s experience and balance

, ,

and I don t belie v e there s any wa y for Jack Mason

’ ’

t o get that except by living in the world and find

,
~

9 8
 CHAPTER !
TH E FE N C E L E SS LA ND

TH E next day Jack wa s ordered to travel with t he

herd in company w ith Jack Ma s on and Rube Mason .

w a s a man who had not been long in this part o f

the co untry H e was not a pilgrim for he had b een
.
,

born among the mountain s o f the West and had s pent ,

all hi s li fe in the fencele ss country A s a v ery young .

man he had worked h i s way up to the no rth and for ,

se v eral years had lived on or near th e Blackfeet Re s er

v ation and Hugh kne w him well When he found
,
.

him in the round up camp Hugh had s poken o f him

-

to Jack in high terms .

“
H e s harum sca rum he had said
’
-
but he s a
, ,
’

’
go o d prairie man a nd I don t think he s a fraid o f
,
’

anything that wear s hai r or feather s H e does n o t .

always bel ie v e in obeying la ws that he doe s not a p

pro v e o f and I ve heard he has be en in trouble once
,
’

’
o r t w i ce o n that acc o unt ; but he s a square man and ,

a man th at it s sa fe f or y o u to kno w and to tie to

’

under o rdinary conditi o ns S ometime s howe v e r he .

, ,
’
goes o ff hal f cocked and when he does that I s houldn t
-
,
’ ’
wan t y o u to ti e t o h i m He s a man that s growin g.

better every day but he need s experience and balance

, ,

’
and I don t believe there s any way for Jack Mason
’

to get that except by living in the world and find

,
~

9 8
 THE FE N CELE S S LA ND 99

i n g ou t fo r h i msel f a w hole lo t of th i ngs that he

’
don t kn o w ye t .

’
T here s another thing about M as o n H ugh wen t ,
’
on he s terribl e stou t quick with h is hands and , ,

qu i te a wrestler I mind the only ti m e I e v er sa w

.

h i m wrestle The f ellow that tackled h im got a

.

h and f ul It was at the Black feet Agency A bi g

. .

husky chap came o ver from Canada and wen t around

blowing ab o u t h o w good he could wrestle H e thre w .

the blacksmith who w as pretty stout and a b i g In

, ,

dian t hat was persuaded t o try him and a fter he had ,

done t hat h e talked l o uder than e v er H e was an .

Engl i shman tha t had been i n the mounted pol ice .

Finally someb o dy wh o h a d seen Mason in a scuffle

’
tol d the man tha t h e co uldn t throw Ma so n and the ,

Engl i shman wan t ed to be t he could and a t las t got ,

a ll worked up abou t it Mason kept re fusin g and

dodg i ng and putting o ff until the Engl ishman w
.

, as
about crazy t o make a match and a t last Mason said ,

he w ould go him They pu t up five dollars a side to

.

wrestl e on t he flat o u t i n f ron t o f the st o ckade .

When they go t hold o f e ach o ther the Engl i shman ,

s t arted i n t o throw Mas o n qu i ck bu t h o wever hard ,

’
he tried he d i dn t seem t o st i r h i m out o f h i s t racks
,
.

B u t suddenly while t hey were al l watch i ng and won

,

dering what was go i n g t o happen M as o n g iv e a k i nd ,

o f a t w i s t and threw th e Engl i shman o v er h i s head ,

a nd he lit on hi s back three o r fo ur s t eps away w i t h ,

th e w i nd all knocked o ut o f h i m It t o o k five o r ten .

minutes t o bring h i m to and t hen he was o nly j ust ,

able to walk and had to be helped back i nt o the

,

stockade H e d i dn t t alk much about wres t l ing a f ter

.
’

tha t and le ft i n the c o urse o f t w o o r t hree days

,
.

t s o u u s a
I OO JACK TH E YOUN G COW BOY
,

You notice Ma s on s ometime when he s in sw im ’

e

ming and s ee hi s arm s and s houlder s and the pins ,

’ ”
he s got under him He s stout I tell you
’
.
, .

Ma s on wa s a good co w hand a nd a mo s t cheery ,

delight ful fellow No matter ho w gloomy th e situa

.

tion ho w hard the rain poured or the col d wind blew

, ,

he whi s tled and s a ng 1n h earty fa s hion made j okes ,

and laughed at tho s e o f others and altogether got ,

out o f li fe a great deal o f enj oyment .

Those w ho w ere to drive the herd went out early

t o relieve the night herder s They w ere in no ha s te
.

to s tart the cattle w hich were given s ome time t o

,

feed be fore being pu s hed along to the next camp .

While the cattle w ere feeding they needed no s pecial

attention for they were not likely to try to wande r
until they had eaten th eir fill 5 0 the three herder s
.

go t t ogether on a knoll from w hich a good vie w o f

the country coul d be had and s at there w atching the
,

stock as it fed Rube whittled tobacco and t ime and

.
,

again filled hi s old black pipe ; but the t w o Jack s ,

being non smoker s looked over the wide plain be

-
,

f ore them and noted as one may note i f one s it s

, ,

do w n a nd s tares at a land s c a pe the V arious thing s,

that were happening among the wild dwellers o f that

land s cape.

Scarcely hal f a mile to t he north was a n old doe

antelope w hich in the early morning light had s eemed
much intere s ted in the cattle and trotted down to
ward them on a tour o f in s pection Those who sa w .

her felt pretty s ure th at hidden some w here in the

neighborhood s he had a couple o f little kid s and sure
enough a fter the old mother h a d satisfied her s el f
that there w a s no danger i n those great groups of
102 JACK TH E Y OUN G COWBOY
,

for l ack o f company ; but I would ne v er ha v e t ha t

”
c o mplaint .

’
Hugh tell s me that you ve l ived up in the Pi egan
c o unt ry said Jack addre ss ing Mason
, ,Were yo u .

up there l o ng ?
’
Three or four years I ex pect I ll go back there .

be f ore long S ix o r eight years ago I dri fted up from

.

the s outh through thi s country and finally brought ,

’
up am o ng the Piegans I v e been across the line a .

f ew t imes to the Brit i sh and ha v e s t opped a l itt l e ,

while with the Bloods and the n o r t h Pi egans Y ou .

'

know that i n old times when the first t reaties wer e ,

made the Piegans spl i t up on the quest i on o f wher e

,

they shoul d l ive S ome o f them liked the country to

.

the south o f the line and some tha t to the n o rth ,

.

Originally all t he three tr i bes o f the B lack f ee t came

from way up north on the Red Deer R iv er or mayb e ,

still far t her t o the eas t o f that I ve heard o ld j oh n

, .
’

Monroe maybe you know him

I s houl d say so l ex cla 1med J ack
”
I l iv ed in .

’
hi s lodge all one summe r .

“
Well continued M ason
,
“
I v e heard o ld J o hn ,
’

Monroe t ell a mighty good story about the way the

B l ack fee t came do w n from the northeast and h o w ,
”
they first met the white pe o ple .

H ere Rube i nterrup t ed .

I think we had better s t ar t t hese c o ws al o n g A .

’
lot o f em ha v e quit feeding and the first thing we
’
know they ll be lying down and then we ll hav e a
’

hard time to get them t o move B etter come on and .

star t em no w The l o nger we put it o ff t he harder

’
.

” ’
w o rk and slower i t ll be .

“ ’ ’
That s go spel sa i d Jack Mas on
, We v e got .
 TH E FEN CELES S L AND 103

’
to whoop these cows up and we ha v en t any time for ,

”
writing ancient history no w .

’
Yes agreed Jack I suppo s e we v e got to move ;
, ,

but look here Mason I want to get you to tell me

, ,

th at s tory i f you will I ve an i de a that I ve heard

,
.
’ ’

bit s o f it up North but i f y o u can give it t o me in a

,

”
connected fashion I wi s h you w o uld .

“ ” “
Why sure Ma s on answered , I d like t o t el l .
’

i t t o you the bes t I can ; but you kn o w v ery well that

’
I can t tell i t the way old John Monroe could He s .
’

’
hal f I ndian and t ha t me ans that he s a natural sign
’
talker ; and then he s got a dash o f F rench i n him ,

that makes h im will in g to talk and he talks well and ,

i or old H ugh Monroe s

’
then I expect the Scotch — m

fa t her must have been Scotch i f the name co unts for ,

anything gi v es h i m a sense o f hum o r S o he s a

—
.
’

rattling good story teller O f course fo r me and -

.
, ,
’
maybe f o r you he s some ti mes a l i ttle h ard t o under
,

s tand because he talks a language made up o f En g

,

li s h French Cree and Blackfeet So me ti mes I miss

, ,
.

the connection but hi s st o rie s are always go od The

, .

best ones that I ever heard though were those that ,

he told in Cree to B illy Jacks o n and tha t B illy J ack ,

s o n interpreted for me f o r J acks o n i s n o sl o uch o f ,

”
a story telle r himsel f
-
.

As they talked the men rode ov e r to ward t he cattle

,

and going about them started t hose that were lying

do w n and at l ast got th e wh o le bunch moving v ery
slo w ly in the directi o n th ey w i shed them to go .

Among the cattl e were t hree o r four partially crippled

animal s that had been lamed either by the horns o f
other co w s in the cro w ding or by falling in bad places ,
.

Most o f the hurts were trifl ing and w o uld s oo n pass

16 4 JACK ,
T HE Y O U N G COWB OY

away but there was one t wo year old steer tha t had
,
- -

a v ery bad shoulder and could u s e only one foreleg .

H e could get along v ery sl owly and w ith difficulty .

As Rube and Jack pa s sed each other riding to and fro ,

to keep the stock go i ng Rube pointed to the steer ,

.

” ’
I ha t e t o dr i ve that cripple he said ; and I d ,
’
leav e him in a minute i f I wa s n t a fraid that the
”
wolves or coyotes would kill him to night -
.

“
Yes answered J ack ; I am a fraid i f he were
”
,

le f t behind he woul d ne v er s ee the mo rn1ng light ;

even a bunch o f coyotes could kill him without any
trouble for j u s t a s soon a s they crippled hi s hind
,

leg s he would f all o v er and they would eat him

,

alive .

I reckon decided Ru be ,the be st that we can ,

do is to keep him going and i f we get h i m into camp

'

to night we ll let M c Intyre say what shall be done

’
-
,

”
with him .

About noon the boys came t o a s t ream and driv ,

ing the cattle down to it made up their minds that ,

th ey would gi v e them an hour or two o f rest When .

Mason came up Jack spo ke to him about the crippled

,
“

steer and asked w hat he thought about it repeating ,

what he and Rube had s aid a little while be fore .

“ ’ ”
You re right a bout that said Mason I don t ’
“

,
’
bel i e v e he d la s t out the night ; f or as you say the , ,

coyotes would kill him I f he were well he could .

,

stand o ff a bunch o f coyotes but a s he i s h e wouldn t , ,

-
’

last lon g You talk abo ut crippl ing up hi s hind legs

. .

Do you savvy Jack how i t i s that a bu f falo or a

, ,

steer or a co w get s hamstrung ?

, ,
“
I al ways s upposed that a wol f j ust b i t through
t hat big tendon that run s do w n from the h am to the
 16 6 JA C K , THE YOUN G COW BOY
’
Well t hat s ne w s to me
, declared J ack I , .

ne v er thou ght o f that be fore I alway s j u s t took i t .

for granted that a wol f because he i s big and strong , ,

could and did cut through that tendon by a snap o f

his j aws ; but the way you pu t it it looks to me a s ,
”
i f that would not be possible .

I ve seen a numbe r o f cases Mason continued

’

, ,

w here anima l s have been killed by wolves and I ve ’

a l w ays been intere s ted in hearing abou t thi s ham

string i n g s o I ve paid part icular attention t o the c o n

,
’

dition o f t hat part o f the l eg t rying to see whether ,

the tendon was e v er cu t and I nev er ha v e seen a ,

”
case when i t wa s cut .

’
That s a new idea to me repea t ed Jack I d l ike
’
.
,

to get more light on it Did you ever talk about it to .

Hugh ? He s been on t he prairie an aw f ul l o n g

’

t i me .

’
No ; I don t think that I ever talked ab o ut i t to
a nybody at all ; but I m l ike you
’
I d like to kno w
’

w hether i t i s go s pel or not At all eve nts i t s what .

,
’

’
I ve s een and I think it s reason too
’

, ,
.
’

” ’
It does seem rea s onable said Jack Let s ask , .

’
Hugh when we get in to night Meantime we ll try -
.

to pu s h along this crippl e and let M c Intyre decide

”
w hat s t o be done with him
’
.

It was late in the a fternoon when the herd wa s

turned out to feed near the camp ; and at night soon ,

a fter M c Intyre got in Jack told him the st o ry o f the

,

crippled steer and asked wha t s hould be d o ne with

,

it
Whose i s it ? a s ked M c Intyre
”
.

”
One o f th e Stu rgis steer s ‘
.

Well s aid M cIntyre

,
”
you and ol d man John ,
 T H E FE N C ELE S S LA N D 10 7

s o n can decide what s to be done with it ; and what

’

e v e r you say goes .

Hugh when consul t ed th o ugh t that t he best thing

, ,

wa s to lea v e i t beh i nd them on the prairie and that ,

it must tak e i ts chances o f l i vi ng or dying With .

rest and feed i t would probably reco v er but i f dri v en ,

al on g with the herd it would be sure to ge t worse and

fina lly w ould ha v e t o be killed .

All right M c Intyre consen t ed ; when we mo v e

,

from here we ll lea v e it and let it take its chance

’

, .

’ ”
We ll stop o ver here to morrow and cut and brand
-
, .

That night as they sat around the fire Jack a s ked ,

M a s on to tell Hugh what he thought took place when

an animal i s hamstrun g and t hen asked Hugh wha t
,

h is bel ie fs were abou t the matter .

”
Why replied Hugh a s he s tu f fed down the fire
, ,

“
i n hi s pipe wi th a callous f o refinger o i cours e , ,

Mason i s dead right I supposed everybody knew that

. .

Hamstringing bu f fal o and s tock mean s I suppose , ,

crippl ing them by hurting t hat big tendon above the

hock I v e heard th a t in old days somet i mes th e
.
’

Mexicans and maybe the Indians too used to ride

, ,

up behind a bu ff alo with a right sharp s aber or machete

and by making a strong downward stroke di d actually
cut the hamstring and hurt the bu f f alo s o t ha t it had
o nly three legs to go o n ; but I ne v er supposed tha t
anybody thought a wol f could really cut a hamstring
’
through in that way It s j u s t the way Jack Ma s on
.

s ays in ninety nine cases ou t o f a hundred and yo u ll

,
-
,
’

find that most mount ain men and mo st Indian s w ho

h a v e seen anything will tell you j ust the s ame thing .

’
I expect you read a whole lot in books that s writ
t en by men who ne v er sa w the thing s happen tha t
108 JACK T H E YOUN G COWBOY
,

’
t hey descr i be : they ve read o f them perhaps a good
many t imes and sort o f take it for granted that w hat
,

t hey v e read is all right ; but really they don t kno w

’ ’

, ,

what it means I guess thi s ham s tringing busine s s

.

i s one o f those things As Mason s ay s it might .

,

happen no w and then that a wol f s j aw s th at hit that ’

tendon j ust righ t wo ul d partly cut it in t w o and then ,

the animal might break it in Struggling but th at ,

”
wouldn t happen o ften
’
.

There s another thing Hugh Jack said

’
that I , , ,

want Ma s on to tell you about s ome thing s he s —

’

heard from ol d John Monroe some s torie s about —

h o w the Piegans came from their old home i n the

North down to where they live n o w I w ant to get .

”
him to t ell us about that .

”
Why yes replied Hugh, ,
those are right good ,
’
stories I ve o ften heard ol d John Monroe and other
.

old men talk about that I s upposed maybe I d told .

’

”
you abou t it but I don t kno w a s I have
,
’
.

“ ’
No ; I don t think you ever told me the whol e
’
sto ry though I v e heard you and other peopl e up there
,

talk about i t as somethin g that was per fectly well

”
known .

“
Oh yes answered H ugh ; it s well known all ’

, ,

right All the old men know about it but lot s o f

.
,
’
t he young men don t kno w anything at all about it .

’
They don t care much about tho s e old stories All .

t hey want t o do i s to be riding horse s ; or maybe som e

o f them i f they should ha v e a dollar or so go o ff down
, ,

t o the B irch Creek and buy some whisky w ith it .

“ ’
Wel l I suppose it s too late to hear the st o ry
,
’
t o n i ght ; but to morrow night i f you feel l ike it I d
- -
, ,

like to ha v e you t ell us those stories Mason Y o u ,

.
 CHAPT ER X I
TA N N I N G A B U C K S K I N

W H E N J o e learned that the camp was not to mo ve

the nex t day he told Jack that here was his oppo rtun i ty
to tan his deer hide and that a fter the w ork o f cu t
,

ting and branding wa s over he w ould speak to M c

Intyre about doing th i s j ob o f tanning There were .

men enough to do herd duty and the boys thought ,

that in the f ew hours o f daylight that rema i ned after

the day s work was done they could ge t t he skin i n
’

f air s hape .

“
O f course said Joe, we can t make a goo d
,
’

j ob o f it ; an Indian ha s all the t ime the re i s and ,

he does h i s tanning slo w ly and does it well We l l

’
.

have to be sa tisfied w ith a rough j ob but anyho w ,

we can get the hide fairly so ft and it can be worked ,

o n again later .

A s s oon as the o utfit had got in t o camp i n t he

a ftern oo n J o e went to the co o k t ent and b o rr o w ed
,
’
F rank s spade and going down near to the stream
,

and choo s ing a place where t he grass grew fairly

t hick he bega n t o dig a hole con s iderably larger than
,

a wate r bucket When he had made the hole a foot

.

and a hal f deep he got into it and tramped do w n

,

the soil o n the b o ttom scraping up anything tha t was

,

l oose and finally lea v ing a fai rly s mooth and hard
sur face While working at thi s he asked Jack to
.
,

110
 TA N N IN G A B UCKS KI N 111

go to t he wago n and bring the skin and al s o the skull ,

o f the deer w hich was t i ed to one o f the bows o f

,

the w agon near t he hide Jack presently returned .

w i th bo t h .

I didn t kn o w y o u had saved the skull Joe he

’

, ,

said ; it looks a s i f it had been partly cooked D i d .

you sa v e it for the brain s ?

“ ”
Jus t for that was the reply , Y o u know o f .
,

cour s e t hat the brain s i s a pretty important part o f

,

the operation o f tanning I did think I might ge t .

the brains o f a bee f fr om some animal that we d ’

kill but o f course we never could be sure o f havin g

,

a chance to do our tanning j u s t a f ter the bee f had

been killed s o I thought I d save t h i s skull ; and to
,
’

keep it from spoiling I stuck i t in th e ashes t hat night

w e s kinned the deer and hauled s o me coal s over it
, ,

and asked F rank not t o throw it a w ay i f he f ound it .

It s ort o f cooked and dried during the n i ght and ,

’ ”
doe s n t seem to have s poiled a bit .

B y thi s time the hole s eemed to suit Joe H e took .

the deer s h ide and cut the string w hich bound it to

’

the willo w hoop then began to fold it

,
taking care —

not to break the s kin until he made i t into a more

—

or less square package fle s h s ide out s omewhat le ss , ,

in s ize than the bottom o f the hole H e placed i t in .

the bottom o f the hole and put on it a rather hea vy ,

s tone to hold it in po s ition Then taking a bucket .

, ,

he w ent do w n to the s tream and brought t w o o r three

bucket ful s o f w ater which he poured int o the h o le
until it wa s almo s t full .

Thi s hole i s clo s e to the camp a nd noth i ng i s ,

”
likely to di s turb the s kin during the night he s ai d ; ,

but the coyote s might h nd it and I don t mean to ,

’
112 JACK T H E Y O UN G COW BOY
,

take any chances so I m going t o cover it up May

,
’
.

be Frank wi ll lend us the tail ga te o f his wagon to

’ ”
put over it I ll ask him anyhow
.
,
.

The cook on being appealed to declined to lend

, ,

t he tail gate o f the cook w agon .

Why don t you get the tail ga t e o f the bed w ago n

’

and use that ? he sugge s ted .

Joe at once did so H e carried the end gate out .

and placed it over the hole and the boys put tw o or ,

three he a vy s tone s on it .

”
No w said Joe
,
I need a s ort o f beam to use
,

in s craping the hai r o ff this hide and I reckon one ,

o f the s e young cotton w oo ds w ill do I w i s h we had .

”
a tree right here to re s t it against .

What s the matter with that box elder over there

’ '

with the low f ork ? I f you make your pole long

enough yo u can rest it i n tha t fork .

” ’
Right yo u are sai d Joe I ll go down and get
, .

’
one o f those young t ree s and you d better come alon g ,

be c au s e that green wood i s pretty hea v y and i f we ,

’
cut a long pole it ll take us both t o pack it o v er .

The gr o ve was only fi f ty yards away and Jo e soon ,

felled a young tree which was six or eight inches

,

through a t t he bu tt Cuttin g fi f teen f ee t o ff the

.

larger end he and Jack carried i t over and soon wedged

,

it in the f ork o f the box elder o nly a short distance ,

from the hole where the hide was soaking .

No w Joe explained
, I v e got t o peel thi s s tick
,
’

because any l ittl e lumps o n the bark are likely to make

”
u s cut the h i de .

They set to work and i n a few minutes the lower

five or s i x feet o f the pole w as free from its bark and
shone white in the sun They looked o v er the wood .
,
114 J ACK ,
THE YO UN G C OWB OY

knee O f c o ur s e j ack knew tha t i n t he ho o f ed an i mals

.

the bone o f the upper arm which i s called t he humeru s , ,

i s altogether hidden within the body and that th e j oint

’
o f the foreleg clo s e to the b o dy corresponds with man s
’
elbow Joe s scraper wa s th e bone runnin g from thi s
.

’
elbow do w n to the deer s knee and Jack was intere s ted ,

and some w hat astonish ed for he had never be fore

thought about the matter to s ee what a s plendid nat
ural scraper thi s bo ne made H e sai d a s much to Joe . .

’ ”
Didn t you ever notice a s ked Joe ho w o ften an , ,

Indian u s es s ome natural and common thing for a tool

’
in hi s work ? I ve seen that o ften and it al w ay s made ,

me wonder Now you see t hi s tool in it s cur v ed s hape

.
,

and with that thin edge there o f one o f the bone s makes ,

a great scraper It s almo s t l ik ea dra w ing k nite and

'
’
-
.

f
then look at the two handle s on the end s a in t that

fine F‘ The Indian that s howed me h o w to tan scraped ,

the edge o f hi s bone and made it a l ittl e sharper than

thi s one i s ; but I reckon thi s w ill do all right ; any
’
how we ll try O f course i f w e hadn t s a v ed thi s bone
,
’
.
,

from the deer s leg we could have u s ed a bee f rib or

’

, ,

e v en the back o f a kni fe ; but thi s i s t he bes t and hand

”
ie s t thing I know o f .

Tha t seems t o me abou t a per f ect tool for thi s

” ”
work declared Jack ; and I wonder at it too
, .

Joe took the leg bone o f the deer and s tanding b e

fore the skin which hung o v er the pole fle s h side to ,

t he wood began with long even stroke s 1

,
6 1 61 2 96 the

hair from it To Jack s surpri s e this came away

.
’

readily and evenly leaving the naked hide s mooth and

,

white From time to time Joe shi fted th e skin and

.
,

gradually removed the hair from the w hole hide do w n

to the v ery edges though on the head and ear s the
,
 T A N NI N G A BUCKS KI N 115

w o rk was more ra gg edly d o ne than o n t he neck back ,

and sides B e fore very long th o ugh t he sk i n wa s

.
, ,

absolutely hairless and as whi t e o n th e hair side as it

,

was wh i te o n the flesh s i de when J oe t urned i t ov er .

It was qu it e f ree from superfl uo us t issue fo r t he b o ys ,

had cleaned it well be f ore s t retching it .

A fter the hai r had all been remo v ed J o e too k th e ,

hide do w n to the st ream and gav e it a thorough wa s h

ing kneading it together as i f to ge t out o f it all the
,

animal matter that had been le ft on it and finally , ,

w eigh ing i t do w n with stones le ft it there t o soak

-
, .

Mean w h il e h e sen t Jack back to the cook tent to bring

a wash basin with a l ittle warm w ater ; and when J ack
’
returned he found that J oe had s plit the deer s skull
,
.

In a m o men t the brains o f the animal w ere turned

i nto th e warm wa t er where th ey w ere crushed and
'

,
’
pulverized by th e boy s fingers unt i l the water was all
whiti s h and looked l i ke s o apsuds with a f ew wh i te
particles fl o ating i n it .

Really t he s e brains o ught t o be heated f or a w h i le

,
”
over the fire explained Joe ; but we haven t much
,
’

time to f us s and maybe the hot wa t er w ill answe r j ust

,

as well What we wan t to do i s to get the s e brains as

.

fine a s we can and then we must build a l ittle fire

,

and w arm the m i x t ure aga i n and t hen pu t it on the ,

”
skin .

They got to g e t her a f ew small sticks and chips and

bu i lt a l ittle fire ; and then set the basin o n it havi n g a ,

bucket partly full o f wa t er clo s e by .

T hen Joe went do w n t o the s tream where he had le f t

the hide s o ak i n g and a fter s hak i n g it about i n t he
,

w ater t o f ree it f r om any s edimen t that might ha v e

c au gh t o n it h e li ft ed it up and brought it to the
,
116 J ACK THE YO U N G C OWBOY
,

gra s s near th e fire and then folded i t o v er t o m ak e

,

a long narrow piece H e took hold o f o ne end and.

,

Jack o f the other and they twi s ted it and wrung ou t

,

almost all the w ater It was surprising t o Jack no w

.

how little the hide looked like the deer skin o f an

hour be fore Two or three time s the hide was un
.

f olded and stretched out and then doubled again and

the boys put all t he power o f t he i r arms i nto the
wringing pro cess .

The be s t way said Joe would be to knot the

, ,

s kin around the l imb o f a tree and t w i s t it j ust as

’
hard a s a man can t w i s t ; but w e can t do that no w .

When all the water pos s ible had been wrung from
the s kin it was un folded and Joe tol d Jack to help
, ,

him s tretch i t and get it again to some t hing l ike it s

natural shape They w orked for s ome time at thi s
.
,

pullin g agains t each other across and si de wis e o f t he

,

s kin and one hand pulling again s t the other at the

,

edges then when the sk i n had again taken s o mewhat

,

t he s hape o f the dried hide o f the day be f ore it was ,

spread on the grass a s flat as po ss ible .

No w Joe added water to the brains i n t he basin

which w ere j us t steaming until he had i ncreased the ,

quantity o f th e mixture about three times and carry

ing the basin over to w here the hide lay he began to ,

take the flui d in his hand and to spread it smoothly

over the hair s ide o f the skin rubbing it in a s he did ,

so .

When Jack saw w hat wa s being done he took hol d ,

also and soon the w hol e s kin was covered w ith the
,

mixture which was rubbed in and kneaded w i th the

,

knuckle s e s pecially near the edges o f th e hide and

,

ab o ut the head and neck .

118 J ACK , T HE Y O UN G C O WB OY

ga v e i t a th o rough w ashing and rinsed i t many ti mes

in t he water and then took it o v er to a nearby t ree
,

which had lo w branches on it Here one end o f the .

hide was doubled ab o ut a branch and the other f as ‘

tened to a short s tout s tick and first Joe later re , ,

lieved by Jack t w i s ted the hide rope again s t the branch

,

until the water wa s again all out o f it Once more i t was .

t a ken do w n a s be fore and pulled and s t retched on it s

edges until it w a s brought back nearly to i t s natural
s hape Then Joe taking o ff his shoes and s tockings
.
, ,

sa t down o n the ground and began to pull the hi de

thi s way and that o ften thr o wing the hide o v er his
,

feet and slo w ly d ragging i t over the feet toward the

body H e rubbed the hide between his hands sh i ft
.
,

ing the hands constantly and with a mo tion as i f he

,

wished to break up the fib er o f the s kin Jack watched .

him and w hen he sa w the purpose o f this manipul a

ti o n sat do w n be s ide him and helped .

”
The northern Indian s Joe he sa i d ,
ha v e what , ,

seems to me a better plan than tha t they have a —

l

rope running from the top of a pol e do w n t o a pin

in the ground and pull the hide back and forth o v er
that O r I ve s een th e m tie up a bu f falo shoulder
.
’

bl ade with a big hol e cut in it to a pole and pa ss ing , ,

the deer skin right through the hole in the bone they ,
’
pull it backward and for w ard through that It s a .

’
labor saving scheme ; I gu es s v ery l ikely it doe s n t
-

make quite as good buck s kin a s your way bu t it ,

”
save s a whole lot o f elbo w grea s e —
.

“ ”
I shoul d think it would answered Joe ; ,
and
what s the matter w ith trying that rope scheme right
’

now ? I ll go to my s addle and get my rope and we

’

can drive a pin in the ground her e ; and between yo u

 T AN N I N G A BUC K S K I N 119

and me I bel ieve w e can so ften tha t t h i ng in pretty

”
s hort order .

While Joe had gone for the rope Jack whittled a ,

long sharp pin notched at the larger end ; and a fter

Joe had fa s tened the rope to a branch abo v e the ? ,

dre w it tight down to the pin and fix ed it there se

curely and in a f ew moments were hard at work
,

s o ftening the hide by pulling it backward and for

ward again s t th e rope It was extraordinary h o w.

soft and limp the hide became and h o w soon it began

to look like real buck s kin When the hide was quite dry
.

and they took it o ff and f el t it Jack c o ngratulated Jo e ,

o n ha v ing done a mighty good j ob o f tanning .

Tha t night in camp h e sh o wed the buck s kin to

Hugh who praised it highly and sai d t ha t when
, ,

smoked it would make part o f a g ood shir t .

’
You ve got to s moke it th o ugh said H ugh ,
or , ,

el s e every time it gets wet it w i ll sti f fen up and be

j u s t li ke a board a nd w i ll ha v e t o be rubbed so ft
,
”
again .

Oh I know o f cour s e i t s no good un t il it has

’
, , ,
”
been smoked repl ied Joe ; but in thi s camp we v e
,
’

’
got to do our tanning w hen we can and there w on t be ,

any chance to smoke it un ti l the next time we li e ov er

some w here .

” ’
Well s uggested H ugh why don t you wa i t unt i l
, ,

you get your other buckskin ? Then you can s ew them

together to make a kind o f bag and buil d a small smoke ,

and fix your bag up over t h e fire s o that the s moke will

”
go into the mouth o f the ba g .

That would be a good idea s aid J o e I guess ,

.

w e ll wa it f or our other buckskin first

’
.
 CHA P TER XII
I ND I A N S TO R I E S

TH E next day was one o f hard work cutt ing cattle

—

and branding calve s ; but a s the number o f cow s in thi s

bunch was s mall the work o f separating the brand s
,

and branding the cal ves was not s o gr eat a s might have
been expected from the number o f cattle to be w orked .

There was an unusual number o f strays as the boys ,

had noticed for several days past and these were all
,

turned into the big bunch w hich M c Intyre propo s ed

to send over to the h o me range on the Pick R anch .

S o it happened that night that the b o ys were less

’
ti red than a fter an ordinary day s work Supper came
e arly and they lounged about the fire talking and smo k

i ng for t he e v ening was cool and the warmth o f the

,

fire pleasant .A sharp sho w er o f rain had fallen in

the middle o f the night be fore more or less rou s ing
,

th e sleepers who had hurried about looking up their

,

slickers wh ich they spread o v er their blankets The .

e arly morning was clear and bright but cool and

, ,

the higher hills in t he distance sho w ed that there the

rain had been sno w for they we re white f or a long di s
,

tance below thei r summits The cool weather con

.
~

’
t ributed something to th e e a se of the day s work and ,

during t he morning there was le ss du s t than usual a l ,

though by midday all the moi s ture had dried and the ,

powdery cloud s o f du s t were as su f focating as they

u s ually are when cattle are b eing handled .

12 0
12 2 JAC K ,
T HE YOUN G COWB O Y

boyhood t h a t they began to move we s tward t ravel in g ,

up the S a s katche w an or some o f the river s that flow

i nto it S u ta né s aid that it w as w hen he w a s a l ittle
.
’

boy that they first s aw the Rocky Mountain s ; this a c ,

cording to John mu s t have been a long time ago John

, .

mu s t be now s ixty or sixty five year s old and he s ai d -

,

that S u 1 5 né w as very old when he u s ed to hear him

’
.

talk about thi s I f w e s ay t hat John heard it fif ty

.

year s ago and that S u ta né w as born w hen his father ’

-

was thirty it carrie s the beginning o f the movement

,

back a hundred and thirty or a hundred and forty

year s w hich according to my guess would be about
, , ,

174 5 or 5 0 and I reckon that w a s a long time before

,

any white man got into the country w here tho s e peo

ple used to l ive Maybe though it w a s a good deal

.
, ,

longer ago than that I gues s all John meant w a s that .

i t was long long ago and w hen S u 1

, 1né said that i t,
’

wa s i n hi s father s time that they began to move t o

’

ward the mountain s he ma y have meant only that this ,

”
move w a s be fore he kne w anything .

“ ’
I gue ss you re right there Jack s aid Hugh , ,
.

Indians are mighty w eak on date s a fter they get ,

back farther than they them s elve s can remember .

“ “ ’
Ye s went on Ma s on
, I don t believe it s any ,
’

’
use to try to fix a date It s bound to be gue ssw ork . .

Anyho w old Joh n said that S u 1

,
2 né when he de
’
,

scribed th e count ry that they lived in said it w a s mo s tly ,

timbered w ith s tretches o f prairie among the timbe r

,

s omething like big parks I reckon ,

.

It w as in S u ta né s time in hi s young day s as

’ ’

, ,

I understood that the Black feet w ho had been s lo w ly

, ,

dri fting w e s t w ard at la s t reached the mountain s

,
.

When they got to the rough country they found t h ere

 I N DIA N STO RI ES 12 3

lots o f game o f all k i nds and found it very much ea s i er

,

to get clo s e to than it ever had been before S o they .

thought tha t the change they had made w as a mighty

’
good one ; a nd t hat s the way they changed from a tim
ber li v ing people t o a mountain people It was a good .

whil e a ft er t h i s that they got hor s es and began t o

travel around ou t on the prair i e The old men used .

to tell John that t he time they first ventured out on the

prai rie was when t hey began to travel along the old
trail which still runs north and south along the moun
tain s O f course you know the ol d Red River cart
.
,

trail H ugh and v ery likely you too Jack

, , ,
.

” “ ’
Yes replied Hugh
,
I know it ; but I don t be
,
”
l ieve son here has e v er been on it .

Old J ohn Monroe believe s thoroughly in thi s s tory ,

and h e naturally would becau s e it come s from hi s

,

mother and hi s relations but he say s that all the ol d

, ,

Indian s in that northern country believe in it j u s t the

same a s he doe s H e bel ieve s tha t the Cree s and the
.

Black feet are rel ation s though he doe s n t pretend that

,
’

they are v ery clo s e relation s .

“
Well according to old John a w hile a fter th e
, ,

Indian s got up close to the mountain s there up North , ,

the wh it e man came into the country ; and when the

w hite men came t he Indian s began to get guns B e
,
.

fore t hat they had be gu n to ge t h o r s e s maybe through ,

the Kutena i s on the other side o f the mountain s ; and

when t hey go t gun s and ho r s es they began to take
courage and to v en t ure o u t on the prai rie They b e .

gan to find out that they could figh t t hei r enemi es and
tak e care o f themsel v es B es i des thi s they had learned
.
,

that wh i le there were no horse s north o f them the ,

tr i be s to t he s o uth had h o rses and o f course t hat led

12 4 JA CK T HE YOUN G COW BOY
,

to their going more and m o re to war becau s e e v ery ,

body wan t ed horses They were about the mo s t val.

ua ble things that a man could get hold o f These

‘
.

j ourneys to w ar and their figh tings led to the Indians

moving south along the foot o f the mountains and out ,

on the prairie .

No w o f course I m ju st telling you what John

’

Monr o e told me I don t know anything about it my

.
’

”
sel f .

Well s aid Hugh , I gue s s tha t s go s pel ; and it

,
’

a lway s seemed to me that the name s that the Black

feet have for the di f ferent point s o f the compa ss w ere

v ery good evidence that the Black feet did come from
the north The Black feet w ord for north means back
.
,

or behind direction ; w hile the w ord for south mean s

,

ahead o r be fore direction It seem s to me mighty

, ,
.

natural tha t i f peopl e w ere traveling they s hould call

the direction that they had come from behind direc ,

tion and the one that they were going to ahead direc
, ,

tion O i c o ur s e the two w ord s for ea s t and w e s t they

.

’
called down direction and up direction That d o e s n t .

mean anything more than that the s tream s that they

cro ss ed w ere fl o w ing down h ill to w ard the lo w er land ;
while they w ere fl o w ing from the higher land w hich
”
lay to the w est .

’
I never heard that be fore said Ma s on That s , .

mighty funny ; and it certainly s eem s to back up John

’
Monroe s story about t he i r ha v ing come from the
”
north .

D id John tell you a s ked Hugh about th e story

, ,

o f the people getting s eparated ?

”
Ye s Ma s on an s wered
,
H e told me that all the .

Piegan s bel ieve that s omewhere o ff in the s outhern

12 6 J ACK , T HE YO UN G COWB O Y
’
Well said J ack t hat s a great story Wouldn t
-

, , .
’

it be fun to go around amon g the Indian tribes and try

to hun t up those Black feet and tell them about their
relation s up North ?
” ’
Yes added Mason
, that s a good story I re , .

’
membe r no w that that s j ust about w hat John Monroe
’ ”
told me ; but I couldn t have told it the w ay Hugh did .

’ ’
It s a good s tory said Hugh but it s a s tory , ,

that a good many tribes o f Indians tell I ve heard the .

’

Cheyenne s tell the s ame story ; and the S a rcees and ,

the Cro w s N o w I w onder i f it i s n t j u s t s ome old

.
’

legend founded on s omething that maybe really di d

happen once but that ha s been adopted by hal f a dozen
,
’
tribes that don t seem to be any kin to each other a s ,

far as we know ?
“
One time when I was younger and heard th i s
,
’
s ame s tory told by t w o tribe s I thought maybe I d ,

found the people that used to belong to the Black feet ;

’
but I reckon t hat s not so You kno w i f you ve trav ’
.
,
’
eled around that you ll find lots o f di ff eren t tribes
,

that ha v e the s ame story and each tribe thinks the

story b el o ngs to it Nobody kno ws w here that story .

originally came f r o m nor to whom it ac t ually be ,

”
longs .

S ay Hugh Mason asked d i d you e v er hear that

, , ,

s t ory told by John Monroe about the first time the ,

north Indians saw the white pe ople ?

Ye s replied Hu gh
,
I v e heard that s t ory ; but ,
’

’
a good while ago and I don t feel sure that I could tell
,

it. Do you remember it well en o ugh to give it to

us P
’ ’
Well I don t know that I do ; but i f you d like , ,

I ll try it
’
.
 I NDIA N STO RIE S 12 7

Pitch in sai d Hugh ; and M c Intyre added

,
Go ,
”
it M a s on
,
.

Thi s happened a long time ago ol d John Monroe ,

’
said but how long o f cour s e I can t tell any more
, , , ,

than he coul d ; but according to the story thi s w a s

, ,

the first time the Black feet ever s aw any w hite people .

Jo h n said that old S u 1 2 né told h im the story and

’

S u ta né said that hi s grand father w as one o f the

'

Black feet people It happened when the Black f eet

.

were living up North a s I ve j ust told you about

,
’
.

Here s th e s tory :
’

A party o f Indians w ere traveling s outh and while ,

they were going through a big patch o f timber on th e

north o f s o me big rive r they sa w s omething that they
,

coul d not under s tand It looked l ike beaver work

.

w here beaver s had been cutting do w n trees but w hen ,

they looked at the s tumps and the cutting s they could

se e that no beaver that they knew anything about coul d

po ss ibly have opened its mouth w ide enough to cut

such chips They talked and w ondered about this and
.

fina lly concluded that th e tree mu s t have been cut down

by s o me my s teriou s animal You kno w the Blackfeet .

are grea t fello ws for believing th a t there are strange

animal s and people l iving under the water and they ,

thought that this work must have been done by under

water anim a ls .

P resently they came t o a place where o ne o f the

trees that had been cut down a fter having i ts branches ,

lopped o ff had been dragged along the ground They

, .

follo w ed the trail anxiou s to find out what w as happen

,

ing and a s they followed it they s a w that all t hrough

,

the timber there w ere many other trail s l i ke this and ,

that pre s ently they all came together in one big trail ,
12 8 JACK , THE YOUN G COWB OY

and in thi s trail they f ound tracks t h at looked like th e

track s o f people but they were not shaped like the
,

track o f a human foot and be s ides tha t at the back o f

, ,

thi s track there was a deep mark .

Well they follo w ed the trail which wa s now get

,

tin g to be a big one and pre s ently they came to where

,

they coul d s ee that the timber ended and there w as

an open s pot beyond and a s they looked out through
,

the timber they sa w some animals walking around on

their hind legs For a minute they thought that they
.

w ere bear s playing w ith s tick s but then they s a w that ,

the s e looked li k e people and that they w ere li fting ,

up logs and putting them in a great pile As they .

looked they s aw that s ome o f the s e animal s h a d a

,

great deal o f hair or w ool on thei r face s they seemed

to be naked for they wore no robes S ome had red
, .

bodie s and s ome black one s S o they sa w that they .

could not be people A s they talked about it they con

.
,

cl uded that the s e were certainly s ome under wa t er ani -

mal s bu t they wondered what they coul d be do i ng w ith

,

the s e s ticks .

They w ere frightened by what they saw and fear ,

ing that the s e animal s might di s cover them and hurt

them they fina lly s tarted a w ay and w ent back to their
,

o w n country without being seen When they reached .

home they told their story and the people who heard it
could not under s tand it for they were told o f s ome ,

thing that wa s w holly out s ide o f their o w n experiences .

Here w ere people w ho w ere naked w ho had red bodie s , ,

o r again were dark colored every w here except f or a ,

red s tripe around the body and a red tail .

The s tory wa s s o s trange that pretty much all the

m en in the c amp wanted to kno w more about it to s ee
130 JACK T H E YOU N G COWBOY
,

and showed the I ndians how t hese w ould cut The .

Indians were nearly tickled to death w ith the knive s .

Then a great big white man s ho w ed them an a x a nd ,

while they stood by he cut a big log in t w o in a very

short time ; and w hen the Indian s sa w the chip s fl y they
began to under s tand the strange beaver w ork that they
had seen .

One o f the white men took do w n from the wall

something that the Indian s thought w a s a long s traight ,

stick but w hen the man s howed it to them they coul d

s ee that while part o f it w a s made o f w ood a part wa s
made o f a hard black s tone The w hite man kept mak
.

i ng s igns about this s tick but they didn t know w hat

,
’

’
he meant Pretty soon the man took a white co w s
.

horn and out o f it poured some black s and into hi s

,

hand and poured thi s into a hole at the end o f the s tick .

Then he made a littl e ball o f gra ss and pu s hed thi s

‘
into the hole with another s tick ; then out o f a bag he
took s omething that w a s round and heavy and put that
into the hole and pu s hed do w n s ome more gra s s then
,

he poured some o f the black s a nd into the s ide of the

stick The Indians watched him do all the s e thing s
.
,

and o f cour s e had no idea a s to what it all meant .

A fter he h a d finish ed doing the s e things the w hite ,

man made s ign s to the Indian s and made a great noise

w ith hi s mouth and pointed to the s tick H e put the
,
.

stick to his s houlder holding it out in front o f him

, ,

and made motion s o f many kind s Pre s ently he gave .

the s tick to one o f the Indian s and put hi s finger on a

,

l ittle piece o f s tone sticking out from beneath it When .

the Indian touched thi s under part the s tick made a ,

terrible noi s e and a big smoke and flew out o f th e

,

Indian s hand s and he nea rly fell down

’

, .
 I N DIAN S TO RIE S I 31

All the Indian s were v e ry much scared and s ome ,

o f them fell down b ut all the w hite men laughed and

,

nodded and made signs but o f course t he Indian s did

, ,

h o t understand them .

No w the white man p i cked up t he st i ck f rom the

ground where it had fallen and again took the horn
o f black sand and di d the same th ing s to the stick as
be fore but thi s time the Indian s all s tood a w ay fr o m
,

him They didn t know w hat w as going to happen

.
’
.

A fter the white man had finish ed do i ng these things ,

h e persuaded them to come out o f doors with him .

Then he sat do w n on the ground and put th e st i ck t o hi s

shoulder pointing it toward a log that w a s lying on
,

the ground Again the terribl e noise wa s heard but

.
,

th e white man didn t let go the s tick H e held it in h is

’
.

hand Then he got up and w alked over to the log and

.

s ho w ed the b ullet hole and pushed a little st i ck i n t o

,

it Then he loaded the gun again .

B y this time the Indians w ere beginnin g to un

de rsta nd the p o w er o f thi s stick ; and at la s t a fter the ,

white man had loaded the gun again and encourage d

th e Indians he took one o f them close to the log and
,

s ho w ed him ho w to point the gun and h o w to pull the

trigger The Indi a n fired and hi t the lo g I reckon
. .

when he found that he had hit i t he t hought tha t he wa s

one o f the bigge s t men in the country .

Well after a wh ile the Indians and the wh i te men

,

got to be pretty f riendly T he Indian s could see that .

knives and axe s and copper cups to s ay no t hing o f ,

guns were a heap better than anything they had and

,

the white men on the other hand wanted the f urs and
dre ss es that the Indians wore They traded for them .
,

and a fter a while the Indi ans and the w hi t e people g ot

132 JACK TH E YOUN G COWBOY ,

to know each other pretty well and co mmenced to ,

trade regularly .

’
And that s the story a s I heard it .

You tol d that mighty w ell Ma s on commented , ,

Hugh ; a great deal better than anybody el s e could tell

it except perhaps old John Monroe or some o f those
, ,
”
old Piegans .

B ut I want a lot o f explana ti on said J oe What , .

about those fello w s with the red tails ? I don t sav vy ’

that a bit I can understand about the red bodie s be

.
,

cause I suppo s e that means they wore red shirts but ,

what about the red tails ?

” ’
Well Joe replied Hugh you v e ne v er been ou t
, , ,
’
in that northern country or el s e you w ouldn t a s k a
que s tion like that The ol d voyageurs and people i n
.

the N orth al w ays used t o wear a red s ash tied ar o und

thei r wa i s t with the long ends hanging down in front .

When they were working to get the se ends out o f the ,

w ay they used to pa s s them around thei r body and

, ,

the n under th e sa s h s o that they hung do w n behind

,
.

Well laughed Joe that certainly i s the l imit,

.

And Jack said j ust think of their taking a tree

, ,

chopped do w n with an a x f or one cut do w n by a

beaver ; and their not know i ng the foot prints o f a per -

s on w earing a s hoe !
” ’
Sho dra w led H ugh ; ha v en t I told you time
,

and again that we all o f us mea s ure up thing s by w hat

we our s elve s have seen and w e find it hard to believe ,

anything that s out s ide the range o f our own ex peri

’

ence I f there wa s any way o f proving it I d be will

.
,
’

ing to bet a good hor s e and s addle and bridle that i f

’ ’
w e d been t h ere w e d all have acted j u s t the wa y those
”
Indi ans did .
134 JACK , THE YOU N G COWB O Y

what the wolves would do More than once he had .

s een coyote s trying to take from a c o w a young ca l f

that wa s by he r s ide but thi s w a s the first time he had
,

s een big w olve s round up cat tle H e w aited therefore .

, ,

to see what w ould happen thinking that after a little

,

whil e the w olve s would probably give up th e j ob and

go o ff in search o f s ome s ingle animal w hich t hey could
run down and kill as he had once seen them do on hi s
,

way out from the railroad to his uncle s ranch ’

.

For t w o or three minutes nothing happened and ,

the wolve s continued to walk around the bunch Then .

,

suddenly one of them made a da s h at the bunch o f

,

cattle going s o clo s e to them that Jack expected to see

,
’
the wol f caught on a steer s horn s and thro w n into
the ai r When the wol f ru s hed up the bunch o f cat
.
,

tle seemed to trembl e ; that i s to say there was a p ,

p a rently a s light movement by every individual i n the

herd a nd Jack recalled similar movements w h ich he
,

had s een year s be fore in B riti s h Columbia among a

school o f s almon far below the s ur face o f the water ,

when s ome one darted down to w ard the fish a s pear

which nearly reached them It s eemed to him that .

every animal yielded a little yet no one of them per ,

hap s moved more than six or eight inches .

A moment o r t w o later one o f the wolve s made a n

other ru s h w hich was followed by a s imilar s light
,

movement o f the bunch ; and then the w olve s continued

thei r slow march about the cattle Thi s happened sev .

eral times but at last w hen the wol f da s hed toward the
,

bunch one animal

, a full gro w n one — bur s t out - —

o f the herd and s tarted to run In an in s tant the wol f .

wa s behind it bet w een it and the other cattle ; and a

,

moment later the second w ol f had j oined the first one ,

 B I G WO LVES 135

and they l oped quietly along a fter the s ingle ani mal .

Pre s ently running s ide by side they drew up clo s e to

, ,

it s heels and then separat i ng one o f them made a

, , ,
’
v iciou s s nap at th e co w s leg while the other spran g
a nd caught i t in the flank ; and in an instant t oo quickly ,

for Jack to see h o w i t was done the beast wa s on its ,

side and the w olves we re tearing at its belly J ack .

j umped to hi s hor s e and r o de over the ridge charging ,

down toward the wol v e s They paid no atten t ion to

.

h im until h e was w i thin less than a hundred yards and ,

then suddenly looking up they galloped away H e

, , .

fired four or five shot s a fter them but w ithout result , .

The an i mal that they had pulled down wa s a two

year old hei fer big s t rong and fat Her whol e flank
-
, ,
.

was t orn out and she wa s dead There w as nothing

,
.

to be done with her T he brand was no t one w ith

.

which Jack was fam i liar and he thought she was a ,

stray from some d i stant ranch H e drove th e remain .

ing cattle slowly to ward camp and a fter a t i me met ,

some o f the o t her boy s brin gi n g i n another bunch and ,

turned h i s i n w ith t heirs .

Th at night a fte r suppe r he talke d w i th Hugh ab o ut

, ,

the wol v es a nd the harm they d id and al s o about the ,

tremendous power tha t seemed to be wrapped up in

one o f those not v ery large hides Hugh h a d s een .

wol v e s pull down cattl e and had a great respect for

,

th e way in which these an i mals were able to supply

them s elves with food .

Y o u kno w more abou t b i g w o l v es son than mo st , ,

“ ’
men do s aid Hugh
, You v e picked up what we
.

can all s ee on the prairi e here ; and besides that you ve , ,

’

had a tame w ol f o f your own I reckon that you .

found a ft er you got to k n

, ow him well that your ,
136 JACK TH E YOUN G COWBOY ,

wol f wa s j u s t nothing but a big dog bigger and —

s tronger and ten time s more enduring o f cour s e

, , ,

than any dog you ever sa w but still j ust pretty nearly ,

plain dog O f cours e he and h i s father and grand

.

fathers for a good many generation s had always

been wild dog s but up to Within a f ew generation s
,

wolve s were no more a frai d o f people in thi s coun

try I mean
, than they w ere o f any other animal s
—
.

You see in old time s Indians ne v er cha s ed wolves ,

or frightened them at all They did kill s ome but .

,
’ ’ ’
they didn t kill em in a way to scare em I reckon .

I ve told you al ready

’
ii not I the Black feet have —
,

told you about how the Indian s used to catch

—

wol v e s in old times I f the Black feet haven t de .

’

s cribed it to you you surely mu s t have had s ome

,
” ’
storie s told you that explained how they c aught em .

”
Why yes Hugh Jack replied
, ,
I remember o ne
, ,

s uch s tory ; but I never thought to a s k much abo ut

how they caught wolve s they s poke about setting —

s nares around the pis k un and catch ing the wolves in ’

this way but I didn t a sk much about it

,
’
.

’
That s j u s t what they u s ed to do You see there .
,

were al w ay s hole s le ft in the pis k iin wall s mo s tly ’

,

s mall hole s and through the s e holes the w olve s and

,

coyotes u s ed to go into the pis k iin to feed on the ’

carca s se s or the o f fal that w a s left there a fter th e

butchering Well the peopl e liked wol f s kin s : they
.
,

u s ed them for robes or for hat s or to cut up int o

, ,

wide s trips to sew on the edge s of a bu f falo robe

to make it look nice ; and s o around the s e hole s they
u s ed to s et loop s o f s inew w ith a running knot When .

the wolf w a s squee zi ng through a hole he w ould

put his head thr o ugh one o f these noo s es and dr a k ,
e
138 JAC K TH E Y OUN G COWB O Y
,

I shoul d s ay not answered J ack ,

.

”
Well H ugh s aid
,
I was talking abou t t he wol f ,

be i n g a big dog You kn o w I reck o n t hat wolves

.
, ,

”
and dogs w i ll cross .

Yes ; I ve read that in b o oks a go o d many times ;

’

and the book s talk about Indian dogs be ing l ike wolve s .

I remember the first day I came out to Swi ft Water ,

the time that Uncle Will killed the be ar I saw a ,

coyote and when I sa w h i m I thought i t was an In

, ,

dian dog and that there must be a camp o f Indians

,
”
some w here near .

I remember chuckled Hugh ; I remember tha t

,

day w ell You certainly had a lo t o f exc i temen t

.

that day con s idering ho w old you were and where

, ,

”
you came from .

Didn t I ! I tell you those early days were mi ght y

’

,
”
excit i ng .

’
More so than anything that s l ikely to happe n
”
t o you a gain o ut i n t his country drawled Hugh , .

You were saying that the wol v es were do gs ; and

I know that s j ust what Sw i f t foot al w ay s seemed to
’

be. H e w ould get s cared like a dog ; when he wa s

plea s ed he would wag his tail and lay back his ears
and sho w hi s teeth l ike a dog ; i f I took him out i n
the country and turned h im loose he hunted like a ,

dog ; and finally when he got los t and coul d not see
,
”
me he became con fused and lost his w i ts l i ke a dog
, .

’
Well I v e seen a lot o f hal f bre ed w o l v es and i f
,
-
,
’
these hal f breeds get away and become wild t hey re
-
, ,
’
worse than the wol v es themselves ; they re a good
deal smarter and it s eems a s i f t hey were hungrier
, ,

and they certainly have plenty o f courage I ne v e r .

sa w many of th ese h alf bree ds t h a t had gone w il d -

'

.
 B I G W O LVE S 139

but I d o remember one bunch down near the Dismal

Ri v er in Nebra s ka that certainly made a lo t o f trou
, ,

ble Old Lute North killed a number o f em and

.
’

I got the s t ory from him and got i t s tra i ght and i f
, ,
’
you d care to hear it I ll tell it to you
’

,
.

S ure Hugh I d give anything to hear it

, ,
’
.

”
Well sa i d Hugh , thi s i s w hat Captain No rth
,
’
told me I t d i dn t happen s o very long ago It
. .

seem s that o ne fall Maj or Frank North brought up

to the ranch a t t he head o f the Dismal River a big
mongrel dog that some o ne i n C olumbu s had given
’
him The dog was big and black that s about all
.
,

you coul d say ab o u t h i m His h a i r was longi s h.

not so long as that o f a N ew foundland but a good ,

deal longer than that o f a Great Dane In fact h e .

,

looked a s i f he might be a cross between those t wo

breeds .

About the middle o f tha t w i nter this dog went

o ff f rom the ranch one night with a big gray wol f ,

and the next morn i ng Lute follo w ed their t racks in

the snow fo r several miles but could not find t he m ,
.

The dog wa s never s een aga in and Lute always be ,

lieved that the wol v e s killed him for he sa w places in ,

the snow on t he t rail where the do g and a wol f h ad

f ought
N ex t spr i ng Al P ratt one o f the co w punchers
, ,

at the C o dy and North ranch saw an old she w o l f ,

-

tra v elin g and se v en pupp i es f oll o w i ng her F o ur o f .

these puppies were black and t hree wer e g ray Al , .

chased the wolves and managed to ge t cl os e en o ugh

to them to kill two o f t he black o nes All thr o ugh .

the s ummer the others were seen now and then but ,

nobody could get near enough to get a sh ot a t t h em .

14 0 j A CK ,
T H E YOU N G CO W B OY

That fall Bill Burke another puncher shot and killed, ,

one o f the gray puppies and that w inter a trapper ,

poi s oned t he other gray ones The only one s o f the .

family now le ft were the mother and two black

puppies but they w ere a fear ful trouble on the range
,
.

They would kill s tock o f all kinds They w ere j u s t .

a s ready to take a s teer a s a cal f and Lute told me ,

that one time he found w here they d killed a co w ’

a t w o year old and a yearling in one day They w ere

- -
.

v e ry s hy and al w ays on the lookout and they s eemed ,

never to go back to the animal that they h a d killed

fo r a s econd meal so it wa s impo ss ible to poi s on
,

them L ute sai d too that there w a s a band o f s1x

.
, ,

o r eight coyote s traveling around behind em and that

’
,

a fter the wolve s had eaten all they wanted w hen

t h ey killed then the coyote s had their chance
, .

Lute told me that he hunted tho s e w olve s a

good many day s ; and o f cour s e bein out riding , ,
’

’
a ll the time and all the time on the lookout and bein
, ,

the kind o f a s hot he i s it s eemed pretty sure that ,

fina lly he would get em

’
.

When h e did get hi s s hot it was j ust by accident ,

.

H e was hunting a big blacktail deer creeping along ,

the ground and trying to get within s hot w he n he ,

s a w one o f the black hal f breed s s tanding on a s and —

hill nearly a mile away H e watched him and a fter .

,

a time the wol f lay down Then L ute began to hunt .

him and I expect he did s ome mighty care ful hunt

,

ing Anyho w he t old me it took him a couple o f

.
,

hours to get to the foot o f the hill they were o n T h e .

hill wa s s teep and you may gu es s s omething about

,

w hat it i s to climb one o f tho s e s teep hill s in that

s and I reckon L ute was about out o f wind when
.
 T H E Y OU NG COWB OY
‘

14 2 JACK ,

t o them H e saw them run away f rom the hill The

. .

black wol f looked j ust about like a wol f w i th a s harp ,

nose and sharp ears H e measured se v en f eet fro m .

”
the tip o f his nose to the tip o f hi s tail .

“ ’
That s one o f the most interesting stor i es I ve
’

’
e v er heard H ugh ; and people who don t know any
,

thing abou t animals I expec t would hardly bel iev e , ,

”
it .

’ ’
That s so said Hugh When you re t alk i n g
, .

t o people about s omething that they don t know any ’

’ ’
thing about they re likely to think that you re s tr i n g
,
’
i ng em You s ee most o f u s mea s ure up e v erythin g
.

’
we hear by w hat we ve s een or w hat we ve heard ,
’

and believe to be true ; and when w e hear anythin g

’
outside o f that little narrow range w e re mighty ,
”
l ikely to think that people are lying to us .

“ ”
O f cour s e that s so Jack assented, I kn o w ’
,
.

’
sometime s back Ea st I ve told about common every
day things that hap pe ned here and the pe ople I was ,

talking t o thought at first that I was j ust i n v enting

s tories Have you seen a great many o f the s e hal f
.

breed wolve s ? I mean crossed between a do g and

big w ol v es not coyotes ?
,
” ’
Yes said Hugh ; in my t i me I ve seen quite
,

’
a numbe r ; but mo s t o f em had b een brought up at
home with thei r mothers They were al w ays timid .

and a fraid o f s tranger s but they never did any par ,

tic ula r harm around the hou s e except maybe to kill ,

chicken s or s omething like that O f cour s e a wol f

, .
,

—
o r a dog either for the matter of that al w ays
,
—

like s to hunt ; and i f anything runs i t s bound to ,

’

chase it You recollect I reckon s ome tame coyote s

.
, ,

t hat Charley Powell had one w hile se v eral years ago ,

 B I G WO LVE S 14 3

’
a nd don t you remembe r that he had to kill one o f
them because i t got into the way o f killing his chick
ens ?
’
That s so answered Jack ; I remember tha t
,

now But I ne ver heard t ha t t hose big wol v es he

.

”
and Be s sie had e v er did any harm .

” “
No repl ied Hugh
,
neither d id I , .

Tulare Joe who had be en sitting by l isten i n g to

,

th i s talk no w a s ked a que s t i on

,
.

M r J o hn s on have you e v er seen any black w o l v es

.
,

i n th i s country ?
Not i n thi s country ; bu t way f arther sou t h I sa w
one Once ; and do w n there they h a ve red wolves a s ,

’
yo u ve probably s een your s el f I saw black wol f .

skins out on the Coast .

“ “ ’
Yes s a id Joe
, down in Texas I v e seen red ,
’
wolve s mysel f but it d idn t look to m e as i f they were
,

a s big as the s e gray wolve s that we ha v e up in thi s

country Anyho w do w n in the s outhern country mo s t
.
,

o f the animal s l ike those we have up here seem much

smaller : the dee r are smaller and it seems t o me that ,

t he wolves and the antelope don t run s o large The ’

.

’
j ack rabbit s though are bigger ; but then they re not
-
, ,

j ust like our j ack r abbits up here they re some di f

- —
’

”
f erent .

By this time the fire was burning lo w and t he b o ys

were leav i ng it to spread down their bed s at di f ferent
points on the prairi e The discus s i o n o f wolves was .

‘
'

given up Hugh sm o ked a last p i pe and presently

.
,

t hey all went t o bed .

 CHAPTE R XIV
A BA D M A N

As Jack and Joe and three or four of the older men

lounged around the fire a night or t w o a fter that ,

mo s t o f the younger boy s havi n g gone to their blanket s ,

M c Intyre turned to Hugh .

Who do you suppo s e I sa w to day o n the range ? -

he asked .

Hugh looked up i nquir i ngly .

”
Cla ib Wood .

What s he doing here ?

’
a s ked Hugh I .

thought he d been run out o f the count ry and had

’

gone to stay .

Oh well
,
said M cIntyre
,
that s w hat most o f
,
’

us thought I gue s s H e go t a w arning from the

,
.

people around here and from t he stock association

’
that he d do well to get out o f the country ; but I met
h im to day and he s aid Ho w dy to me a s chirk as
-
,

you please I didn t ha v e any talk w ith him and

.
’

I watched him kind 0 close f or I didn t know what

’

,
’

h e m i ght be up to H e never turned hi s head though

.
, ,

a fte r he p assed ; j u s t rode on acro ss country and I ,

sa w him going for a mil e o r t w o before he go t be

”
hind a hill .

Well dra w led H ugh

, I reckon that thi s time
,
’
he s not a fter calve s Maybe h e s come do w n here to
.
’

g o i n to the railroad and s ee i f he can t get som e

14 4
14 6 JACK THE YO UN G C OW BOY
,

was go i n g t o t o w n and rode fast he ll be there by thi s ,

’

”
ti me .

Yes Mason said , so he will , .

For a little while nothing more was said and then ,

Mason changed the subj ect .

“ ’
Mac I guess you ll ha v e to give me my time
, ,
’
he sa i d I v e got to go into to w n I c an t say s ure
. .
’

’
W hen I l l be back and I rec kon maybe I d better ,
’

”
quit .

“
Wha t s t he m a tt er w i th you ? asked M c Intyre
’
,

A i n t y o u satisfied ’ ’ ’
se v erely .
? A i n t you bein well
”
treated ? Anything wron g w i th the pay ?
No ; n ot hing wr o n g with the pay nothing wron g ,
’
with the trea tment Only it j ust s truck me that I ve .

got some bus i ness t o attend to i n to w n and I reckon ,

I d be tt e r d o it no w t han wai t until the round up s

’ ’
-

”
ov er .

I ha t e t o l o s e yo u J ack M c Intyre s aid Can t, , .

’

you go i n and attend to your bu s iness and then come

’
back ? Take two o r three day s o ff The town ain t .

so big bu t what you can do e v erything you re l ikely

’

t o ha v e to do i n t he course o f twenty four or fo rty -

”
eight hours .

” ’
Well Mason replied , maybe that s be tter I d , .
’

’
like i t better i f it suits you ; only it don t seem ju s t
,

right f or a man to take time o ff right in the middle

o f the r o und up j ust to go i nto town a fter his o w n
-
,
’ ’
a f fairs S o I thought as I v e got to go maybe you d
.
, ,

rath er ha v e me quit for good Still i f you ll le t me .

,
’

take three or four days o ff it ll be lot s handier for ,

’

m e I ll lea v e my hor ses here with the bunch and

.
’

,
”
then c o me back w hen I ge t thr o u gh .
 A B AD M AN 14 7

All r i ght , agreed M c Intyre . D o it your o wn

Good ! said Mason I may as well star t no w

.
,
’ ”
and then I ll get into to w n by dayl i ght .

H e rose from the fire and presently h i s cheery

whistl e w as heard coming over t he prairie f r o m th e
d i rect i on o f the hor s e herd and a l ittle later the men,

i n t he camp who were j us t d ro pp i ng o ff to sleep

heard him t hrow the saddle on the horse a nd dra w
the latigo s , and then came the sound o f hoo f s trottin g ,

o ff o ver the prair i e and growing fainte r a nd f a i nter

i n t he d is tance .

All n i ght l o ng Mason rod e through the dark un ,

der the clear stars It was nearly twenty miles to

.

the wagon road and a fter he had reached that it was

, ,

more than twenty miles i n t o the railroad but the ,

sun had not long risen when he trott ed hi s tired hor s e

do w n the straggling s t reet o f th e forlorn little town .

As yet t here was hardly a s i gn o f li fe there T wo .

or three p i gs were rootin g i n piles o f rubbish not f a r

from the road ; and a star v ed lo o k i ng cayu s e stood -

hum ped up at t he end o f a p i cke t rope on a b i t o f -

prair i e where once t he re had been gr a ss bu t w h i ch

’
no w was a s bare as the palm o f M a s on s hand .

As Ma s on trotted along the street the door o f a ,

ho use ope ned and a man came out carrying a bucke t

,
.

Mason drew up hi s hor s e .

Hello ! Ros s he called , .

Why hello ! Jack the man replied

, ,
”
Wha t are .

’ '

y o u doing do w n here ? I h a ven t seen y o u for a do gs

age Four o r five years i sn t it s i nce y o u were up
.
,
’
,

i n Rawlins ?
14 8 JACK ,
T HE Y O UN G c o ws o y

Fi v e years said Mason ; and since then I ve

,
’

’ ”
been away up North and no w I ve dri fted back again
, , .

The t w o s hook hand s and began to exchange ne ws ,

and experience s each telling the other more or le ss

,

o f what had happened to him since they last parted .

“ ”
Well said Ro ss
,
how long are you going to ,
”
be in town ? I wan t to see you be fore you go .

I don t just know h o w long I m going to be here ;

’ ’

’
maybe for a day or two I ve got some busine ss I .

want to attend to here and as soon a s I get through ,

w ith that I m l iable to move out aga i n T here ain t

’ ’
.

m uch to hold me i n th i s burgh .

”
No agreed Ross
,
I f I had any sor t o f a j ob .

”
in the open I d tackle that B y the way h e added
’
.
, ,
“
d id you know that Cla ib Wood was i n t o w n ?

Seems t o me your brother and Cla ib had s ome trou

”
ble at Rawlin s that w i nter w e w ere all there .

M as on laughed .

“
S ure they had s ome trouble ; and j u s t a fter it
occurred Cla ib s kipped I neve r had a chance to .

spe ak to him about it I heard the other day that .

’
he wa s i n the country but I didn t know that he was ,
”
here in to w n .

“ ”
He is sai d Ro ss ; and i f I w ere you I d look ’
,

out for him Cla ib was drunk last night and you
.
,
’ ’
kno w when he s drunk he s aw ful mean and he cer ,
”
ta inly i s quick w ith a gun .

’
S o I al w ay s heard H e s quick with a gun and .
,
’
he s mean ; meane r I expect when he s dru nk but , ,
’

mean enough at any time No w w hen he shot my .

brother in Ra w l in s they hadn t had any word s or ,

’

any quarrel Ru fe told me when he got w ell that he

.

never did know why Cla ib shot him and I always ,

15 6 J ACK ,
THE YOUN G COW BO Y

old ne w spaper s ; t w o w ere playing a game o f cards ;

and one w as standing in front of the counter talk
ing to the bar tender A gla s s of liqu o r which
-
.

seemed j u s t to h av e been filled re s ted on the counter

d irectly in front o f him The man st a nding there .

wa s Cla ib Wood Ma s on walked quietly int o t he

.

room withou t rece iving more tha n a ca s ual glance

f rom a ny one there and w as s tanding close to the ,

counter be fore Wood s aw him .

“
Well I m darned i f this a i n t J ack Mason !
’ ’
, ,
“ ”
Wood excla i med Where d i d you come f r o m
.
?

Oh I v e been cutt i ng li t tle c i rcles over the prairie

’

be t ween here and the B ritish line for h y e year s no w ,

”
Cla ib , Mason an s we red ; ever since the l ast t i me I
sa w you i n Rawlins j ust be fore you shot Ru f e I
,
.

al w ays wan t ed to a s k you about tha t How did yo u .

come to shoo t him ? You didn t ha v e any quarrel ’

”
with h i m s o f ar a s I heard
,
.

’
S ay now what s the matter w i th you Jack
, ,
?
,

e xclaime d Cla ib Are you looking for some o f th e

.

m edicine t hat Ru fe got ?

Ma s on l aughed merrily .

N ot a bit Cla ib I m not looking for anyt hing

,
.
’
,

with out it s a little in formation O f course I v e

’
.
’

heard o f bad men that would s hoot a fellow down

j u s t f or meanness ; but I ne v er saw one and I wa s ,

wondering i f you were that kind o f man I wa s .

wondering for example i f I were to turn around and

, ,

walk to the door here whether you would plug me ,

’
be fore I got there ? Now I don t know anybody ,

”
who can tell me about that a s w ell a s you .

Cla ib s eyes were blood s hot from hi s exce ss e s o f

’

the night be fore and as Mason talked to h im an u gly

,
 A BAD MA N 15 1

light seemed to glow i n them and the sneer o f his

face grew more pronounced T he two men were .

standin g f ace to face rather clo s e together Cla ib s ,

’

’
right hand and Ma s on s le ft hand toward the bar .

”
S ee here Jack said Wood
, , it looks to me like ,
’
you re hunting for trouble and trying to pick a quarrel
’
with me and I don t want nothing o f the kind I
,
.

come i n here to a t tend t o my o wn bu si ness and I ,

’
reckon you d better clear o u t and attend t o y o urs ,
’ ”
i f you v e got any .

’
Sure I v e got some replied Mason ; but when
, ,

I s aw y o u in here I th o ught we could ha v e a little

,
’
friendly t alk and maybe you d t ell me w hy it was that
,

you shot Ru f e i n Rawlins As I s ay I ne v e r coul d .

,

hear t ha t you had any quarrel .

“
Well said Cla ib
, and his hand with a sw i ft
—

ne s s t ha t th e eye could hardly f ollow flew ar o und ,

to his hip ; bu t it never reached the butt o f hi s p 1sto l ;

for Mason with l ightning speed s hot forward h i s
l e ft hand and caught Cla ib by the wrist while w ith ,

h i s r i ght hand he seized the gla s s o f liquor re s ting

on the bar and dashed i t i nto Cla ib s face Then h e ’
.

w rapped both arms around h im and called to Ro ss ,

who had j ust stepped i nto the door .

“
Take thi s man s gun and mine and keep t hem !
’

’
This isn t going to be a shooting match -
.

Ro ss s natched bo t h pistol s from their hol s ters and

stood b ack .

For a moment the men w hirled around o v er the

ba re floor in a rapid dance and then Ma s on sud ,

denly li fted Cla ib o ff the floor held him for an in ,

s tant in the air above hi s head a nd then threw ,

’
him an a s toni s hing di s tance The man s head and .
15 2 JACK , THE YOUN G COWBOY

s houlder coming in contact with the pla s tered wall

bur s t a large hole in i t and loo s ened s ome of the weath
e r boarding on the out s ide o f the building
-
.

Several o f the men ha s tened to Wood and picked

him up expecting to h nd that his neck was broken
,
.

H e was sen s ele ss and on feeling him they found tha t

hi s right arm and right collar bone w ere broken and -

the s houlder out o f pl a ce None s eemed to feel much .

sympathy for him he w a s too wel l known .

“
No w said J im D ecke r the pro p rietor o f the
, ,
’ ’
hotel w ho s goin g to pay that m an s doctor s bill s
,
’
,

’
and who s going to pay for that pl aster that yo u ve
’

knocked o ff Jack Ma s on ? ,
” ’
Why returned Ma s on s m i ling there i sn t any
, , ,
’ ’
doctor in to w n so there can t be any doctor s bill s ;
,
’
and a s for that pla s ter i f you ll take one o f those old
,

new s pape rs and tack i t over the hole th at ll do fine ,

’

un til col d w eather comes When col d weather come s .

,
’ ”
I d put a b oard over it i f I w ere you , .

“
Well s norted Decker
,
that s a great note ! ,
’

Coming i n and breaking up a m a n s furnit ure thi s ’

way !
Mason laughed .

Charge it up to expen s e s he s aid ; that s j u s t ,

’

”
one o f the incidental expen s e s o f running a s aloon .

Deck e r s louched away behind the counter ,

grumbling to him s el f .

B y thi s time applications o f cold water had

,

brought Wood to hi s s en s e s but he w a s more or le ss ,

dazed and con fu s ed Jack Ma s on went over and .

s poke to him .

“
Cla ib you ve go t s ome broken bones no w and
’

, ,
’
you ll ha v e to lie quiet for a w h ile There i s n t any .
’
15 4 JA CK , T HE Y O UN G COWBOY
’
y o u be f ore I l e ft Yo u re a pre tty mean man and .
,
’
you re pretty quick w ith your gun and a pretty good ,

cowboy A ft er you shot Ru fe in Rawlins I always

.

’
made up my m i nd t hat I d ha v e a talk w i th you i f w e
’
e v er me t up t ogether and no w I ve had it You re , .
’

mean and I expec t t hat when you get w ell maybe you ll
,
’

’
try to get me ; but i f I were y o u I wouldn t do it .

You re qu i ck but it i sn t any ways l ikely that you re

’

,
’ ’

the quickest man i n the world or even in Wyoming , ,

o r even i n Medic i ne B o w You t ried to draw yester .

’
day bu t y o u weren t quick enough You may lay
, .

f or me and get me i n tha t way some ti me but i f w e ,

ever mee t and y o u try any o f y o ur t ricks w i th me ,

I m m o re likely t o get you than you are t o ge t me ;

’

and I bel i e v e it would be a good idea fo r you t o re

member t ha t I don t want to kill you bu t i f I ha v e
.
’
,

to I w i ll .

No w I ve been t o see your w i f e t h i s m o rnin g

’

’ ’
a nd I ve t ol d her that you re la i d up and she says ,
’ ’
s he s will i ng to take care o f you until you re able to
’
ge t around You won t be able to mo v e f or a week
.

or two no w and I told her she had better lea v e you

,
’
here and j ust kind 0 keep track o f y o u and s ee ,
’
that you re com fortable and not try to take you to ,

her hou s e S he s a good woman Cla ib and i f you

.
’

, ,
’ ”
w ere s mart you d be good to her .

’
Cla ib made no reply to Mason s rather l o ng speech ,

but his eye s glittered with anger As Mason turned .

to go out o f the room Cla ib glared at him s a v agely ,

.

’
I ll git you yet Jack Ma s on ! he cried ,
.

”
Better think it o v er Cla ib Mas o n called back , ,

cheer i ly .
 CHAPTER ! V

AN E N GLI S H M A N I N CA M P

As Ma s on stepped out o f the sal o on t urning up the ,

s t reet t oward the s table he saw Ross walking t o

,

ward him with a tall large red headed young man

, ,
-
,

who wa s ev i dently an Engli s hman As they met .

,

Mason spoke .

I m going to star t back no w Ross

’
I v e finish ed , .
’

”
up my bu s iness here in town .

Hold o n a minute s aid Ross , Here s a man .

’

j ust come in on the pa ss enger this morning who ,

’

w ants to go out into th e country where you re going ,

and I tol d him maybe you could help h im M r Don . .

”
ald this i s Jack Mason
,
.

I f I can help you M r D on ald I ll be glad t o

,
.
,
’

Mason sai d as the t w o s hook hands ; bu t I m j u s t ’

going back to the round up camp for t y miles or s o

—
,
”
f rom here .

”
Well explained th e yo ung man
, I was think
r

ing o f going out to M r Sturg i s s ranch H e l i v e s

’
. .

somewhere up North ab o u t f o rty miles I think he

, ,

told me from the railr o ad I s h i s place anywhere

, .

near your camp ?

N o ; but there a re two o r t hree o f hi s men along

15 6 JACK ,
THE YOUN G COWBO Y

a per f ectly plain road from here out to the ranch ,

j ust as s oon a s a man knows the road but i f h e ,

’ ’
doe s n t kno w it he s liable to get lost a good many
,

”
ti mes be fore he get s there .

“ “”
Yes said Ros s ,
I told Donald that i t was a
,

pla i n road out to the Sturgi s ranch but that there ,

were about t w enty roads turning o ff from it and it ,

”
wouldn t be easy to take the right one
’
.

“ ?
Ha v e you go t a horse to ride a s ked Mason .

”
No an sw ered Donald
, I have no horse ; but I ,

was going to buy a hor s e and s addle o rperhap s two ,

hor s es here in tow n M r Ro ss s ays th at he has

, . .

one tha t he woul d either s ell or hire and that he thinks ,

he could h nd anothe r that I could u s e as a pack

”
horse .

Are y o u used t o the sa ddle ?

”
Yes ; I ha v e r i dden a l ittle .

’
Let s go back t o my hou s e s aid Ro ss and s i t , ,

down and talk it o v er and I can s oon find out w hat ,

”
we can do about horses .

A s t hey walked back up the street Ro ss turned t o ,

Ma s on .

S o you v e finish ed up all your busine ss have you

’
, ,

Jack ? he a s ked .

“
Yes ; I m ready to pull my freigh t as s oon as I
’

”
can put the saddle on my hor s e .

Well commented Ro ss with a little tw i nkle o f

, ,

hi s eye it seem s to me you got through pretty

,
”
quick .

“ ’
S o so dra w led Ma s on
, ,
It didn t take me .

”
long a fter I once got at it .

“ ”
Well s aid Ro ss ,
I don t w ant to quarrel w ith ,
’

y o u ,
Jack Ma s on ; but you look to me like the bigge s t
15 8 JACK ,
THE YOUN G COWBOY

bed on t he one you get ; t he n r o ll and ge t to ca mp ,

to morr o w morning
-
.

The preparations for t he j o u rney d i d not take lon g ,

and the sun was yet t w o or three hours high when

Ma s on and the young Engl i s hman tro t ted o ff over
the dry prairie Ma s on led the pack horse and Don
.

ald rode behind to urge i t on in case thi s shoul d be

,

nece s sary but it w ent so v e ry well that be f ore long

, ,

its hackamore wa s tied up and it trotted swi ftly on

,

’
behind o r be s ide Jack Ma s on s horse t hough D o nald ,

s till rode behind i t a s a precautionary mea s ure .

’
About ten o clock at night they reached the po i nt
where the road mu s t be le ft to go across the prairie
to the c amp Here they stopped and removed the
.

saddle s from the hor s es allo w ing them to roll and t o

,

e a t a bite o f gra s s Then they saddled and s tarted

.

o again and it was getting light when Ma s on po i nte d

out to Donal d the white wago n cov ers o f the c a mp ,

and the cattle that dotted the h i lls i des not far from it .

Ma s on had tol d Donald tha t he would better turn his

an i mals into the c avaya the next day in order that ,

they might res t and had suggested tha t he h im

,

sel f migh t like t o ride in t he bed wagon and sleep

during the day but the Engl ishman v ery quietly s aid
,

that he thought he w o uld go along with s ome part

o f the o utfit i f he had a horse which he could ride
, .

As t he new arri v als sa t by t he fire waiting for ,

t he announcement o f break fa s t the s leepy co w boys,

rose one by one from their beds and a fter dou s ing ,

t heir heads and arms in col d wate r gathered around ,

t he fire B reak fa s t was soon ov e r and just a s the

.
,

men we re saddling up Jack Danver s and Vicente

, ,

wh o had bee n on t he la s t relie f o f the night herd ,

 AN EN GLI S H M AN I N CAM P 15 9

came tr o tting into camp Jack was introduced to .

Donald who told him he was headed for Swi ft Water

,

Ranch when he could ge t there and the two youn g ,

men sh oo k hand s cordially .

I ha v e been o u t in th i s western c o un t ry t wo or
thr ee t i mes sai d Donald , but thi s i s the first time ,

I have stopped i n a cow camp It must be very in .

teresting and full o f excitement I should think , .

“ ”
Well sa i d Jack
, that depends o n w ha t you ,

call excitement I can tell you it i s full o f hard work ;

.

and j ust abou t as s oon as the bloom o f n o velty has

w orn o ff hard work i s all y o u see o f it I can re
, .

member when I was a l i t tle f ell o w tha t I u sed to

think it would be the grea t es t f un i n t he world to
have a str i ng o f horses and r i de around wearing
shaps and clinking spurs and maybe with a s i lver ,

s addle horn ; bu t I have seen t o o much o f it t o care

-

for i t grea t ly no w H o w i s i t w i th y o u Joe ?

. he ,

a s ked t urning t o T ulare Joe who stood roll i ng a

, ,
’
cigarette by t he h t e w it h h i s h o rse s br i dle re i n o v er
,

h i s arm .

“ ’
Well Jack I guess yo u v e been t hr o ugh som e
, ,

s chool and have learned s ome le ss on Co w pu nch .

ing i s aw ful good fun to read about but read i ng i s ,

the be s t part o f it B ooks don t ever tell y o u h o w

’
.

thick the du s t i s nor how dry you get nor h o w sore

, ,

you become from riding nor h o w mean a horse or a ,

c o w o r a steer can be N o the book s leave o ut all .

,
”
that so rt o f th i ng .

“
Well M r D onald sa i d Jack
,
. you are goi ng , ,

along with us for a f ew days until you get a chance

’ ’
to go over to Uncle Will s aren t you ?
,

”
Yes answered Do nald ; tha t i s wha t I shoul d
,
166 J ACK , T HE YO U N G COWBOY

l i k e to do B u t i f I am go i ng to stay i n th e cam p
.
,

I should l i ke t o be o f some u s e I don t w ant to .

’

j ust r i de a horse up and down and nothing el s e I d .

’

”
like to ear n my grub i f I do noth i ng more
, .

“
Mason says you ha v e no hor s e s t o r i de said ,

Jack ; and o f course on a round up a man canno t

“
, ,
-

”
do much with o u t horses .

“
No,
admitted Donald ; but I wa s wonderin g
whether I could not hire three or four horses say —

one from each o f four or h y e men s o t hat I could ,

really do some riding I woul d enj oy th e exper i ence ;

.

and w hil e I do not know anything about the work

, ,

I fancy I could learn O i cour s e I am more o r .

,

less used to th e saddle .

“
O f course you could learn repl ied Jack It , .

is j ust riding and being able to put your str i ng on

”
an animal when you need to .

“ ’

There i s where I am weak Donald said I , .

know nothing about roping O i course i f a hor s e i s .

,

w alking i n a corral I can put a noo s e over his head ;

but a s for standing o ff and throwing it far I cannot ,

”
do that .

’
That s easy to learn explained Joe as he threw , ,

down the end o f the brand w ith which he had l ighted

h1 s Ci gare t te Any o f us could teach you all yo u
.

have to know about that in a mighty s hort w hile .

What are you going to do to day ? a s ked Jack -

.

Why Ma s on s ai d that he would lend me a hor s e

,

out o f his string for the day a s bo th o f mine traveled ,

all night and I thought I w ould ride along either

,

w ith the cattle herd or the hor s e bunch and u s e my ,

”
eye s a s much a s I cou ld .

That s a good idea said Jack

’
No w Joe and
, .
162 JACK ,
T HE YOU N G COWBOY

was too quick for him H e picked h im up and threw.

him pretty nearly through the side o f the house and

almo s t broke hi s neck .

”
Grea t C aesar s ghost ! exclaimed Jack
’
That .

will be ne w s to e v erybody in this camp

”
Hold o n said Donald ; I wi s h you woul d not
,

say anything about it until somebody el s e doe s I do .

not want to be carrying go ss ip around from one place

to another ; bu t a s I told you it w as the only thing
, ,

that they w ere talking about in to w n day be fore yes

terda y . I fancy it i s t he mo s t exciting thing that has
”
ha ppe ned there for a long time .

“
Ye s a ss ented Jack
, I gue ss i t s qu i et enough
,
’

there mo s t o f the time ; but sa y wha t w a s the name ,

o f thi s man that Ma s on got into a quarrel w ith ?

I cannot remember w hat the full name wa s but ,

alm os t everybody s poke o f him a s Cla ib I do .

’

not know any s uch name as that but I suppose it may ,

”
be a nickname .

“ ”
G ood Lord ! cr i ed Jack ; why that must be
Cla ib Wood ! They say he i s one o f the worst men
i n the country a regular killer
—
H e w a s ordere d .

away from here becau s e he w a s su s pected o f cattle

s t ealing —
and they say that there i s hardly anybody
i n the country as quick with a gun a s he is .

“
Well he was not quick enough fo r Ma s on it
, ,

sa i d Do nald I a s ked one o f the men in

.

t he saloon how it happened and he said it was so ,

quick he really did not kno w h o w it did happen H e .

said that t he tw o men seized hol d o f each o t her and ,

that Mason called out to s omebody to take away both

'

guns that there wa s not to be a s hooting ma tch ; and

,
-

t hen a minute or t w o later Mason l i fted up Cla ib and

 AN E N GLI S H MA N I N CAM P 16 3

t h rew him again st t he S 1de o f the hou s e and through

the plaste r and almo s t out through the board s I s aw .

the place and i t certainly did look a s i f s omething

very heavy had been th rown a g ain s t the wall .
”

’ ”
I d l ike t o know j ust what happened said Jack ; ,

bu t o ne could not very well a s k Ma s on ; and I sup

pose w e w ill ha v e to wait until somebody come s ou t
”
f rom town t o t ell u s the news .

“
I f you don t mind I d rather no t ha v e you say
’ ’

anything about what I have t o ld you t o any one here , ,

”
f or as I say I do not wan t t o be carrying tales
, , .

’
All r i ght p romised Jack ; I ll keep quiet But
, .

say it seems to me tha t this t hing i s one o f the big

,

ges t j oke s tha t ever was I t h i nk a lot o f Mason and

.

i t seems to me t hat he was i n great danger i f he was

quarrel ing with Cla ib Wood ; but you s eem to have
brought h im back per f ectly well and sound .
”

The young Englishman grinned .

”
Oh ye s ; I brought h i m back
,
.

All day long the men kept w it h the herd and all
day long the young Engl i shman was p ra ct1smg t hrow
i n g the r o pe so that toward even i ng he had a good
,

i dea o f h o w t o handle it though o ftener than not

,

he mi s sed the obj ect at which he wa s thro w ing At .

the same time he wa s learning the eccentricities o f the

rope and a little more practi s e was likely to make
,

him rea s onably skil ful All the boys i nsi s ted that
.

practi s e practi s e practi s e was the only way i n which

, ,

he coul d become expert and Donald det ermine d that

,

he would devote much time to this work for the next

two or three days .

T ha t n i ght a t the fire Jack w i th a gra v e face and

, , ,

h avi n g w arned Do nald to be c are f ul beg an to ply ,

 164 JACK ,
T HE YOUN G COWBOY
x
H ugh and M c Intyre w ith que s tions about Cla ib Wood ,

a s king h o w bad he was whether he had killed many

,

men and other pointed and pertinent que s tions H e

, .

s eemed mo s t anxiou s for all po s si ble parti culars as

t o Cla ib Wood .

All the time he was watch i ng Jack Mason who , ,

s itting by the fire with an a w l and a piece o f buck

s kin string wa s mendin g a pa i r o f ripped shoes
, .

Ma s on howeve r gave not the slightest e v idence of

, ,

interest in the conversation and at last Jack w as

,

obl iged to abandon hi s examinat i on o f the two older

men feeling that he had wh o lly f ailed i n hi s e ff orts
,

t o make Mas o n resp o n d .

166 JACK ,
THE YOU N G COWBOY
’
best thing that I can do I don t understand thi s .

busine ss o f catching animal s by thei r feet and yo u ll ,

’

have to tell me about that be fore long I ll try t o , .

’

catch them by the neck and lead them over ; but

,

I haven t a great deal o f c o nfidenc e that I ll do much

’ ’

with it .

The men wh o w ere cutting that morning were

Charley Powell Jack Danver s and Jack Ma s on B e
, .

fore long it happened that Jack drove a cow and cal f

over toward the Sturgi s bunch and as D onald was ,

nearby Jack beckoned to him .

Put your rope on the cal f and lead it over to

”
the fire he calle d as Donald rode up
, .

Donald made ready t o catch the cal f and t hough ,

a littl e s lo w he made a good thro w be fore the cal f

,

was near the bunch ; but un fortunately the loop w a s

so large that t he cal f j umped th rough it and wa s fol
lo w ing its mother into the Sturgi s herd w hen Jack ,

s haki ng with laughter thre w hi s rope c aught the

, ,

cal f by the feet and started i t f or the fire Donald .

,

much mo rtified slowly gathered up hi s rope and over

,

took Jack be fore he had reached the fire .

Tha t must have seemed a pretty stupid thing to

you but what was the matter
,
? he a s ked .

“ ”
Why explained Jack
, your loop was too big
, ,

and the beast ran through it I f you had had ex .

p e rienc e enough you would have seen that your loop

wa s too big and that it w as going beyond the cal f s

,
’

head and by j erking up your thro w ing hand you

,

could ha v e stopped the loop s o that it w oul d have

’
fallen j u s t over the cal f s head and it would ha v e ,

run again s t the noose with its chest and been caught .

Usually yo u ca n get right close to a cal f and then

 A LE S S O N IN RO PI N G 16 7

thro w w ith a small loop and a rather s hort rope ;

”
b ut as I tell you thi s i s all a matter o f practi s e
,
.

I am going to watch you s ai d Donald and ,

”
,

the next t ime you cut a cal f ou t I w ill try it over ,

”
again .

’
That s r i ght declare d Jack
, I f you stay w ith .

”
i t you will cert ainly ge t there .

But Donald had t o learn the lesson s o f exp e rience .

With the nex t cal f tha t he tried to rope he did bet

ter but be i ng unable to control his rope prope rly
, , ,

the cal f s head and fore feet w ent through the loop
’
-
.

H e thre w up hi s han d too late and caught the bea s t

around the middle and i t gave as lively an exh ibiti on
,

o f bucking as a three month old cal f could furni s h - -

.

The c o w had gone on into the bunch and Jack w a s

w atching her and f earing l est she s hould turn abou t
, ,

and come ou t to figh t he put h i s string over the ,

’
cal f s head and led and dragged it to the fire w hile
D onal d meekly f oll o wed a t t he o ther end o f hi s
r o pe .

The boys a t the fire shr i eked w ith laughter when

they sa w what had happened and declared that they ,

would no t ca s t the rope l oo se ; wh i l e Donald did not

kno w h o w to free it .

Ju s t pu t that rope under t he i ron here and we ll ,

’

”
mark it for keep s one boy shou t ed
, .

Donald made no re s pon s e except to s mile and s hake

hi s head H e took it all v ery good naturedly and
.
-
,

w hen hi s rope was t urned loose gathered it up and

again helped Jack dri v e the cal f t o t he bunch .

’ ”
That s all right said Jack ,You are i mprov .

ing ; but you have got to keep on practising It doe s .

not take one day nor one year t o make a man a good
16 8 JACK , THE YOUN G COWBOY

roper No w I am no roper my s el f and yet I h a ve

.
,

been doing i t pretty nearly every s ummer for the

”
la s t five or six year s .

Donald s third trial wa s succe ss ful H e rode up

’
.

pretty near to the cal f and thre w w ith a short rope

a nd catching the bea s t he turne d hi s hor s e and
, ,

dragged the c al f up to the fire Whe n he got there .

he was received by the boys w it h more l aughter and

louder s houts than be fore Th ey declared that this .

could not be Donal d ; that it mu s t be s ome one el s e

di s gui s ed to re s emble h im for it w a s per fectly well ,

kno w n that Donald ne v er caught calves except around

the middle .

Jack ho w e v er was greatly del ighte d w ith h is new

, ,

friend s s ucce ss and congratulated him w armly on the

’

progre ss that he was making .

All through the morning they worked hard and

all w ere glad when dinner time came and there wa s
a chance for a littl e re s t Mo s t o f the men s addled .

fre s h hor s es and tho s e holding the herd s w ere re

lieved and had an opportunity to get s omething to
eat Jack and Donald w ere s ent out to hold the
.

Sturgis bunch and w hile they w ere out there and a

, ,

little later when they pushed the cattl e o ff to one

side to feed Donal d a s ked Jack to tell him s omething
,

more about the art o f roping .

You men here catch your calve s by the feet a nd ,

’ ”
I ve heard said Donald ,that there are men w ho ,

can catch any foot o f a running animal i f you a s k ,

them to That s eem s per fectly impo ss ible to me ; and

~

i n fact it s eem s to me impo ss ible that anybody could

catch the feet o f a running animal but o f cour s e ,
’ ”
I v e seen i t done t o day -
.
176 J ACK , TH E YOU N G C OW B O Y

Tulare Joe who was raised i n Cal i f ornia w ith th e

,

Mexicans there H e handles a rope better than any

.

body el s e i n the camp except Vicente and Juan wh o ,

are Mexicans A s for Charley Powell and Jack

.

Mason and mysel f we are j ust plain or dinary ropers

,

that can catch hor s es and co w s mo s t o f the time but

’
can t do any fancy tricks with a rope the w ay tho s e
’
Mexicans can I v e seen one or t w o Mexicans do
.

things with a r o pe that made my eyes stick out abou t

a foo t ; but s ome Americans are pretty good They .

tell o f a man do w n on the pl a i ns in N ebraska I —

,

bel ieve who once when roping calves in a corral

—
,

caugh t and took to the fire a hundred and ten cal v es

in a hundred and ten throws H e didn t miss a .
’

s ingl e thro w .

I should like to see something o f that kind ; bu t

for the pre s en t I gue s s plain roping w ill occupy my
attention There is another thing I w ant to ask you
. .

Are the Indians good roper s ?

“ ”
Fair an sw ered Jack
,
but nothing to brag o f ,

— nothing great T h ey do a s w ell as any o f us

.

ordinary cowboys There is an interesting thing about

.

that something that Hugh once told me

— that a —

good many years ago w hen Hugh first came into the ,

country that was in 184 9

—
the Indi ans coul d —

hardly rope at all All the s ame they used to catch

.

lots o f wild hor s es by j u s t running them do w n The .

country then wa s full o f wild hor s e s In the spring .

when the w il d hor s e s were poor and weak the In ,

dian s used to take their best hor s e s and s t art ou t and

find a bunch o f the wild horses and ch as e t hem as
hard a s they could and finally catch them Bu t they
‘
,
.

d i d not k no w how to ro pe them The y use d t o make .

172 J ACK ,
THE YOUN G COWBOY

s ome o f these co w s catching them and thro w ing them , ,

’
but I don t s uppo s e a co w v ery much enj oys being
thro w n and it is a que s tion w hich i s the more im
,

por t ant for you to have practi s e in throwing co ws

, ,

or to spare the co w the grie f o f being thrown I .

’
don t suppo s e it i s very plea s ant for an animal run
ning at full s peed to be checked up and made to tur n
a s omer s ault and hit the ground like a thou s and o f
bee f we ll say ’
.

”
N o Donald s aid s lo w ly ; I gue ss not ; and I
,

think the question you have s ugge s ted i s rather a

”
nice one .

“ ’
Well we needn t worry about that There will
,
.

be plenty o f chances for you to practi s e on co ws b e

’
fore long ; and meantime you ve got to learn to
”
catch calve s .

The boys had an idle easy t ime watching thi s ,

bunch o f cattle w h ich w as con s tantly being added to

by an i mals cut out from the big bunch Before eve .

ning all the cattle had been s eparated and Jack and
Donald rode back to the camp together .

Supper over the boys s at about the fire lazily smo k

,

ing and talking After a while there wa s a p a use

.
,

which wa s pre s ently broken by M c Intyre .

I met one o f the bo y s from the Bar La z y A to

day when I was riding H e w as going back to the .

ranch Sa i d he had been s ent in with a me ss age and

.

s pent a day or t w o in to w n I a s ked him i f he had .

seen anything o f Cla ib Wood and he s aid ye s he , ,

met him a couple o f night s ago ; that Cla ib wa s full ,

and looked as i f he were hunting trouble Then he .

s ai d the next day they had quite a little excitemen t

’
in to w n let s s ee Ma s on that must have been a b o ut
, ,
 A LES S O N IN RO PI N G 173

th e time you were there Did you hear o f any ex .

c ite m ent ?

Ma s on had looked up quickly w h en M c Intyre be

gan to s peak and then lowered hi s eye s and w as look
ing at the fire .

’
~

Why no Mac he repl ied ;

, ,
I didn t see any
,

th i n g that excited me v ery much The to w n seeme d .

about as usual dogs lying i n the sun asleep ; t wo

—
,

o r three men reading a month ol d newspaper ; lots o f -

flies buzzing i n the w indo w s passenger comes i n once

a day going ea s t once a day going w e s t and freight
, ,

trains happen along occasi o nally Not much exc i te .

”
ment i n town .

At this an s wer the usually gra v e M c Intyre s lapped

,

h is thigh and bur s t into a loud gu f faw .

Bully fo r you Jack Ma s on ! he c ried , You v e .

’

’
got s ome sense o f humor darned i f you ain t Why , .
,
”
boy s ,
he went o n addre ss ing t he group thi s i s
, ,

what Red Casey o f the Bar L azy A tol d me H e .

s aid tha t t he other morn i ng meaning the morning —

Jack Mason here got to to w n h e wa s s ettin in —

’

’
J im D ecker s saloon playin a l ittle game o f poker with
’

Slim Jim Ruther ford when Jack here come i nto the ,

s aloon Cla ib Wood had been drunk all the n i ght be

.

fore and had j ust come in for hi s morning n i p Jack

, .

here walked up to him and they talked f or t wo or

three minute s and then Cla ib tried to draw h is gun .

In a j i ff y Jack grabbed him and held him and called

to Ro s s to take both guns away ; and then a f ter a
minute J ack picked Cla ib up and threw h i m acros s
the room so hard that when he hit the wall and fell
o n the floor hi s arm and collar b o ne w e re broken and -
,

h is shoulder wa s out o f j oint Cla ib hit the wall so .

174 JACK , THE Y O U N G C OW BOY

hard that the boys thou ght he was dead ; but i t seems
not and it s a darned pity to o No w Jack M ason
’

, .
, ,
’
why didn t you tell u s all t hi s when you came back
from to w n ?
The boy s s houted with laughter but Ma s on s aid ,

nothing only continued to look at the fire

—
.

When the tumult o f cheers and j okes had some w hat

died do w n M c Intyre repeated his question but w ith
, ,

out receiving an an s wer Then he turned and lo o ked .

over toward Donald .

’
Say boys there s another criminal h ere it seems
, , ,
’
t o me Here s this B riti s her that came out the other
.

n i ght wi th Jack Ma s on H e must have kno w n all .

about the thing and I wo uld like to know why he ,

’ ’ ’
didn t tell us He s tryin to learn ho w to be a cow
.

boy but he s ure w ill never learn to be a good cow

,

’
boy unt i l he s ready to give the news and to make ,

fun o f any other puncher that he gets a chance to

”
j osh .

A fter a moment D o nald spoke , .

Well M r M c Intyre I am new a t the cowboy

.
,

busine ss he sa i d,
I have only been trying to learn .

i t for a day or tw o and so I cannot be expected to ,

do my work v ery w ell I did tell one boy w hen I .

got here and i t made him laugh s o much that I got

,

a little scared and a s ked him not to say anything

about it until the ne w s reached the boys in some other
’
way Isn t that so Jack Danvers ?
.
,
”
S ure vouched Jack
,
Donald t old me the .

whole story the morning he got in and I wanted to ,

make a whoop and hurrah about it r i gh t o ff but he ,

’
begged me not to becau s e h e didn t w ant to be counted
,

a goss i p Don t you remember la s t night when I

.
’

,
 CHAPTER XVII
D RI F T I N G

TH E next night Jack Vicente and Tulare Joe w ent ,

out on night herd for the s econd relie f It w as very .

dark the s ky wa s pitchy bl a ck and the w ind ble w no w

,

and then in s w i ft gust s .

’ ”
It s a mean night Joe said a s they rode along , ,

and I w ouldn t be surprised i f w e had trouble with

’

”
the cattl e .

It s ure look s a s i f it w ere going to s torm j ack ,

agreed and nobody can tell j u s t w hat that w ill

!

mean .

When they reached the herd the men whom the y ,

were to relieve declared that s o far the cattle w ere a ll

right but feared that the threatening storm w oul d
,

start them moving Some o f them decided that they .

-

would s tay with the cattle until the storm broke or ,

”
pa ss ed over It s going to storm they s aid
.
’
and , ,

there s no u s e in going back to camp and getting into

’

our blankets only to be called out again in a f ew

,
”
minute s There was thus a doubl e guard and the
.
,

men follo w ed each other at shorter interval s than

usual s inging talking and calling in the e f fort to
, , ,

give the cattle w hich a s yet were quiet the co nfidence

, ,

which s o o ften seem s to come from the proximity

o f a human being .

Pre s ently it began to rain a little and the w ind ,

176
 D RIFTI N G 177

blew ha rder and in h erce gu s t s with lull s bet w een

, ,

them During such lulls the w ind coul d be heard

.
,

comin g far o f f and in the bla s ts o f w ind the men

,

to the windward o f the cattle could not hear the s ounds

made by tho s e to lee w ard .

B y thi s time the cattl e had begun to rise to their

feet and to walk about bawl ing Then some o f them , .
,

s ingly or by two s and threes started out from the ,

main bunch to walk a way to leeward only to be turned ,

back by the men who came acros s them Then l i t .

,

tle by little the whole bunch began to mo v e along but

, ,

still only at a walk .

J ack spoke t o Vicente i n what h e th o ught wa s a

loud tone o f v oice bu t the w ind s natched hi s w ord s
,

aw ay and Vicente putt ing hi s h and up to h i s ear

, ,

leaned over to w ard Jack who repeated hi s question , .

S hall we try to hold them or j u s t let them dri f t , ,

and s tay w ith them ?

’
Mu s t let em dri ft shouted Vicente but keep
, ,
’
em together Pretty soon s ome boy s from camp w ill
.

come Must let em dri ft until s torm s top s or they

.
’

get shelter The best thing i s for three o f u s to get

.

ahead and go slow with the wind and one man get
, ,
”
on each side .

Jack rode o ff t o speak t o such other men as h e

could find and presently from up the w ind came the
,

s ound o f gall o ping h o o f s which then slo w ed down to ,

a trot and in a little while almo s t the whole force o f

,

the camp except the co o k and the night horse wrangler

were about the herd moving along at the same pace,

with it gu arding it carefully in front and care fully on

,

either s ide and lea v ing the rear o f the herd open
,
.

The wind blew with the V i o lence o f a tornad o and

178 JACK ,
THE YOUN G COWBOY

the occasional spit s o f lev el rain which acc o mpa n i ed

the s t orm stung the face One or two men wh o had
.

been slow about tying on their hat s lo s t them with

little p rospect o f ever recovering them The cattle .

were uncom fortable and moved along bello w ing but ,

showed no di s position to run On the sides they .

some t imes tried to s catter but the line o f boys ridin g

,

there kep t them turned back .

Th i s wen t on for some hour s until Jack thought ,

t hat daylight mu s t be near H i s s licker w a s on hi s

.

saddle but at no time had it s eemed to rain hard

,

enough to j u s ti fy hi s stopping and putting i t o n for ,

at every moment there had seemed either something

t o be done or a possibility that quick action might
,

be required ; so by this time he wa s pretty wet and

pretty cold but he thought little o f this in his anxiou s
,

watching of the cattle Pre s ently however he hap

.
, ,

pened to turn hi s eye s upward and s aw three or four ,

bright stars looking down at him from the sky and ,

h e gave a whoop o f j oy for he knew that the stor m

had about blo w n itsel f out S oon t he wind began .

to fall and then the eastern horizon to l ighten and ,

be fore very long the bright sun ro s e in a clear sky and ,

their troubles for the time were o ver .

3

The weary co w boys turned the herd and dro v e the

cattle back over the tra i l they had follo w ed until they ,

reached thei r old be d ground There they turn ed .

them loo s e under the charge o f t w o o r three men ,

and all the others returned to camp for break fas t ,

which as a matter o f f act w a s now dinner for it

, , ,

wa s high noon .

‘
Boys sai d M c Intyre while they were eating their
”
,

me an . w e may a s well stop here no w and rest up ;

180 JACK THE YOUN G COWBOY
,

Where do you w ant to turn them to and why do you ,

w ant to turn them ?

’
We want to turn em to get em to mill and i f ’
,

w e once get em milling the trouble i s pretty w ell

’

”
over .

I am sorry to seem so dull s aid Donald bu t , ,

w hat do you mean by milling ?

“ ’
Why we want to t u rn the cattle and get em
,

running around in a circl e The hind ones will fol .

lo w the lead one s and i f you can turn the lead ones
, ,

’
and keep em turning a fter a w hile they j u s t keep ,

running around and aroun d in a circle and the hin d

one s follo w em and a s you can under s tand they
’

, ,

”
don t get very far away
’
.

No w
”
certainly ,
exclaimed the Englishman , ,

that is very cle v er I never should have thought .

o f that But h o w do y o u manage to turn them

.
? Oi
course you canno t go in front o f them becau s e they
, ,
”
would run over you and kill you .

’
You do go in fr o nt o f em ; and without you go
in front o f em y o u surely can t turn em What
’

,
’ ’
.

‘
a puncher does i s to get right up even with the head
o f the herd and maybe a little i n front of it and ,

then to keep edging o v er so a s to pu s h the head o f

the herd away from him L ikely too he s got to .
’

make some gun play because o f cour s e the flas h , , ,

and noi s e o f the shot s close to em will tend to pu s h ’

the cattle over Sometimes men go right in front

.

’
o f em and try to s top em by s hooting but I never ’

saw much good done in that w ay .

I reckon i f you a s k Vicente or any o f the older ,

men here M c Intyre for example

— he ll tell you ,
—
’

that it counts for more to try to push the cattle over

 DRIFTI NG 18 1

from one s ide than it doe s to go in fr o n t o f em and ’

’
try to s top em I f you do that they may turn ; but
.

’
w hat s j u s t as likely to happen is tha t t hey ll s pli t ’

and go o ff in t w o or three bunches and that s likely ’

to mean that the whol e country has got to be ridden

again t o gather up the s e s cattered cattle .

It must require an extraordinary amount o f

courage on a black night such as la s t night to ride
in front o f or even up at the head o i a herd o f
, ,
”
frightened cattle going as hard as they can said ,

Donald . I am sure that I could not h a v e ridden

fa s t last night and gu ided my horse at all I coul d .

’
not see my hor s e s ears to say nothing o f th e ground ,
”
in front o f him .

No , Jack sa i d ; I guess you c o uldn t I v e ’

.
’

never been ye t in a real stampede bu t I d be w i lling ,

’

to bet that the cow puncher who rode at the head

o f a stampede and tried to look out and guide hi s horse
on to good ground would not be w orth v ery much
a month to hi s empl o yer H o w i s tha t J oe ? .
,

Joe laughed .

’
I gue s s he d be w o rth about se v enty h y e cen ts a -

’ ”
month ; and h e d have to furni s h hi s o w n grub to o , .

B ut what do you mean ? a s ked Donald .

”
Why explained Joe
, a man riding fa s t and ,
’
at night don t try to pick hi s ground h e can t try —
’

to pick the ground H e leave s that to h i s horse ; it s

.
’

up to him to watch the cattle and it s up to the hor s e ,

’

to keep on hi s four legs I f the rider doe s n t watch .

’

the cattle and the hor s e doe s n t keep on hi s leg s why ’

hor s e and rider b oth are out o f it and o f no u s e to ,

anybody .

’
That s j ust w hat I s uppo s ed s aid la c k I re , ,
182 J ACK T H E YOUN G COW B OY
,

member once a good many year s ago Hugh ga v e me

a lecture on hor s e s and the u s e they m ake o f thei r ,

eye s ; he told me about how many fall s young stock

have before t hey are broken and how much us e ,

hor s e s mu st make o f thei r eyes You can see that .

i f you put a blind on a hor s e he w ill stand per fectly ,

still no matter h o w wild he is and will let you do

, ,

’
most anything w ith him Take the u s e o f hi s eye s .

a w ay f rom him and a horse i s pretty nearly a frai d ,

t o mo v e
“
Sure thing declared Joe as h e scratched a
, ,

match t o light a cigarette that he had j ust finish ed

rolling a pra i r 1e or a mountain hor s e can go along in
the dark without anybody guiding him a great de a l
better than he could i f driven by the sharpest sighted -

”
man .

D onal d might like to see it but I hope with all ,

my h eart that w e w on t have a s tampede on thi s ’

round up Jack s aid -

, .

I hope not replied Joe I ha v e known o f one

,
.

man being killed and several men being hurt in s tam

’
pedes and i f I can keep out o f em I mean to do
,

it . No w look here i f one o f you fellows will len d

, ,
’
me hi s watch I ll s et here and look after the s e cattle
for an hour and you t w o can go to sleep ; then a fter
, ,

a n h o ur I ll call one o f you and sleep my s el f and

’

, ,

an hour later he can call the other B y that time .

’
likely there ll be somebody out to rel ieve us .

”
N o protested Donald
, you and Jack sleep and ,

let me watch I have done le ss w ork than any one

.

s ince I came here and I can s it on thi s hill in the ,

s un and s ee what the cattle are doing I f they make .

any movement I can call one o f yo u .

184 J ACK ,
TH E Y OUN G c o ws o y
’
there I f once tho s e cattle had s tarted w e d have
. ,

had to ride hard .

There wa s one w hile sai d Jack Mason that , ,

I was plumb lo s t I wa s riding that l ittle w h ittley .

dig pony o f mine and he s tepped in a hole and fell ,

’
down and I rolled o ff It w a s s o black I couldn t s ee .

anything Reaching around I happened to feel the

.

hor s e I mounted but I was all turned around I

.
,
.

didn t have an idea which way the cattl e were and

’
,

I couldn t see nor hear em O i cour s e I kne w the

’ ’
.

only thing to do w as to let my horse h nd the cattle ;

’
and that s what he did ; bu t until I got close to em
’

I didn t kn o w where they w ere nor anything about

’

’
em .

“
Mighty queer commented Hugh who wa s lis .
,

tening th e way a man can get turned around i f he

, ,

’ ”
can t u s e hi s eyes I reckon I v e told you son he
’
.
, ,

added turning to Jack ,

about the only time I ever ,

got lo s t It wa s on pretty nearly level ground that

.
_

I had never b een on be fore and in a blinding snow ,

storm Well sir I had no more idea o f the direction

.
, ,

o f the sun moon or stars than j us t nothing at all

,
.

For a l ittle way I trav eled by the wind and then I ,

stopped and made up my mind tha t I d w ait until ’

something happened ; and I d id have to w ait for

t w enty four long hour s be fore I got a glimp s e of the
-

”
sun .

I had s omething like that happen to me once in

”
thick timber that had been burned over Jack Ma s on ,

said It wa s a cloudy day on a kind o f plateau

. .

and every tall s traight s tick looked like every other

tall s traight s tick A mighty mean s ituation to be .

in .
 D RIFT IN G 18 5

It mus t be a t errible s en s ation sa i d D onald to , ,

lose all s ense o f direct i on Long ago be fore I had .

,

ever been much out o f doors I u s ed to carry a com ,

pa s s and to consult i t frequently but of late years ,

I ha v e rather abandoned that practise .

“ ’
When the s ky i s clear you don t need a c o m
pass or anything else said Jack because you can
, ,
’
look at the sun or th e star s ; but o f cour s e i f it s , ,
’
cloudy o r rainy or sno w y that s di f feren t I f a
, , ,
.

man i s i n a country he kno w s or know s anything ,

about and get s lost he can follow the ra vi nes and

,
”
creeks do w n to the main stream .

”
Well put in Hugh
,
a man i s n t in much danger
,
’

o f being lo s t j u s t as long as he keep s hi s w it s about

him ; but j ust as soon as he gets s cared and lose s his
wits and begins to think th at the s un i s in the w rong
place or the compas s i s w rong or the waters are
, ,
’
running uphill then he s i n a bad way because he s
, ,
’

pretty clo s e to crazy The main thing is to keep your

.

’
head and then you ll come out all right ; but in
,

the s e day s when there are so many fences and roads

,

and railroad s all over t he country i t w ould be pretty

”
hard to be lost I expect , .

”
Yet back East sai d Jack , e v ery now and then ,

we hear about men and women and children bein g

lo s t i n little pieces o f swamp and wood s almost with
i n hearing o f their houses O i course the s e are peo .
,

ple who have ne v er thought o f taking care o f them

selves out o f doors and get lost j ust a s soon as they
”
get where they c an t s ee thing s that they recognize .

Such people ought not to be allo wed to wander

”
a w ay dra w led Jack Ma s on ; they ought to have
,

people to l o ok a fter them B u t t hen I sup po s e ba ck .

186 JACK , THE YOUN G COWBOY

Ea s t there are s o many hou s es and so many people

’ ”
that it s hard t o ge t out o f s ight o f em
’
.

No laughed J ack ; there are a good many peo

,
’ ”
ple there but it i sn t quite so bad a s you say
, .

H ugh knocked the ashe s from his p i pe rose to his ,

f ee t and stretched
,
.

“
Well good night b o ys ; I m go i ng t o hunt my
, ,
’

”
blankets he said
,
.

The ot hers s o on f o ll o wed him and the fire was

deserted .
188 JACK ,
THE YOUN G COWBOY

With the first sound o f t he ru s hing herd Jack s leg s ,

’

clo s ed on his hor s e and it fel t the s pur s and a s hort ,

da s h to one s i de t ook horse and rider out o f th e

path o f the den s e mas s o f cattle which swept close
behind them Automatically as i t s eemed the hor s e
.
, ,

turned and kept along w ith the bunch Jack re .

membered tha t f or a little w h ile it wa s u s ele ss to try

to do anything except keep up ; he mu s t wait until
the cattl e had become s trung out the s w i fte s t one s ,

leading and the other s follo w ing To try to turn .

t he clo s ely packed herd a s it s tart ed w ould be hopele ss .

The only thing to do wa s to let them get w ell s trung

out and then t o ride up clo s e to the leaders and
,

pu s h them over to one side .

In a short time J a ck could t ell from the s ound that

mo s t o f the bunch was behind him H e began to .

s w ing over to his le ft so a s to get close to the lead

,

er s H e thought that they must have run a mile

. .

Pu s hing up to th e leader s and constantly riding

clo s er to them he s houted and began to s hoot hi s
,

pi s tol and a s he dre w nearer he w a s gra tified to

,

know that the cattle were crowding away from him .

H e w a s right with the leading animal s It w a s pitch .

dark and nothing could be seen but the sound o f the,

pounding hoo fs the clatter o f horn s a s they struck

,

a gainst one another and the puffing and sno rting

, ,

tol d him that he wa s close among them .

’
Suddenly and w ithout warning Jack s hor s e turned ,

a s omersault Jack flew a long w ay and al ighted on

.
,

hi s back w ith a thump that a lmo s t knocked the breath

out o f him Almo s t a s he hit the ground he heard
.
,

hi s hor s e scramble to hi s feet and gallop o ff H e .

had no time to think about whether he had hi s breath

 A ST AM PED E 189

or not or w hether hi s hor s e w ere lost H e w as

,
.

thinking o f the cattle that were follow i ng the lead

er s he had j u s t le ft and realizing that in a f ew mo
,

ment s the whole bunch might run over him H e ran .

a few s teps i n the hope that he could get away climbed ,

a little bank and began to shout to fire h is gun and

,

to shake the skirts o f h i s slicker H e could hear .

cattle pass i ng on both si des o f h i m Every now and .

then one would come near enough to be seen a s a

dim s hadow ; and as the animal sa w the dancing
‘

s houting man it would give a loud snort and j ump s ide

w ise w hile Jack w ould j ump th e other way s ome
, ,

times almost in front o f another animal which perhaps

w ould snort and make a s w eep o f its horns or turn
a nd kick at him .For a l ittle whil e Jack had more
excitemen t than had ever been compre s sed into a l ike
s pace o f time in hi s experience H e had no o ppo r
.

tunity t o think much o f the danger or to get fright ,

ened All he could think about w a s to make all the

.

noi s e he could and to frighten away from himsel f

,

the already terrified cattle .

P re s entl y the ru s h o f the cattle cea s ed Jack re .

l oaded hi s six s hoote r and then had time to collect

-
,

h is w i ts and to begin to wonder what had happened .

H e had seen nothing to make the cattle s tart and did ,

not kno w why they had done so H e had l ittle or .

no ide a why hi s hor s e had fallen but when he began

,

to move about it was apparent that the animal had

,

run into a s hallow gulch which it had not s een and ,

thu s had tripped It was lucky for Jack that he h a d

.

not tried to s tick to the horse a fter it wa s evident

that it mu s t fall but had let go and tried to get a w ay
,

from it It was lucky also tha t he had clung to h i s

.
190 JACK T H E YOUN G COW B OY
,

six-sho ot er f or w i thou t doub t the shots that he fire d

,

a fter he was a f oot had helped to turn the cattle from

him .

Jack knew that it could not be far to camp but hi s ,

tumble and the excitement o f the la s t f ew minutes

had cau s ed him wholly to lo s e his s en s e o f direction .

H e knew tha t the only thing for him to do wa s to

s tay where he w as until daylight broke and then to ,

make h i s way back to camp on fo ot As soon as he .

could see and s o get hi s bearings there would be no

, ,

trouble in finding camp where he could ge t a fre s h ,

hor s e ; and a s s oon as day came the boy s w ould o f

course s tar t out to find the cattle .

It wa s still drizzling Jack w alked about a little to

.

find some place t o s it do w n and presently stumbled

over an elevat i on which his hand told h im w as an
ant hill
-
one o f those heaps o f coar s e sand a foot
—

and a hal f o r two f eet high wh i ch the ants thro w ,

up in high country On t hi s Jack sat do w n for the

.
,

ants woul d not be stirring until the hill had dried o ff ,

and he knew that it w oul d not dry until the sun came
up. Oddly enough he did no t feel s ti f f o r s ore and ,

he concluded h e must have landed on some big clump

o f bru s h which had broken hi s fall .

H e sa t there a f ew minutes meditating on w hat ,

had happened when presently v ery faintly he heard

,

th e hoo f beats o f a slo w ly j ogging horse which w a s

—
,

dr a wing nearer and nearer .

“ ”
I wonder thought Jack, i f that s my hor s e ,
’

going back to camp ? It would be great i f I could

catch him and ride in The cattle are gone and they
.
,
’ ”
can t be found until day .

The hoo f beats dre w nearer and nearer and pre s

-
,
192 JACK T H E YOUN G COWBOY
,

rect i on he w ants to go The chances are t hat he .

kno ws where camp is a great deal better than any o f

”
the rest o f us .

“
That may be true replied Donald ; bu t s up ,

po s e on the other hand h e takes me o ff four or five

, ,

mile s farther a w ay ; w hat then ?

’
Well i f you re no t willing to tru s t him get down
, , ,

and i f we can find my ant hill again w e can s it there -

”
until day come s It certainly can t be very far o ff
.
’
.

Jack looked around the horizon I b el ieve that s .

’

da y coming no w “ he s aid pointing to a place where

, ,

the s ky seemed a little lighter than el s ewhere If .

it i s w e won t have long to wait be fore getting our

,
’

di rection .

D onald di s mounted and they s at there on the

,

ground waiting Presently the light gre w and it

.
,

w a s no w certain tha t thi s w as the dawn ; so the ea s t

was found and the po i nt s o f the compass were lo
c a ted .Gradually it gre w ligh t As s oon as they .

coul d see a s hort di s tance the boys s tarted back to ,

the camp Jack w alking o v er the damp ground o f

, ,

which he picked up a few pounds on his s hoe s and

spur s s o that at short interval s he was obl iged to
,

stop and clean o ff the mud B y this time however .

, ,

i t had stopped raining and the soil began to dry , .

P resently when it was good dayl i ght though be fore

, ,

the s un had ri s en they met hal f a dozen men from

,

the camp starting out t o look for the cattle

,
.

M c Intyre heard Jack s s tory with a broad grin ; but

’

he fro w ned a s he thought o f the cattle scattered no ,

one knew where .

Did you s ee anything o f Jack Ma s on ? he a s ked .

No answered Jack ; nothing T w o or three

,
.
 A S T AM PED E 193

mes as I was pu s hing m to turn the cattle I thought ,

heard somebody yell behind me but I could not be ,

”
re for I w a s ma king all the noi s e I coul d my s el f
,
.

Well s aid M c Intyre a s he turned h i s horse go

, , ,

n and get s omething t o eat and fre s h horses and ,

hen come o n It may take us a long t ime to gather

.

’
tho s e cattle or maybe Ma s on ha s em wound up s ome
,
”
w here no w .

The cowboys rode o ff and J ack and D o nal d w ere ,

soon in camp eating break fas t Jack s sl icker in hi s .

’

fall had been spl it from neck to skirt and until mended
would be u s ele ss Hugh w ho with the co o k and
.
,

horse wrangler had remained in th e camp saw it and , ,

told Jack to leave i t w ith him and he would sew up ,

’ ”
the tear . It won t be o f much use he commented , ,

’
in real rainy weather but it ll keep you dry in a ,
”
drizzle .

’
Hugh had smiled a t Jack s story o f his a t tempts
t o dodge t he stampeding cattl e and had t old him ,

that he wa s mighty lucky to have got o ff as he did .

A littl e l ater Jack and Donald mounted on fre s h

, ,

horses rode out to take the trail o f the stampeded cat

,

tle but they had gone only a short di s tance when

, ,

from the top o f a hill t hey saw far o ff a bunch o f , ,

cattle coming .

One o f the first men they saw when they me t the

herd wa s Jack Mason and the two young men rode
,

up beside him to a s k an account o f h is ad v enture s ,

and to relate their own .

I wa s follow ing along no t f ar behind you Jack , ,

said Mason You were ad v erti s ing your place by

shooting and hollering and I was trying hard to get
,

up to you t o try to help push o v er the lead ca ttle

,
194 JACK , THE Y OUN G COW BOY
’
and get em turned All o f a sudden though your .
, ,

light seemed to go ou t T here were no more shots .

and no more yells and I made up my mind some ,

thing had happened to put you out o f bu s ine s s B e .

fo re v ery long I got up to the leader s and managed

’
t o cr o wd em over and o v er until at la s t I got em run ’

ning in a circle and then before long o f course the

, , ,

circle go t smaller and s maller until they all got packed

’
together and then they had to stop They didn t get .

v ery f ar beyond where you le ft em not more than ’

,
’
a mile and a hal f I should think and I didn t ha v e
, ,
’
any trouble holding em there until daylight and soon
a fter that t he boys came up and here we are again ,
.

But what happened to you ? I suppose your hor s e

fell because he was with the cattle when day come
,
.

”
One o f the boy s ha s got him there now .

Jack told again o f his fall and as be fore the ,

story w a s laughed at and he was congratulated on hi s

e s cape .

Well s aid M cIntyre as the party got into camp

, , ,
’
w e see m to be anchored to thi s place We d bet .

ter move to day You boy s go out and ride a short

-
.

”
c i rcl e and we ll camp to night over on Sand Creek
’
-
.

That night in camp the talk wa s all o f s tampede s ;

t here was the usual speculation a s to what caused
them and all agreed tha t no one could tell why cat
,

t l e s tampeded .

Jack Mason was asked whether anything had hap

pened to start the cattle so far as he could s ee and , ,

bo th he and Donald declared that th ey kne w o f noth

i ng tha t could h ave alarmed the cattle .

I saw s omething funny a number of year s a go ,

“ ”
down on the prairie s aid Hugh I wa s wo rking
, .
196 JA C K ,
THE YOUN G COWBOY

eral mile s but fina lly w e lo s t em all L ater we

,
’
.

’ ’
g athered em mo s t o f em at lea s t When w e were
—
.

rounding up t he country do w n on the middle Loup ,

we kept finding the s e cattle for three or four d a ys .

We got em to the railroad at l a s t

’
.

“
There was another s tampede and a queer one ,
/
,
”
a t the D is mal R a nch Hugh s aid A big bunch o f , .

yearlings s tampeded in a corral I ne v er understood .

h 0w i t was f or I w asn t there when they s tarted

’

, ,

bu t was coming do w n toward t he ranch O f cours e .

we had never thought o f cat t le s t ampeding in th e cor

ral and i t happened that there were no horses up
,
’
mos t o f em w ere in a little pas t ure clo s e to the house .

T he corral w a s cut into f our small pens and next to

t he outside fence there was a gate i n th e w a ll o f each
pen opening into t he next pen The s e gate s were
,
.

open and you d think th at if the cattle had s tampeded

,
’

’
i n the corral they d all have run around one way but ,

in s tead o f t ha t these yearl ings mu s t ha v e spli t in

tw o bodies and one part run around the corral one
,

way and one the other Then they must have met
, .

and piled up there and the re sult w as that they broke ,

out t wo panel s o f the fence great s trong cedar —

’
po s t s and poles Some o f em w ent o ver th e fence
.
,

but mo s t o f em w ent through and the fence w as at

’

lea s t seven feet high .

I w a s going down to the ranch and w as about a

mile away when I heard them start and when I got ,

down to the corral they were j u s t going over and

’
through the fence I follo w ed em and Buck and .
,

B a x Taylor came on a s soon a s they could get hor s e s .

Those yearlings ran all night T w o or three time s .

’ ’
we got em t o gether and turned em until they d stand
’
 A STAM PEDE 197

’
s till and then they d keep perfectly quiet For about
, .

’
fi f teen minute s a fter they d stopped t hey w ere s o
’
quiet that you couldn t hea r a s ound ; you couldn t ’

hear em breathe ; and then they d begin to s tep out

’ ’

a little to get room until they were pretty well s pread

,
’
out They d stand s till li s tening and no t making a
.

move ; and then all o f a sudden o ff they d go again

, ,
’
.

We lo s t about a hundred out o f the bunch but got ,

’
em later on another round up S everal were killed -
.

going o ver the fen c e and t wo or th re e broke their ,

leg s and there w a s about a wagon load o f horns on

,
”
the gr o und t here .

“
Tha t antelope story o f yours is a pret t y good
”
spoke up T o m
’
one Hugh but I ve got another
, , ,

Smith I w as on herd one bright moonlight night

.

’
and th e cattle were all lying do w n I d been ridin g .

about em and had stopped for a l ittle t i me and wa s

’
,

s itting still on my horse I was about hal f a s leep .

,

with my f ace to t he cat tle and my hors e must ha v e ,

gone altogether asleep H e mu s t have been asleep .

,

becau s e he fell on his knees and when h e f ell the ,

saddle fl ap s squeaked That started the cattle They

-
. .

’ ’
j umped up and ran ; but they d i dn t go far I d o n t .

think they really s tampeded t hey were j us t startled ,

”
not s cared .

’
I reckon e v erybody wa s k i nd 0 surpr i sed t hat
”
time chuckled Hugh
, .

”
I know I was admitted Tom , .

I don t call that s tampede by the an t elope nor

’
,

”
the one Tom j u s t s poke about a real stampede sai d , ,

“
Joe ; but that s tampede o f the yearlings and the ,

”
one we had la s t night were s ure enough the real thin g
,
.

“ “
Yes said Hugh ,
those yearl ing s were s care d
”
,
198 JACK , THE YOUN G COWBOY

for keeps That bunch had j ust come over the trail
.

from Texas and the animal s w ere tired and thin

, .

’
They d j u s t come in and hadn t bee n branded I ’
.

never would have s uppo s ed that they could have

s tampeded but they w ere scared ; and they w ere al
,

ways a fraid o f that corral We never got that bunch .

into that corral a fter w ard We had to rope mo s t .

o f em out on t he flat and brand em that w ay It

’

,
’
.

w as a w ful s lo w work and before we got through w e ,

’
tried s eparating em into little bunche s o f forty or
fi f ty and these little bunche s we coul d get into the
,

”
corral .

“ ”
Wa s n t it dark last night
’
? remarked Donald .

I do not remember ever to have seen a blacker

”
night .

’
I gues s so s ai d Joe We ve all o f us been out
,
.

on s ome o f those black night s when you j u s t can t s ee ’

anything Some night s maybe you think it s j u s t a s

.
’

‘
dark a s it can po ss ibly get and then all at once it get s ,

s o much darker that you think it hadn t been at all dark ’

be fore On s ome o f those night s you can see the

.

electricity on your horse a sort o f blue light running ,

up from your hor s e s ears and then maybe a littl e ’

blue flame running down th e back o f hi s neck to w ard

your saddle I never saw cattle run in that kind o f
.

’
weather ; though you d think they would .

“
I remember one night o f that kind We w ere .

holding the cattle but it was blo w ing and raining ,

s ome and the herd wa s dri fting along behind u s like

, ,

it di d night be fore la s t There w ere s everal o f u s in .

front o f the cattle ; we could hear each other w hen

w e called but we couldn t s ee each other nor any
’

, ,

thing el s e There was some lightning

. ve ry bright .
 CHA PTER XIX
C OW H ORSES A N D T H EIR W ORK

THE next day they were cutting again Donald wa s .

active and tried to help though h e accompli s hed but

,

l ittle becau s e he lacked real knowledge o f the work .

But i f he did no t h imself do much he a t l eas t saw ,

many things done .

O i t hese one o f the mos t i n t eresting was V i cen t e s

’

handling o f a figh ting steer Charley Powell had cut

.

out and was trying to drive the anim al but it s topped ,

to figh t It w ould not move but stood and faced the

.

hor s e and ride r Pre s ently Vicente came up and after

.
,

a word or t w o w ith Charley rode around behind the

,

s teer w hile Charley ran hi s hor s e clo s e by the ani

mal s head to try to make it charge On his second
’
.

da s h by it the steer put down i ts head and ru s hed

a fter the hor s e but before it had made hal f a dozen
,

j ump s Vicente s rope had pas s ed over it s horns H e

’
.

wound the rope aroun d hi s saddle horn and as he -

dre w the re i n his horse se t it s forelegs and braced it

sel f in real picture book f a s hion ; the rope tightened
-

and the s teer turned a somersault and slammed do w n

on the earth w ith tremendous force Vicente sprang .

from the saddle leaving the l ittle horse bearing back

,

w ith all it s weight against the rope to hold the steer ,

ran for w ard to the ammal and in a momen t as it ,

seemed had h o g-tied it It was t hen le f t on the

,
.
 co w H O R S E S AND T HE I R WO RK 2 01

p ra i r i e t o th i nk the matter o ver while Vicente and ,

Charley P owell went o ff to their work .

Tha t n i gh t about the fire Donald could not s ay ,

enough i n prai s e o f the w ork o f the cow horses and

t he i r seem i ng under s tanding o f w hat was required o f
them ; and th e others assented to hi s enthusiastic
declaration tha t a well broken cow horse i s interestin g -

to watch and s ho w s great intelligence i n doing its part

o f the w o rk o f handling the cattle Joe and Vicente .
,

howe v er said little but at len gt h i n respon s e to s ome

, ,

direc t appeal J oe said :

’
Well bo ys there s n o deny i ng tha t t hese horses
, ,

know a heap and tha t some o f em do their work

,
’

’
mighty well I expect i f it wa s n t for the hor s e s
.

’
there wouldn t be any cattle busine s s but hone s t and ,

withou t w ant i ng to blow o ff my country or any other

country you ought t o see the horses i n the South
, ,

whether it s southern Cal i f o rn i a or Texas I think

’

, .

’
maybe they re not always a s s t rong as the m o unta i n
’
horse s up here but t hey re a whol e lo t quicke r , .

What s more i t s eems t o me they unders t and their

’

,
’ ’
work better and do it better ; and i f that s so here s ,

one reason f or it : The cattle down there are di f f erent

at leas t t hey used t o be i n old times and I recko n ,

they are ye t Most o f you know what an old .

fa s h ioned Texas long horn i s : mostly head horn s and -

,

legs-
l ight quick on his feet and a great hand to
, ,

dodge Now tho s e Texa s horses and the southern

.
,

Cal i forni a horses too have been broke to handle these ,

’
cattle ; and t o be any good they ve got to be fa s t ,

quick t o turn and ready to meet any mo v e the s teer

makes U p here you ve go t a great deal better cl a s s
.
,
’

o f cattle : th ey re heav i er and make better bee f and

’
,
2 02 JACK TH E YOUN G COWBOY
,

that means that they re s lower m o re l ike barnyard

’
—

cattle They don t handle the mselves any thing like

.
’

w hat those T ex a ns do Texas cattl e pu t t he horse .

and hi s rider more on t heir mettle than t hese grad e

cattle They call for greater qu i ckness and readiness ;
.

and th o ugh I a m a Wyoming cowboy no w I m b o und ,

’

’
to s ay that the be s t co w hands I v e ev er seen ha v e been
”
down in the S outh and S outhwes t .

” ’
I guess that s go s pel Hugh sa i d I saw s om e , .

th i ng o f the cattl e business down o n the plains when

the cattle busine s s was fairly new there and when all ,

the cattle came up o v er the trail from Texa s and they ,

certainly did have good c o w horses do w n there As .

Joe says they were quicker and readier as it seems

, , ,

to me than the hor s es we ha v e up here O i course

,
.

’
that don t mean that they were bett er horses but I ,

suppose it does mean that th e Texas h o rses had been ,

a s you migh t say j ust raised on cattle F o r genera

,
.

’
tions tha t was all tha t they d been do i ng and they
’
were qu i ck as a ca t on thei r fee t It s always seemed .

to me tha t these m o untain h o rses are muc h more

”
awkward .

I ve ne v er seen those T exas horses sa i d P owel l ;

’

,
’
bu t I didn t supp o se that t hey were nearly as stron g
’
as our horses here ; and I didn t supp o se tha t they could
”
hold cattle nearly as well .

’
N 0 replied Joe
, they aren t a s s tron g as these
,

horses but for any work like cutti n g where you nee d
, ,
”
quicknes s t hey can handle t hemsel v es m i gh t y well
,
.

”
Not all t hose h o r s es expla i ned V i cen t e mak e , ,

g ood c o w horses S ome quick some slow B u t good

.
, .

hor s e the more you ride h im t he bett er he do h i s w o rk

,
.

”
S eems to learn t hin gs .
2 04 JACK THE YOUN G COW BOY
,

I s that so ? said Joe That must have been .

be fore I w orked up at B ra tt s ’
.

Well Cody w a s along with u s on one o f the round

,

up s and B o s ler wa s telling him all about Old Blue

, ,

and among other things he said that Blue kne w the

Bo s ler brand O i cour s e Cody laughed at him and
.
,

s o I gue ss did mo s t everybody el s e ; but G eorge Bo s ler

s ai d he d prove it and he d pro v e it by riding hi s horse
’

,
’

into the bunch and cu tting out an animal w ithout a

bridle on h i s hor s e s o that he couldn t guide it Well
,
’
. ,

everybody thought he mu s t be drunk when he sai d

that B ut he j ust got on his hor s e and rod e into the
.

bunch o f cattl e and as he rode in among them he

, ,

reache d for w ard and pulled the bridle o ff h is horse .

The horse walked around among the cattle looking at ,

them with hi s ears pricked f o r w ard as though hunting ,

for something and pretty s oon h e pointed hi s no s e

,

toward a big Texa s steer and began to pu s h him out to

the edge o f the bunch You ll hardly belie v e it bu t
.
’

t ha t s teer had the B o s ler brand on him '

The steer di d not w ant to go out o f the bunch
and kept t rying to break back and the horse had a ,

hard time to keep him going ; but he kept right a fter

h i m and did succeed in working him out to the edge
,

o f the bunch and all this withou t any gu idance at all

,

by t he man except wha t Bo s le r may have given w i th

,

h i s knees I t was a wonder ful sight and by the time

.
,

the steer was out o f the bunch most all t he men had ’

s to pped thei r work and were watch ing .

’
But this wasn t a pa t ch on what came a fterward .

When the horse got th e s teer outside the steer turned ,

to figh t ; and the t w o s tood facing each other T h

steer w anted to get back among the cattle ; the horse y
e .
 c o w H O R S E S A ND T H EI R WO RK 2 6 5

wan t ed t o drive him over t o the B o s ler bunch All .

the time the ste er w as threatening w ith hi s horn s and ,

the hor s e kept moving around from side to s ide t o kee p

i n front o f the steer and yet not let it hook him .

The y maneuvered that way for quite a l ittle whil e ,

and then all o f a sudden when the hor s e saw his

,

chance he made a big j ump

,
twenty feet clear I —
,
’
believe and got his breast right against the steer s
—

neck i n such a po s ition that the s teer coul d not hook

him T hen he began to pu s h t he steer over t oward
.

the other bunch of cattle w here he w anted to take it , .

The s teer did not w an t t o go and braced itsel f ; and ,

the horse j u s t pu s hed It was fear ful hard work . .

H e would pu s h and pu sh and push a s far as he could ,

’
until h e was t i red ou t ; t hen he d s t and and re s t f or a
f ew minutes while the swea t dropped do w n ; and then
,

he d begin pushing t he s t ee r aga i n until fina lly he

’

pu s hed him to the edge o f the other bunch o f ca tt l e .

All the t i me th e s t eer was t ry i ng t o t w i s t around so

as to use hi s horn s bu t t he h o rse worked i t so tha t h e
,

never go t touched .

Long before th i s all t he r o und up work had

,
-

s topped and all the men

, I guess there mu s t ha v e—

been tw o hundred and fif ty o f em were watch i ng ’

-

the hor s e and w ondering at him I reckon the olde s t .

cow man there had never seen anything like that be fore .

’
A fter he d got the steer over to the edge o f the
other bunch and w here h e w anted it o f course Old Blue ,

had to figure out some way to get a w ay from the steer

without getting hurt We were all wondering h o w
.

’
he d do it and be fore long w e could see h im get t ing
,

ready a nd could figu re on wha t he w as going to do

, .

H e began to draw his h i nd f ee t up under him l ike a cat ,

2 06 JACK TH E YOUN G COWBOY
,

and at las t gi vmg the steer a great push he wheeled

, ,

on his hind feet and made a long spring and s t ruck

the ground running The stee r went for him bu t .
,

d i d not c o me near ca t ching him .

That c o w horse wa s in a class by h i msel f I nev e r .

sa w another l ike him and I ve s een thou s ands o f c o w

’
,

horses i n T exas and Cal i fornia and up in thi s cou n

,
”
t ry
.

’
That s a wo nderful s tory Joe exclaimed Donald ; , ,

”
almo s t beyond belie f i f you hadn t s een it yoursel f ’
.

”
Well sa i d Joe, i t s a story about a wonder fu l
,
’

”
horse .

”
What sor t o f hor s e was h e Joe ? asked J ack , .

Was he a b g hor s e
i a hal f breed ? —

N 0 ; he w as a s mall Texas horse I suppose he d .

’

weigh eight hund red and fi f ty or nine hundred po und s .

H e didn t seem to ha v e any special breed i ng ; bu t h i s

’

”
head showed a lot o f i ntelligence .

Nobody could tell I s uppose P o well remarke d , , ,

whe t her thi s wa s a horse o f very great natural i ntel

’
ligence or whether he d been r i dden by a man o f supe
,

”
rior i ntell igence .

”
N o s a id Joe ; I reckon that would be all guess
,

work It might ha v e been b o th At all events h e

. .

”
was a na t ural wonder .

Wha t finally became o f him ? a sked Jack .

I don t kno w When I left there the Boslers were

’
.

st i ll running cattle and George Bosle r owned Old Blue

,
.

The horse got to be so well known a fter a w hile that

plenty o f men wanted to buy h i m ; bu t o f course Bosler
wouldn t sell him At that time you could buy a first
’
.

class cow horse in that country for fif ty dollars but I ,

heard t h a t a man named Sheedy ca me t o B osler and

2 6 8 JACK , THE YOUN G COWBOY

I mean sa y that i n tho s e days their hor s es weren t

’
—

a s good for cutting a s the Texas horse They were .

”
more a w kward and lots s lower .

” ’
Well s aid Hugh it s good economy f o r a cattl e
, ,

man to have the be s t c o w hor s es he can get and pra e ,

t ically all the hor s e s that they u s ed do w n in that prairie

country came up over the trail from Texa s Why on .

the Cody and North ranch they u s ed to buy forty or

fi f ty hor s e s every year ; the poore s t ones were culle d
out and s ol d and then the next year another lot bought .

I t al w ay s s eemed odd to me that s o few Mexican s came

up over the trail with all tho s e cattle that came The .

country do w n there w a s full o f Texa s co w boy s but ,

’
mighty f ew o f em w ere Mexicans I s uppo s e the fact .

that a good many o f em could not s peak Engli s h had ’

something to do w ith it and po ss ibly in s ome place s ,

people did not like em ; though I never s aw anything

’

l ike that except w here a man was mean or had some

thing bad about him Pretty much all the Mexican s .

that I ve had to do w ith were as loyal and faith ful a s

’

’
white men good workers We v e got a couple w ith .

”
us now and w e all know w hat they are .

Yes as s ented M c Intyre they make the be s t kind

”
, ,
’
o f hands ; but we don t see v ery many o f em in this ’

”
coun t ry I d l ike it i f we saw more
.
’
.

For a l i ttle time nothing was sai d .

Was t he cattle bu s ines s new in thi s northern coun

try when you were down in Nebraska Hugh ? Jack ,

a s ked presently .

It wasn t what you could call ne w s on but on t he

’
, ,
’
other hand it hadn t been going very long The coun .

try w a s n t over s tocked and the co w men w ere care f ul

’
,

”
a nd worked hard They made lot s o f money
. .
 c o w H O R S E S A ND T H EI R WO R K 2 6 9

Do you know when i t was Hugh that cattle first , ,

came into the country north o f the Platte ?

Well it s hard to tell I belie v e that there w ere

,
’
.

cattle north of the Platte in 1867 I gue s s l ikely they .

were Keith s ca ttle but I m no t sure They were

’

,
’
.

”
Texas cattle .

“
And i n t hose day s asked D onald was there , ,

much game i n tha t Nebraska country ?

”
Yes said Hugh, a good deal Lot s o f antelope , .

and deer a good many elk and a f ew bu f falo I ne v er

,
.

happened t o see any bu f falo j us t there but I saw signs ,

’ ”
o f em more than once .

Why when I was working down there said Joe

, , ,

there were still quite a lot o f elk I remember once .

s eeing B uck Taylor come i n to the CN ranch dragging

’
a big cow elk a fter him I don t remember where .

they caught her but I do remember how s he looked

,

when she came B uck was snaking her along by the

.

neck and somebody had put a rope on one o f her hind

,

feet and she wa s dragging t hat I remember too

, .
, ,

hearing tha t one o f the Oliff es roped an elk one time ,

’
but someho w o r other he couldn t handle him and I ,

belie v e h e had t o shoot him to get the rope o ff him .

”
Ye s repeate d Hugh
, there wa s plenty o f game ,

th ere then and quite a l ittle fur Old Jim Carson

, .

used to make a li v ing by trapping Then i n those days .

t here were still a few wild horses in the country I .

’
don t mean stray s that had got away but real wild ,

h o rses such as we used to have in ol d time s thi rty

, ,
”
or forty years ago .

Is it possible ! exclaimed D o nal d I d like to .

’

see them .

Well resp o nded Hugh

, yo u can see pre t ty ,
2 10 J A C K T H E Y O U N G COW BOY
,

nearly the same t hing only about a hundred per cent

, .

better any time you come across a bunch o f range

,

horses on the prairie These wild h o rses were of no

.

acc o unt They looked as pretty as a picture whe n

.

’
t hey were f at and slick but a number o f em w ere
,
’
c aught and no t one o f em wa s good for any t hing
,
I .

chased a bunch once fo r six or eigh t miles and came ,

’
near killing a g o od horse a ft er em and didn t ge t o ne
’
.
,
’
I ll bet the horse I w a s rid i ng wa s worth more than the
whol e bunch I wa s chasing The romance o f the wild
.

horse i s a good deal like the ro mance o f th e co wboy s

’

l i f e : th ere s n oth i n to it
’ ’
.
2 12 JACK TH E YOUN G COWBOY
,

the hill s he looked o ff to the west and sa w s omething

,

that made him rein in his hor s e A rider t o o far o ff .

,

to be recognized but w hom he knew must be Vicente

, ,

was riding i n a circle and at the same time signal ing

with hi s hat .

Jack kne w o f course that t his was a call to him to

, ,

come and he s t arted at once ; on his way picking up

,

Donald whom he told t o leave his cattle and to come

,

over t o Vicente B e f ore they reached him Joe had

.
,

j oined V i cente and t he t wo waited for Jack and

,

Donald .

When t he f our had got together V i cente motioned ,

t oward the ridge be fore them .

B ig bear o v er thi s hill suppo s e we t ry catch him .

Whoop ! cried Jack Tha t will be more fun .

than a goat ! B ut have we go t the ropes t o t ie h im i f ,

we do catch him ?
“
I gue s s we can make out said J oe V i cente , .

and me have our ma c a tes and i f we can get h i m fairly ,

s tretched they ought to do f or his hind legs and his

,

mouth I f we can catch h i m close t o some timber

.

there ll be no trouble to tie him up but i f we get him

’

’
in the flat country w here there s nothing t o t ie him t o ,

w e re liable to kill him I ve heard how they used to

’
.
’

c atch bear s i n Cal i fornia but I never sa w it done my ,

s el f though I ve heard the s tory o v er and over again

,
’
.

’
Maybe Vicente has seen it done How s t hat V i .
,

cente ?

Ye s grinned V i cente in my country sometime s

, , ,

they catch it bear make him figh t bull Suppo s e

—
.

we had big ra w hide here ; no trouble to catch it bea r

”
and take him to camp .

You t w o fello ws w ill have to tell Donald and me

 RO PI N G A B EAR 2 13

what to do s aid Jack

, We are green at thi s s ort
.

o f thing ; but i f you will tell us we will do the be s t w e ,

can eh Donald ?
,

The young Englishman s eyes s napped as he nodded ’

.

”
Well decided Joe I reckon the be s t thing to do
, ,

i s to charge the bear together I think that Vicente .

ha s the best hor s e and will get to him first Then i f .

,
’
he can catch him by t he neck I ll try to pick up one or ,

both o f his hind feet and then you two fellow s w ill
,

have to d o the rest The main thing o f c o urse i s to

.
, ,

keep him from getting one o f the rope s i n h i s mouth ,

’
for i f he does that he ll j ust na t urally chew it o ff and
’ ”
w e ll be s hort a man .

”
B ut a s ked Donald
, w i ll these horses go up s o
,

clo s e t o a bear that you can rope it ?

” ’
I know that Vicente s will an s wered Joe ; Vi ,

cente makes h i s hor s es go wherever he wants t hem to ;

'

and I expec t that my horse will be all right and so ,

’ ’
will Jack s I don t know abou t yours D onald
.
, .

Gues s i t will depend a great deal on its ride r N ow .

be fore we ge t ready to charge the bear we mu s t tighten ,

our saddle s and see t ha t everything i s in good s hape ;

,

we don t wan t to ha v e a saddl e slip a fter we get our

’

rope s on the bear Might be kind o f unhandy for a

.

inan t o be le ft a foot there .

Th e boys di s mounted loosened their cinches pulled, ,

forward the blankets tightened the cinche s again sa w

, ,

to it that their rope s were well arranged and then ,

everything w a s ready Vicente turned hi s hor s e and

.

rode to w ard the ridge and the others followed a l ittle

,

behind him .

Presently Vicente took o ff his hat checked hi s hor s e ,

a nd; letting it go forward only a ste n o r tw o at a time ,

2 14 JACK ,
T HE YOU N G C O W B OY

s canned the country be fore him After a few momen t s

.

it wa s ev ident that he saw s omething H e bent lo w .

and backed hi s hor s e down the slope rode a few hun ,

dred yard s nearer to the higher hill s on the right and

then s topped .

Bear pretty clo s e now ; j u s t over ridge .

H e started on a ga 1 10 p toward the crest o f th e h i ll ;

the o t hers f ollowed only a l ittl e behind h i m ; and in a

momen t all o f t hem were sweeping down the gentle
slope t oward a gr eat brown animal wh i ch fo r a mo ,
,

men t s t ood on i ts hind legs look i n g at t hem Almo st .

at once i t dr o pped on all f ours and raced o ff a t great

speed across t he fla t and t oward another ridge on
which grew a f ew gnarled and stunted cedars .

The horses were no w going at their bes t ga it d o wn ,

t he sl o pe across th e d ry wa s h near which the bear had

,

been standing and o ver the le v el flat on t he o t her side

, .

’
Vicente s horse had put on a b urst o f speed tha t as
to nish ed t he other boy s It wa s rapidly o v erhaulin g
.

t he bear and by the time it had gone abou t three

,

quar t ers o f the way up on the oppo s ite slo p e V i cen t e

w a s sw i ng i ng hi s rope I n a momen t he threw fo r
.

ward h i s hand and checking hi s hor s e the bear turned

, ,

a somer s ault and s truck t he ground w i th a so und heard

by all o f them For a momen t the animal lay still
.
,

apparently s tunned by the shock and then spr i nging , ,

to its feet it charged fur i ously do w n the hill toward

,

V i cente whose horse still s t ood there mot i onless J ack

, .

sa w Vicente coolly shorten i ng the rope and then th e ,

little horse made a sidewise ru s h and aga i n the be a r

fl ew head over heel s At that moment T ulare Joe
.

caught the h ind f eet ; and the bear notw i thstanding it s

,

gre at stren gt h wa s f a i rly stretched o ut be t ween the two

,
2 16 JACK ,
THE Y OUN G COWBOY

Donald to make the rope fa s t to the s addle horn and —

back a w ay s trongly D onald w a s riding a good c o w

.

hor s e but it w a s evidently a fraid o f a b ear and obj ect ed

,

strongly to comi ng clo s e to this one Ho w ever it s .

,

ri der at la s t drove it up clo s e enough to get h i s hand s

on the rope and when the hor s e found that it wa s hol d
,

ing something it s eemed to gain confidence Though

, .

s norting and unea s y with pricked ears it neverthele ss

, ,

remained quite still and hel d the r i ght fore leg so tha t
the bear could not move it .

There ! cried Jack I guess we ha v e go t h i m !

,

All thi s had been done in a very shor t time While .

it was happening Tulare Joe h a d le ft his hor s e and run

,
’
around to the bear s head and now with Jack s assi s t ,
’

ance he made a sor t o f hackamore o f hi s macate and ,

binding th e loo s e ends firmly around the bear s j aws ’

turned to Vicente and threw up hi s hand Vicente at .

once s lacked up on hi s rope and Joe loosened it It .

had cut deep i nto the bear s neck ’

.

For a moment or two the bear lay mot ionless Don .

ald supposed i t was dead until Joe stepping around to ,

one side pres s ed h is fo o t heavily on the animal s che s t

,
’

close be h ind t h e out s tretched fore leg and the ai r from

’
the lungs came whi s tling through the bear s mouth and
no s tril s A moment later the animal ga s ped for breath
.
,

and a fter two or three inter v als began to breathe regu

la rly and then to struggle
,
I t t hrew its head violently
.

from s ide to s ide and its l ittl e eyes snapped with fu ry

, ,

while it uttered muffl ed grunts and groans The boy s .

s tood near it s head watching its e f forts to f ree it s el f

from the ropes I t could move only i t s head which it
.

thre w fr o m s ide to side and up and do w n beat i ng i t ,

again s t the ground in its i mpotent e ff ort s .

 RO PI NG A B EAR 2 17

’
H adn t we better get on our hor s e s ? s ugge s ted
D onald Suppo s e one of these rope s breaks or a
.
,
”
horse yields a l ittle .

No danger said Joe ; th e rope s and the hor s es

,
”
are all right .

Vicente sat on hi s hor s e loo k ing down at t he bear .

’ ”
Pretty soon he goin die .

Why w ill h e die p a s ked Jack What s going .

’

t o kill him ?

H e get pre t ty mad answered Vi cente S o mad ,

.

”
can t live a ny longer You see
’
. .

’
T h e words were scarcely ou t o f Vicente s mouth ,

when the bear ga v e a great ba w l and then lay s till ,

except f or a few c on vu l s ive quivers As Vicente had .

foretold he had died o f rage The boy s w atched h i m

,
.

closely and gradually they sa w his eyes grow dull

, .

I m s orry that the old fello w

” ’
Well s aid Jack , ,

d i ed It seems as i f i t would have been be tter for him

.

”
t o have be en killed by a bullet th a n to di e i n thi s way ‘
.

Yes responded Donald

,
i t does seem sort o f an ,

ignominious death t o be caught and stretched out on

the prair i e like this per fectly helpless On the other ,
.

hand i f he had ever gotten a w i pe a t one o f our horses

,

with those paws o f his I a m a fraid th a t th ere w oul d ,

not have been much le ft o f the hors e .

We may a s w ell get our ropes back again said Joe , ,

and go ahead about our bu s ine ss Do you boy s w ant .

to take o f f the hide P It ll make a pretty good robe f o r ’

one o f you .

I should like very much to hav e it i f nobody el s e

wants it s aid Donald
,

”
,
H o w do you feel about it .
,

Jack ?

Why repl ied Jack i f you want it you had

, , ,
2 18 J A CK , THE YOUN G C OW BOY

better hav e it and Jo e and me here will help y o u t ake

,

the hid e o ff ’
It s no j oke to skin a bear It take s a
. .

l o ng time and i s hard work and you ge t c ov ered w i th ,

g rea se wh i l e you re d o ing it Howe v er we may as ’

.
,
”
well p it ch i n and get it out o f the way .

”
Well drawled V i cente ; me I go i n o ff t o lo o k
, ,
’

f o r cattle ; when you ge t ready suppose you come ,

”
along .

’
All right answered Jack ,It won t t ake us v ery .

’
lon g We will put the h ide on Donald s horse and
.
,
”
t hen Joe and I w il l hurry on to catch up w i th y o u .

Nevertheless it wa s nearly an h o ur be f ore the hide

,

wa s free d f rom t he c a rcass and done up i n as com pact

a bundl e as po ss i ble ; and t he n t en or fif teen m i nu t e s
’

m ore had to be de vot ed t o th e w o rk o f getting it on

D onald s h o rse f or t h e animal wh o lly obj ected to th e
’

smell o f th e load At last howe v er th e wo rk was .

, ,
‘
c ompl e t ed and D o nal d mounted ; but no s oo ner had

t he blind been l i fted f ro m the h o rse s eye s t han it ’

began t o p i tch and so furiou s ly and long tha t th e boy s

,

f eared th at D onald might be t hrown and h urt Th ey .

’
t hrew the i r rope s o v er the ho rse s head and called t o ,

D onal d t o di sm o unt H e did no t grea tly care to do .

this bu t fina lly di d so and the boy s advised h i m to

, ,

turn abou t and go h ome leading h i s horse at leas t f or ,

a mile or tw o b e fore attemp t ing to moun t it T hey .

would go on and finish the i r circle and would the n ,

c ome arou nd t o the camp .

B e f o re he began his wal k to camp Donal d saw th e

other boys m ount their horses a nd ri de o ff o v er th e
h i lls . As soo n a s h e started his horse began to make ,

trouble f or h i m It began by bucking hard at the end o f

.

t he rope and Do nald was somewha t uneasy les t e ither

,
2 2 0 JACK TH E YOUN G COWBO Y
,

young Engl i shman who at len gt h reached the camp .

H e tied hi s rope s hort to a w agon w heel and took the

bear s kin f rom h is horse and then un s addled and
,

turned loose the animal .

It was some hour s later when V i cente Jack and

,

Tulare J o e reached cam p with a s mall bunch o f cattle

.
 C H APTER X X I
A CAL I F O R N I A B E A R H U N T

T H A T e v en i ng in camp Jack and Donald were f ull

o f the exploits o f the day the roping and death —

o f t he bear .

What I can t understand yet sa i d Donald

’
is , ,

w hy that bear d ied Vicente said that it d ied becau s e

.

it w a s s o mad ; and certainly w e know that it died and ,

w ithout being hur t except so far as it wa s choked b e

,

fore we got it stretched out Di d you ever hear o f any .

t h ing o f that k i nd Hugh ? I s uppo s e you know more

,

about bears than anybo dy in the camp .

” ’
Well replied Hugh
, o f cour s e I v e seen bears
, ,

i n my time and s een s ome o f em killed but I don t

,
’

,
’

’
kno w anything more about w hether they ll di e o f anger
than you do I expect the only men that can tell you
.

’
much about that are Vicente here and Joe I ve heard .

more than once s omething about grizzly bear s dying

’
becau s e they were mad ; but I don t know anything
about i t
’
Come o n J oe laughed Jack, , we v e got to go ,

back to you Cal i fornians now for information Cali

‘
.

f o rnia i s the only place I ever heard o f w here they regu

’
la rly roped gr i zzlies and I suppose it s a long time
,

since th ey di d much o f that .

’
Ye s an sw ered Joe ; it s a long tim e ago The
, .

b i g C ali forni a gr i zzlies had got to be migh ty scarce lon g

22 1
2 22 JACK , THE YOUN G COWBOY

be fore I learned how to throw a rope ; but here s V i ’

’
cente he s s een it done for he told me so to day
—
,
-
.

’
And I ve heard a man who di d it before I wa s born , ,

tell a story o f What he him s el f had s een in Cal i fornia

i n early day s .

’
Well I reckon we ll have to s queeze a s tory or two
,
”
out o f you and Vicente to night s aid Hugh ; but first -
,
’
I d like to hear w hat you know or have heard about , ,

bear s dyin g o f anger .

I know j u s t about as much about it as any o f the

re s t o f u s here re s ponded Joe It used to be com
, .

mon tal k o ut i n C al i fornia that bear s would die o f

a nger ; and th e one we sa w to day certainly acted that -

At the same t i me I don t suppo s e all bears are

’
way .
,

alike in their temper or feel ings any more than all men
”
a re al i ke .

“
I shoul d say no t declared Hugh ; and tha t s ,
’

’
what I ve been try i ng t o t ell the people for a good many
years Men say that deer o r antelope or coyotes o r
.
, , ,

j ack rabbit s alway s act in a cer t ain w ay under certa i n

-
, ,
’
c i rcum s tance s but I don t bel ie v e a w ord o f it .

There s j u s t as much di ff erence i n antelope and coyotes

’

and j ack rabbits as there i s i n horses and cattle and

-

dogs So me are f ast others slow s ome gentle others

.
, ,

wil d ; some are cro s s others friendly ; 1n other words , ,

all t he a n1mals o f a certa i n k i nd are no t exactly alike ,

”
’
and don t all ac t al ike .

I guess e v erybo dy bel i e v es that Hugh sai d , ,

P owell i f he s to ps to think o f it but the trouble with

, ,
’
most o f us i s t ha t we don t s top to think .

“ ’
Tha t s s ure what s the matter with mo s t o f the
’

” ’
pe o ple i n th i s country repl ied Hugh ; they don t s t 0p ,
’
to t h i nk T h ey v e got s ense enough i f the y d only
.
’
,
22 4 J A CK T H E YO U N G C OWBOY
,

Th e next morning early a man was sent o ut t o

g o to the ba it and to wher e the paunch
, had been
dragged so as t o l earn if the bears had found it H e
, .

came back soon and said it looked as i f there had

,

been a th o usand bears going over the trail where th e

paunch had be en dragged H e said that they h a d ea t en.

con s iderable o f the old mare .

The men who were the leaders the bear sharp s

said the bear s would come back that night and that ,

all hand s ought t o be within ear s hot o f the bait by

moonrise S o by dark all the hor s e s w ere s addled and
.
,
’
about ten o clock the head man called the o utfit and led
’
em down toward the bait B e fore they got any w here .

n ear it they could hear the coyote s yelping on the hills

,
.

all around the bait and they knew that the bears were,

at work I f the bear s had not been there the coyote s

.

would be eating and not yelling When they began to .

get near t he place t hey all stopped and tied up the,

chains and the tinklers on thei r spur s so that the s e ,

w ouldn t be heard and then waited f or the moon to

’

ri s e A fter a while the moon came up over the moun

.

tains and then very quietly they j ogged along until

,

they got bet w een the bait and the ravine out o f which
’
the bear s trail had come the night be f ore Then fac .
,

ing around they rode i n a l i ne t o w ard the bait .

’
The leading man h ad t old em tha t tho s e wh o
’
couldn t rope and that meant pretty much all the
—

American s in the bunch had better stay behind a nd

e ither try to catch the cub s or el s e to pound em w ith
’
,

’
their rope s and try to turn em The leading man Don .
,

Jua n wa s going to rope the be ar and he w a s to be

, ,

supported by t w o other good ropers both Cal i fornian s ,

.

Well according to the story they got quite clo s e

, ,
 A CALIFO R N IA B EA R H UNT 22 5

to the bait be fore anyt hing happened and then an ,

’
enormous bear stood up and looked at em The man .

who told me s aid that she looked to h im as tall a s a

’
pine t ree ; bu t I gue s s he wa s n t u s ed to seeing bears .

At a ll events e v en i f she did have her cub s with her

, ,

she pu t out acro s s the fla t making for a big ca non

that wa s quite a long way o ff .

Don Juan and his partner s kep t a f t er her and be

fore very long caught up and Don Juan put hi s rope
a round her neck B ut be fore he knew it she threw
.

it o ff and he had to slow down a little to gather hi s

,

rope Another man drew up to try to rope her but

.
,

the bear ga v e a snort that scared his hor s e so that

it ran away Finally the third man got up to her and
.
,

roping her with a big loop caught her around the ,

neck and behind he r shoulder and the rope s tayed ,

.

S he t urned and charged o n thre e l eg s one o f her fore ,

legs be i ng hel d close to her neck but sh e ne v er ar ,

rived for Don Juan came up at that moment and

,

caugh t both hind feet and i n a minute she was hand

so mely stretched Garcia the man who had been on
.
,

the fr i ghtened hor s e no w came up Taking hi s .

macat e to hold hi s hor s e with he went up to Don Juan

, ,

who in the meantime had ridden up within ten feet

’
o f t he bear s hind leg s shortenin g h is rope all the
,

t i me and so leav ing about twenty feet behind the

,

horn o f the saddle H e passed th i s end t o Garcia

.
,

w h o was no w on foot and Garci a pa ss ing the en d

, ,

o f th e rope through the l o op that wa s about th e bear s ’

neck and fron t foot carried the end back t o Don

,

J uan and helped him hold the bear s hind legs whil e ’

he took up the slack o f the r o pe that had been passed

through th e neck loop When thi s was done and he
.
2 2 6 JACK ,
T HE YOUN G COWB O Y ,

’
got a pull o n the r o pe the bear s hin d fee t cam e
,

close up to i ts neck and it was in kind o f a ball

, .

’
They d pro v ided themselves with strin gs and rope s ,

and no w that the bear was h elpless her mouth w as

ti ed up and then the three men putting thei r ropes
, ,

on he r dragged her to a tree and a fter a good deal

, , ,

o f work and fu ss ing around got one hind foo t o n ,

either side o f the tree trunk and tied the two to ,

gether on the other s ide The bear s hind feet were .

’

thu s usele ss to her She could walk around on her

.

fore feet and dig holes in the ground with em but ’

it was i mpo ss ible for he r to get at the lashing which

held her hind feet .

All the other rope s were t he n t aken o ff and she

w a s le ft there for the night .

‘
“
Meantime the cubs had been attacked by the
,

Americans and a fter a whol e lot o f excitement all

,

t he three were captured and tied up .

Th e next morning they got fresh horses and all

wen t back t here and carried a bee f hide with them .

You heard Vicente say yesterday that i f we h a d a bee f

’
hide we co ul d take the bear to camp didn t y o u , ,

J ack ?
“ ’
Yes ; I heard him say that but I d i dn t know ,
”
wha t he mean t .

“ ” ’ ’
Well said Jo e
,
y o u ll kn o w i f you ll l isten to
,

t h i s s to ry .

“
W h en t hey g ot to t he be ar Don Juan made a ,
’
r o u gh measurement of the distance there d be between
t he t wo f ron t feet and t he t wo h i nd f ee t o f the bear
it she wa s lying stretched out on t he gr o und and ,

then i n the beef hide he cut holes at di ff eren t p o ints .

No w st ro ng r o pes w o und w it h shee p sk i n t o

,
2 2 8 JACK , THE YO UN G CO W BOY

hal f fai r t o the bear f or s he had been t ied up f or a ,

couple o f day s and must have be en fear fully sti f f .

Howev er she wa s ready to figh t B u t it w as pretty

,
.

s hort ; the bull managed to stick hi s horns through

”
her a fter a little bit and killed her ,
.

Jack drew a long breath .

’
G ee wouldn t I like to have been there ! he ex
,

claimed .

They certainly were handy w it h the rope in those

”
day s s aid Hugh
, .

”
Yes replied Joe ,they were Vicente w as tell .

’
i n g me to day about his uncle s catching a bear and
-

tying it up all alone It s eemed to me a pretty good .

’
story I don t believe you can under s tand more than
.

hal f o f it i f he tr i es to tell it in Engl ish Supp o s e I .

get him to tell it to me in Span is h and tell you j u st ,

what he s ays .

Bully ! responded M c Intyre ; t hat ll m a ke it a ’

”
whole lot plainer .

For a moment Jo e and Vicente s poke together in

S pani s h and then Joe turned to the others
,
.

“
All righ t he s aid ; here goes : ,
’
It seem s that Vicente s uncl e was rid i ng thr o ugh
some thick willows i n a wet place on a ranch i n Cali
f o rnia w hen s uddenly h e f elt h is hor s e stagger and
,

heard the s ound o f a sl ap H e knew tha t a b ea r had .

hit at him and mi ssed him and hit the h o rse and the , ,

horse w ent flying out o f the willows i nto the O pe n

gra s s with the bear charg i ng a t h is heels H i s uncle .

slo w ed do w n a little and let the bear get pretty close ,

bending off toward a low stout w illow that grew alone ,

.

When he got nearly up to it he dodged a l ittle to one

side s topped his horse and as the bear passed roped
, , ,
 A CALIFO RN IA B EA R H U N T 2 2 9

him by one hind leg and riding hal f a dozen t imes

,

around thi s willo w drew the bear up close to the tree

, .

O f course the bear was biting at hi s hind foot all

,

the time trying to get rid o f the rope Vicente s

,
.
’

uncle tied the end o f the rope to an outside limb ;

then riding up clo s e to the bear in front o i cour s e
—

it wa s making de s perate e f forts to get at t he man

’
he threw his hair rope over the bear s neck f as t ened ,

it to his saddle horn and backed hi s hor s e o ff so a s

-

to h ol d the bear Then the man got o ff h i s horse

. ,

took o ff his silk sash went around behind the bear

,

w hich wa s hel d by t he horse and tied hi s hind legs

,

together behind the t ree Tha t wa s all t here was to

.

it
Go sh t ha t was en o ugh ! exclaimed J ack Mason
, .

’
We don t kn o w anyth i n g about what those old fel
lows used t o do wi t h horses and cattle and bears .

“ ’ ”
That s so , drawle d V i cen t e In tho s e t i mes
they o ften sent o u t a m an alone t o k i ll and butcher a
steer and br i ng 1t i n to camp Pretty dangero us all
.
,
”
o f it ; bu t th e v aquero mus t no t be a fraid .
 CH A PTER XXI I
H U N TI N G WI T H A S I! -
S H O OT E R

TH E round up was over and the represen t at iv es o f

-

t he various brands had start ed o ff in di f ferent di

rec t ions toward their home ranches taking with t he m ,

the few cattle that had be en gathered during these

las t days W i th the S t urgis pa rty went als o J ack
.

Mas o n who m M c Intyre had engaged o nly for the

,

round up and who wa s beginning to ge t unea s y and

—
,

to long to resume hi s wandering l i fe When he 1 3aid .

h i m o ff M c Intyre said to Mason that he w o uld be glad

,

to have him w o rk o n the ranch for the rest o f the

season and e v en hinted that h e would give him a
,

j ob f o r t he w i nter bu t to the s e proposal s Mason

,

s hook h is head laughingly and declared that his steady

, ,

j ob had lasted long enough and that no w he wa s going

to make a little trip .

There were thu s five men i n t he party tha t was t ra v el

ing toward Swi ft Water Ranch They had about fif ty .

head o f cattle and twenty five hor s es to d ri v e The

-
.

distance wa s short the weather fine and they ex

, ,

p ected to reach th e ranch in three or f o ur days a t ,

t he m o s t .

The mornin g a f ter the round up o utfits had sepa -

rated they started i n go o d season tra v eling up a broad

, ,

ope n v alley between th e mountain s where in many ,

places t he gr a ss stoo d w ell ab ov e t he h o r ses k nees

’
,

2 3 0
2 32 JACK ,
THE YOUN G COWBOY

j u s t my gue s s that maybe he came out t o ha v e a

”
hun t
“ ’
Then take him along You re not needed here .
,

and I certainly would l ike to have s ome wil d meat

”
hung up i n camp .

Jack asked Donald i f he wante d to go and see

whether they could kill an antelope w ith th eir p isto ls ,

and there was no doubt about Donald s readine s s ; ’

s o it w a s not long be fore the t w o youn g fell o ws rid ,

ing ou t well to one side o f the little herd galloped ,

o ff up th e v alley and waving to Rube a s they pa ss ed

, ,

were soon o u t o f sight behind a point o f the hill s .

When they were well be yond s ight or s ound o f the

herd Jack drew in hi s horse and turning toward the
, ,

edge o f the v alley repeated to Donald what Hugh

,

had s aid .

What we wan t t o do Jack went o n is to keep , ,

a s close a s we can to the edge o f the v alley and watch

the ground ahead for antelope Along toward the .

’
middle o f the morning they re likely to get up pretty
high and to l ie down where they can have a good
look o v er the open land I f we can see one lying .

down or can see one working toward a place w here

,

it looks as i f h e might lie do w n we may be able t o ge t ,

right close t o him No w I ve u s ed a pi s t o l mighty

.
,
’

l ittle and I don t feel at all sure that I can hit any
,
’

thing with it Ha v e you ever used a pi s tol much

.
?

In pas t years in England and in New York I , ,

have done s o me shooting with a pi s tol at a target but ,

o f course I have ne v er shot at game and I fancy that

to s hoot a t g ame i s very di f ferent from shooting at a
target in a qu i e t place wi t h all t he lights arranged
,
”
j ust so .
 HUNTI NG WIT H A '

SI ! SHOOT E R
- 2 33

Yes laughed Jack

,
I s h o uld think i t would be ;
,
’

ut i f you kno w how to shoot a p is tol you ll have t o ,

do your be s t to kill the game I tell you i f we come .

,

in to night without anything I shall lay it up a g ains t

-
,

”
y ou .

“
I ll do w h a t I can D o nald pr o mised
’
, i f yo u ,

will t a ke me up close enough to get a fair shot You .

see in t he shooting g alleries the dis t ances are shor t

-
,

scarcely ever ove r t w enty yard s ; and what i s more ,

the peopl e there s hoot w i t h s pecial pistol s and o ften ,

w ith special ammunition S o i f I flunk o n kill ing .

game you can see I will have plenty o f excuses B e

,
.

side s tha t I don t know anything abou t thi s p ist ol

,
’

’
it s a new one I ve j ust bought and I can t tell any
’ ’

,
’
thing abou t how it s going to shoot .

The hills which bordered the v alley on ei ther s i de

were lo w but rough rocky ledge s o f t en thrust t hem
, ,
’
selves out t o the v alley s edge and from the s e ledges ,

great p i nk or reddish rocks occa s ionally worn in to ,

queer shapes had fallen S ometimes around such a

, .

great rock w a s a l ittle tangle o f underbrush cherry ,

curran t and ra s pberries wh i le some ti mes there wa s

no bru s h and the yellow grass grew close about t he
rock s It was up here on the higher land that Jack
.

hoped to find antelope lying do w n and under co v er , ,

o f rocks and bru s h and the inequalities o f the ground ,

to be abl e t o get close enough to kill one w i th a p is tol .

As they r o de on i t became clear t hat Hugh had

sen t t hem to a good huntin g place for antelope .

G ro ups o f these animals o r Sometimes old b ucks feed ,

in g s i ngly could be seen e v ery f ew hundred yards f o r

,

a long distance ahead S ome o f the bucks seemed .

to carry extraordina rily l arge h o rns wh i ch wo uld ,

2 34 JA C K THE YO UN G COWB OY
,

make fine trophie s to hang on the wall and b o th Jack ,

and Donald regretted that they did not have thei r

rifl es .

Donald wh ose experience in hunt i ng was much le s s

,

than Jack s w a s anxious to try to approach the first

’

bunch o f antelope they saw ; bu t J ack pointed out to

him that thi s could no t be done becau s e there was ,

littl e or no co v er H e expla i ned further that i f they

.

star t ed the antelope running along this v alley they ,

wou l d pu t e v ery animal t here on the alert and their ,

hunting later in the day w o uld be j us t so much t he

more difficult .

“
I f we ride al o ng close to t he rocks here he ,

said , t he antelope w i ll pay litt le attention to us .

S ome o f them will stand and look and perhaps walk ,

o ff a l ittl e way but w hen t hey see u s go on about our

,

business they will begin t o feed again Alon g t o .

w ard the middle o f the day if we keep our eyes well ,

open we are pretty sure to find some o f t hese big

,
’
bucks lyin g down clo s e t o the hills and t he n we ll ,

gi ve you a chance to see wha t you can do with your

”
s ix shooter
-
.

All r i ght agreed D o nald ; all right ; you re the

,
’

hun t er and I a m pe r fectly willing to follow along be

,

hind and do what you tell me to .

Oh i t s not that
’ ’

, But I v e had more experience .

than you and I know be tter than you what animal s

,
”
will d o under certain c i rcum st ances Why J ack
‘

.
,

laughed don t I remember the first antelope I e v e r

,
’

killed ! H ow cr a zy I was to get up to it and h o w I ,

fell down two or three times on th e way t o the top

o f the hill and h o w I finally scared the antelope ou t
,

o f th e c o untry ! I bel i e v e tha t was one o f t he bes t

2 36 JACK ,
T HE YOUN G COWBOY
’
h as t urned its head and w e don t s ee the horns f rom ,

the point o f V ie w that we di d be fore It w ould be .

hard for me to say po s itively that any o f tho s e things

were not el k or cattle but I m dead s ure that they are ,
’

all antelope becau s e at this time o f the day t here

,

would not be any elk in thi s place ; that s one thing ; ’

another t hing i s i f they were cattle they would look

,

di f feren t They would be s quarer broader heavier

.
, ,

Hold on t here ! B end down s low and slip o ff y o ur ,

horse '
In a m omen t the boys were on the ground .

“
Did you see him ? Jack whi s pered .

No an s wered D o nal d ; I didn t s ee anything

,
’
.

’
Why there s a big buck antelope lying there no t
, ,

se v enty h y e ya rds a w ay and he didn t s ee us either

-
,
’
.

I believe we can crawl up close enough to get a

s hot L ook here yo u said j u s t now that you didn t
.
,
’

know your pi s tol and didn t know h o w you could ,

’

s hoot with it Do you w ant to take mine

.
? I can
tell you how i t shoot s but I don t know tha t that ll ,
’ ’

do much good I f you can get near enough to the

.

buc k and can find a place to re s t the pistol you had ,

better s hoot at him from a re s t .

Well how are we going to get near him ? a s ked

’
Donald I don t know where he is You will ha v e
. .

to crawl up to him and when you get to the r1gh t ,

place call me up and I ll s hoot

,
’
.

I think w e can get up to him all right sai d Jack , .

He s lying up on a l ittle bench and I belie v e w e

’

,
“

can c rawl along under the bank right clo s e to h im .

The only dange r i s that he ll s ee you w hen you ri s e ’

to shoot ; and I suppo s e i f you ha v e to shoot at h im

’ ”
o n the run you ll mi s s him
,
.
 HU N TI NG WITH A S I! -
S HO OT E R 2 37

m s ure I s hall but let s try anyhow

’ ’
I , .

They threw down the rein s o f their hor s es and ,

t urn i ng to w a rd the valley crept v ery care fully down

i n t o a little sag Jack pointed ahead to where a grea t
.

rock s ho w ed s i xty o r seventy yards away .

“
H e s lying right at the f oo t o f tha t rock ; be
’

t ween us and it No w we ll ha v e t o cra w l along th i s

’
.
,

lo w place stick i ng a s flat t o the ground as we know

, ,

h o w and then when we get w ithin th i rty or fort y

,

yards you li ft up your head and h nd h im and kill

,

him i f you can I f you mi ss him I may take a pop

,
.
,
-

at him ; but I m certain I shan t h it h im when he s

’ ’ ’

” ’
running B ut say he cautioned in a w hi s per don t
.
, , ,

you take your pistol o ut o f your hol s ter until you

get ready to s hoot and I won t take mine out either
’
.
,

I m a frai d that i f we h a ve them in our hands w e

’

”
might kill each other in s tead o f the antelope .

All r i ght agreed Donald , .

Jack t hrew o ff his hat and Donald di d the same ,

and the boys crept along very cautiou s ly and slowly .

As t hey advanced the top o f the rock s eemed t o come ,

nearer and nearer and a t lengt h they were quite ,

clo s e to it Presently Jack s topped looked back and

.
,

motioned w i th h is hand f or Donald to creep up be

side him .

No w you go up v ery s lowly on your knees he ,

w hi s pered and try to find him Remember that

, .

the first thing you will see i s hi s black horns stick

ing up I f you see t hem close t ogether his head will
,
,

be turned out toward the v alley i f you see them wide

’
s pread he ll be look i ng straight in our direction .

Wait i f you can until he look s out toward the valley

, , ,
’
a nd t hen rise and sh o ot You ll ha v e to sh oo t pretty .
2 38 JACK , T HE YO UN G CO WB O Y
’
qu i ckly for he s almos t certa i n to see us Ra i se y o ur
, .

”
head v ery s lo w ly .

D onald gathered hi s legs under him and v ery s lowly

rose to hi s knees at t he same time feel i ng f or hi s,

six s hooter G radually as hi s head rose higher and

-
.

h i gher his hand went around to his hip ; but w hen he

,

wa s s t anding on his knees it was evident that he saw

noth i ng H e looked at Jack who motioned w i th his
.
,

hand t oward the r o ck and Donald crept fo rw a rd a ,

l i t tle way up t he bank Th i s time when he ra i sed .

h is head he saw the anima l

, H e dre w his pis t ol a nd .

noi selessly c o cked it waited a moment and then rais , ,

i n g h i s head and hand slowly he fired , .

Jack w as o n his knees behind Donald and had his

pistol ready bu t nothing stirred , .

You m ust ha v e go t him ! Jack cried .

T he b oys quickly j umped to their feet and clim be d

up t he bank and there was t he antelope h i s head
, ,

st retched ou t be f ore h i m .

“ ”
Let s get a kni f e i nto h i m !
’
exclaimed J ack .

”
H e may be only creased .

A f ew step s brough t the b o ys to him and t ak i n g ,

’
hol d o f t h e antelope s horn Jack thrust in his kni fe
a t t he po i n t o f t he breas t Then he sa w that the ball .

had entered j us t below th e head and h ad br o ken the

’
antelope s neck .

By J ove ! he c r i ed that w as a go o d shot and , ,

a qu i ck shot ! I f that wasn t an acc i dent it was cer ’

I d gi v e a go o d de a l to be
’
ta inly a way up shot .

able t o shoo t a p i stol l i ke t h at three ti m es o ut o f

five .

I t was a lucky sh ot sure enough laughed Don , ,

’
a ld . I can t do tha t s o r t o f th i ng three t i me s out
 CHAPTER X ! I II
A L OA D OF M E AT

TH E sun was hanging low i n the western sky on

the evening o f th e second day a fter this when the
l ittle bunch o f s tock having entered the home valley
,

and cro s sed the s tream s w hich ran do w n from the

lo w mountain s b ack o f the ranch approached the cor
,

ner o f the pa s ture and saw the lake The lo w ranch.

buildings were s till hi dden behind the hill s but all ,

the surroundi ng s w ere those of home The cattle .

were le ft by the lake to mingle with the other s that

with i n the pa s t f ew w eeks had been brought to the
home range but the men dro v e the horses along in
, ,

tending to turn them into the big pa s ture until it had

be en determined what s addle animal s s hould be kept
up. Most o f them ho w eve r w ould be turned out and
, , ,

would do no more work unt i l the bee f round up a -

couple o f month s later .

There was no especial work f or any one to do and ,

Hugh a s ked Jack why he and D onald did not ride

on to the house and see M r Sturgis When this was
. .

su gges t ed D on al d sai d he woul d be v ery glad to do

so
I ha v e no t said anyth i ng to y o u abo ut it Jack , ,

but I have a l etter o f introduction to M r Sturgi s from .

my uncle w ho i s an old friend o f hi s I think that

,
.

”
they were in college together a good many years ago
,
.

2 40
 A LOAD OF M EAT 2 4 1

Well sa i d Jack
, you ll like Uncle Will all
,
’

’
right I kno w I f you don t you ll be di f ferent from
, .
,
’

most o f the other people in thi s country O f cour s e .

I like him because he s my uncle and perhaps you ’

might say Hugh l ike s him becau s e he work s for him ,

but I think you ll h nd that mo s t people on the range

’

and at th e r a ilroad think a good deal o f him I once .

overheard a man s ay t o another : What I like abo ut

’
that man Sturg i s i s t ha t he d o n t pu t on any airs ; he s ’

’
j u s t as comm o n a s yo u and me That sounds a lit .

tle queer o f c o u rse becau s e b ack East when any

, ,

body speak s o f another pers o n as common it ha s a ,

bad sound ; bu t I reckon out here they use the word

”
in a sense that maybe we h a v e forgotten .

The boys started ahead and turning the corner o f , .

the p a sture fence the y galloped along toward the house

whic h they coul d no w see N o one s eemed to be .

stirring until they were near enough to the black

,

smith shop t o hear the ringing o f hammer on an v il ,

and for the hoo f b eats o f their horse s to be heard

—

in the shop Th en Joe with a hammer in one hand

.
,

and a pai r o f tongs in the other looked out of the ,

door and on reco gnizing Jack shouted a greeting and

,

w a v ed his tool s The boys dre w up by the corral

.

fence and t ied the i r horses and then having shaken , ,

h a nd s with Joe wen t up to the house to s ee M r

,
.

Sturgi s H e wa s f ound writing in the s itting room

.
-
,

and welcomed the boys cordially When he h a d read .

D onal d s letter he ga v e him an extra hand s hake and

’

told him th at h e must stay there as long as he w ould .

Donald s arri v al had not been altogether a s urpri s e to

’

M r Sturgi s for among the mail w aiting at the ranc h

.
,

were two o r three le tte rs fo r the yo ung Engl i shma n ,

2 42 JACK ,
THE YOUN G COWBOY

as well as for Jack ; and a ft er t he first greetings wer e

o v er the two b oys retired to read their mail .

’
Among Jack s was a letter from Sam William s ,

saying that he w a s in Cheyenne and had succeeded in

getting work ; that he had le ft the horse and saddl e
’
at Brown s livery stable a s promi s ed and that when , ,

Jack was ready he would be glad to have him s end

,

him t he fi f teen dollar s s till due him on the saddle and

bridle Jack felt that he mu s t inquire about thi s at
.

on ce and s ee that William s got hi s money as s oon

,

as po s sible .

When the r eading o f the letter s was ov er M r ,

.

St urgis looked up from his writing .

“ ”
Jack he said , Hugh told me about the tr o u
,
’
bl e o v er a t Po w ell s the day you started away from
here and a f ew days ago when Joe wa s in t own
, ,

B rown t o l d him that some w eek s be fore a man had

le ft at hi s stable that gray horse and a s addle and
bridle which were to come out to you here Joe .

brought them ou t H e brough t o ut Donald s trunk

’
.

on the same trip .

Yes Uncle Will ; I ha v e a let t er here f rom th e

,
’
young fellow who le ft the thing s at B rown s saying ,

that h e had done so I owe him some money on .

that s addle and mu s t see that it goes to him the next

,

time anybody goes to town .

“
Ye s said M r S t urgis
,
”
don t neglec t tha t
. If ,
’
.

y o u really owe money pay it a s quickly as you can ,

.

H ow d o you mean to send it to the man ? I can gi v e

you a check o f cour s e but tha t may not be t he most
, ,

”
con v enient way for him .

” “
No replied Jack
,
I guess it wouldn t b e It ,
’
.

should be sent either i n currency in a regi s tered let

2 44 JACK ,
THE YOUN G COWBOY

meat was running lo w M r Sturgis w ith a sm i le asked

, .

Jack and D o nald w hether they w ished to go out and

kill a load o f meat or w hether he should s end out
,

and have a bee f driven in .

The boy s declared that they would make the hun t ;

and up on the mountain back o f the hou s e where the ,

elk had the i r s ummer home s eemed the only place ,

to go To be sure there was a bunch o f antelope o v er

.
,

in the big pa s ture and a f ew mul e deer l ived in some

,

o f the ravines running down from the hills ; but M r .

Sturgi s liked to see these animal s near the house and

had reque s ted his own people and their neighbors not
to di s turb either the deer or the antelope .

Jack and Donald agreed there fore that the nex t

morning they w ould climb the mountain and try to
find an elk ; and w hen Jack Mason heard o f it he ,

s aid that h e w anted to go along i f hi s j ob s houl d be ,

only to lead the pack horse H e was already tired .

o f lo a fing .

M r Sturgis had decided to send Hugh to town

.

the next day and that evening Jack arranged w ith

,

him to get a money order to send to Williams at

Cheyenne .

Soon a fter breakfa s t th e following morning the ,

three s tarted on their hunt To J ack the trail up the.

mountain wa s fa miliar enough for he had kno w n it ,

now s ince s mall boyhood To the other s it was ne w

.

and full o f interest ; and Donald e s pecially looked , ,

do w n w ith great interest and c urio s ity into the deep ,

narrow and dark ravine s above w hich the trail ran .

Suddenly Jack w ho was in the lead held up his

, ,

hand and then s lo w ly sl ipped o f f hi s horse on the

,

upper sid e and came quietly back t o Donald and Ma s on .

 ‘
A L OAD 0 1 MEAT 2 45

There are five bull elk he said down here in , ,

this ravine j u s t a little ahead o f us I don t think

,
.
’

we want to kill them but you might like to s ee them , ,

’
Donald I don t know i f you ever sa w elk at thi s
.

time o f the year j u s t when thei r horns are hal f

’
grown It s intere s ting to s ee them go through the
.
‘

thick t imber and to notice how care ful they are to

,

keep from knocking thei r horn s against the trunks

and branche s among w hich the y tra v el O i cour s e .
,

the horns are v ery tender at thi s s eason and the ani ,

mal s take the grea t e s t care no t to h it them agains t

”
anything
I d greatly l ike t o see t he m Jack
.

Can we get
’
, .

a loo k at them ?

Yes ; sl ip o ff your horse and we can go forward ,

on foot and get a look at them I think They were ,

.

’
mov ing when I sa w them but I don t think they sa w ,
”
me .

’
Well sai d Mason ,
I ll s t ay back and bring the , ,

hor s es on up to your horse Jack ,

.

”
All right an s wered Jack ; and he and Don al d
,

went forward They had pass ed Jack s hor s e only .

’

about t w enty fee t when Jack s topped and pointed , ,

and in a moment D onal d could s ee the yello w bodie s

o f the elk sh o w mg up i n th e sh adow as they walked
along the ra v ine .

Shan t we kill o ne ? whi s pered Donald a fter a

’

momen t .

It doesn t seem w o rth while The s e fellows are

’
.

’
growing their horns no w and they ll be poor enough ,

for a month longer Y o u know t hose horns grow .

,
’
about a s fa s t a s corn and they re a terrible drain on ,

th e anim a l On the other hand j u s t as s oon as they

.
,
2 46 J A CK ,
THE Y O UN G CO W B OY

h ave got thei r growth and begin t o harden the bull , ,

elk l ay on fat in a w ay to astonish anybody and by ,

the end o f Augus t o r first o f September they are , ,

fit to kill hog fat Besides t hat even i f the s e elk

—
.
,

w ere in good order now w e don t want to finish our ,

’

hunt at the very be ginning o f the day and then have ,

to go back t o the ranch and stay around there until

ni ght I f we keep on w e can very likely find a year
.

ling o r a t w o year old hei fer that w ill make us good

- -

”
meat and be worth bringing back .

’
For some time the boys watched the elk s slow prog
re ss up the ravine but a t len gt h the animal s turned o ff
,

into a s ide ravine and di sa ppeared among tree s and

bru s h and were s een no longer Then the boy s went .

back t o the i r horses rem o unted and r o de on up the ,

trail .

A fter a time t hey came up out o f the ra v ine into a

narrow gra ss y valley with little grove s of quaking
a s pen and bordered on e ither side by high ridges o f
weathered pink granite Here the slope wa s gradual .
,

until a t the head o f th e v alley they reached a rolling

plateau with a s pens here and there and fa rther o ff
, ,

higher hill s crowned by pines The country they

,
.

were entering wa s s ingularly picture s que Donal d .

was greatly impre ss ed w hile the apparently practical ,

Jack Ma s on declared that i t was as pretty a hunting

country as he d ever s een ’
.

E v erywhere in the bare soil o f the plateau wh i ch

showed among t h e tu ft s o f gra ss al ready beginning ,

to t urn yellow were seen the trace s o f elk Some

, .

o f t he t racks had been made in the s pring w hen the

s o il was wet ; they had s unk deep in the s oft mud ,

and showed the imprint s o f the dew claws Other -

.
2 48 JAC K ,
T HE YOUN G c o ws o y

o ne still straighter until finally when s he got to th e

, ,
”
o utside she had to take one that wa s crooked .

H a ! h a ! laughed Ma s on
’ ’
That s the way I v e .

’
seen i t d o ne o ft en with hun t ers B u t l et s follow .

’ ’
Jack D onald H e s the boss and i f w e don t get any
,
.
,

meat we ll pu t th e blame on him and make lots o f

,
’

,
”
fun o f hi m when we get back to the ranch .

“ ”
Let it be so a cquie s ced Donald ,
.

J ack Danver s grinned .

’ ”
I ll accept it he said , .

For t hree quarters o f an hour t hey r o de o n con ,

sta ntly ascending by a g entle sl o pe T wo o r three .

time s they saw othe r elk near or far o ff and mo re than ,

once Jack was warned by Do nald of the hum i l i ation

o f being laughed at when they go t back to the ranch .

But Jack only l aughed and in t ima t ed th at Don al d was .

a B ritish pilgrim .

At la st Jack dismo un t ed a t a l ittle grove o f pin e

timber at the foot o f a rocky hill steep and broken
, , .

“ ’ ”
Let s stop here h e s aid and climb up to the, ,

t op o f thi s hill and see w hat there i s to look at .

When we get up there Donal d c an s oothe his f eel ,

ings with the B riti s h pi p e he carries and the rest o f

”
us will study the land s cape .

T he hor s es w ere tied and a short scramble brought ,

the men t o the s harp peak o f the hill a rocky needle

s t anding up s everal hundred feet above the pl a teau .

From thi s s ummit was had a w ide view which really

j u s tifi ed J ack T o the south a nd ea s t they looked
.

o ut o v er the basin where the ranch w a s t hough the ,

dis t ance was s o great that there was no detail Be .

hind them to the north and w es t wa s a s tretch o f

, ,

pl ateau broken by groves and l i nes o f p ines and aspens ,

 A L OA D 0 1 M EAT ? 2 49

nd i n th e littl e parks among thi s timber were a num

er o f animal s mo s t o f them elk though there were
, ,

s ome antelope On the plateau bet w een the ba s in

.

from which they had come and the pinnacle on which

they stood in many little parks and openings were
,

elk and in o ne o f t he larger parks a herd o f ante

lope .

Why excla i med J ack Ma s on

, this i s a regular ,

elk pasture ! It seems to me t he elk are th icker here

than the cat t le on the pra i r i e where we passed along ,
”
only a few days ag o .

”
Well re plied Jack
,
there are a great many elk
,

up here and v ery few people come here to hunt them

,
.

A few o f the ranch peo ple round about w hen they ,

need fresh mea t come here and kill it and that is

, ,

al l th e hunting that i s done here But I m a fraid .

’

the pl a ce i s getting talked about I heard last year .

o f thre e or four s ettlers from down i n Colorado wh o

came up to the Hole where mo s t o f the elk w inter
, ,
’
and loaded up their wagons with thei r winter s meat .

I f three or four people from Colorado did that las t

’
year it s likely that a dozen or twenty w ill do it
,

this year and t w o or three times that number the

,

ye a r a fter I f they do that that w ill be the end of

.
,

the elk here and I gue s s they ll do it ’

.

The boy s sat there for an hour or two looking o v er

this lovely m ountain prospect and then Jack Danver s ,

stood up .

Well I r ea lly hate t o do it he s aid

, but I sup , ,
’
pose w e y e got to go do w n and kill s o m ething and ,
”
take it back to the ranch .

They climb ed dow n the steep hill and un t ied the i r

horse s .
2 5 6 JACK ,
THE YOU N G COWBOY

No w Jack cautioned the boys

,
we ought to go ,

more care fully Donald I expect you d like to kill

.
,
’

’
a n elk w ouldn t you
?
,

You bet I w ould !

All right then ; let s go on and do it ’
.

On the return they took a valley a little to the west

o f the one t hey had follo w ed up and it w a s not v ery ,

l ong be fore J ack halted and called a council .

Now it seem s to me that j ust beyond th i s point

o f timber w e sa w from the h ill a little bunch o f elk ,
’
and among them there s likely to be the animal we
want a fa t yearl ing I don t suppo s e there ll be
-
.
’ ’

any trouble i n getting up to it not hal f a s much —

’
as there d be in getting up to a range c o w on foot
’
but let s go o n We can ri de until we see t he elk
.
,
”
and then g e t o ff to shoot .

They entered the green timber in single h le J ack ,

i n the lead and Jack Ma s on bringing up the rear

with th e pack animal It wa s all very simple B e . .

f ore they reached the edge o f the timber on the other

sid e Jack wh o had been looking care f ully stop ped
, , ,

a nd craned his neck to one side and then slipp ed o ff

h i s horse and beckoned to Donald .

Very quietly the t wo proceeded on foot and be ,

f o re they reached the edge o f the timber Jack pointed

out to Donald two or three elk ly ing near the open
ing but he motioned to him to wait be fore s hoot
,

i n g A fter a little s tudy Jack fix ed on a fat yea rling

.

tha t lay s lightly apart from the other s and told Don ,

ald to shoot it behind the s houlder and lo w down .

When the s hot rang out all the elk sprang to their
feet except the one Donald had h it Thi s one partly .

r a ised i t sel f and then lay down again and a fter a mo ,

 A LOAD OF MEAT 2 5 1

m ent pu t it s head on t he ground T he other elk .

s t ood abou t looki ng The boys went back for t heir

.

h o r s es and when they came out from th e timber to

,

w a rd the dead animal t he o t her elk w ere hardly a

,

h undred yards away and were walk i n g up t he li t tle

park w i thout s howing any alarm .

’
To prepare the elk s carcass for t ra nspo rtat i on to
camp and to load the greater part o f it on the pa ck
hor s e took only a little t i me and the boys went on
,

to ward home .

Jack congratul ated Donald on the sho t .

I t w as a good one he s aid and I bel i eve you re

, ,
’

an older hunter than I thought The wa y y o u killed .

that antelope the other day and thi s elk makes me

, ,

t h ink that you ve done a lot o f hunting O i cour s e

’
.
,

I m not much o f a bel iever in thi s buck f e v er that

’
-

y
o u read about in the book s but i t certainly i s true
,

that w hen pilgrim s are s hooting at game for the first

’
time they don t al w ays keep their heads I reckon
, .
,

’
though that you ve hunted more than I supp osed and
, ,

I bel ie v e that you can s hoot all right and maybe can ,

beat some o f us ou t here who think we can shoot

”
pret ty steadily .
 CHAPTER XXI V

FL A GG I N G AN A N T E L O PE

T 111 : days pa ss ed plea s antly and s wi f tly It was n o t .

th e s eason f o r killing game and excep t when fresh,

meat wa s required no hunting was done Neverth e .

le s s t here wa s w ork enough Every day one man

,
'
.

rode o ff and made a long round o f the ba s in looking

care fully f or the tracks o f cattle le ading away from
it
. I f fre s h tracks were seen the cattl e were fol ,

l o wed rounded up and driven back to th e home range

, ,
.

The work o n a ran ch i s never ended The irrigatin g .

ditche s had to be looked a fter and the water from

time to time turned on or o ff the hay-fields or the
garden patch Haying time would come be fore long
-
.
,

and in that country hay was money and worth more ,

than a cent a po und When no work w as pre ss ing

.
,

Jack Danvers and D onal d got on their horses and

rode down to the lake and perhaps lay there on a
,

l i ttle knoll and with their gla s se s wa t ched the young

ducks swimming on the lake or the young plover , ,

sandpipers and curlews that fed along its borders .

The first two or t hree times the boys went down there ,

all the young birds hid and the old one s made a great
,

outcry t he curlews and pl o v ers flying o v er them and

,

w hi s tling shrilly as i f to frighten them away but a fter

a ti me the bird s s eemed to become accu s tomed to the
boys and t o regard them as ordinary obj ects a t t h e
landscape and no longer to be feared .

2 5 2
2 54 JACK , T HE Y O UN G COWBO Y

bowed h i m f o rwa rd un ti l h is t runk wa s par allel w i th

the slop i ng beach and then suddenly with a mighty ,

pluck he w as drawn from the mud and thrown he avily

,

on the ground Jack stopped the hor s e s and in a

.
,

moment the ropes w ere loos ened and Donald recovered

hi s brea th Hi s legs were uninj ured and Jack a s ked
.
-
,

him h o w h i s che s t felt .

Whew ! I f eel a s i f a gr iz zly bear had been hug

ging me and hugging me tight ! Honestly I thought
, ,
”
I heard my ribs crack j ust be fore I w a s pulled out .

“ ’
Well it s not very good fun I had Hugh do
, .

that preci s e thing to me once w hen I was a l ittl e ,

”
fell o w and I thought I wa s going to pull to pi ece s
, .

Do you mean to say that you ever did so fool

i sh a trick a s to walk into a mud hole like that ?
Jac k l aughed .

In my ca s e it w a s quicksand bu t the e f fec t was ,

the s ame My feet and leg s from the knee s do w n

.

’
ward w ere gripped fa s t and I couldn t get ou t I .

’
really don t suppo s e I ever came a s near dying a s I
’
did that day It w as j u s t the accident o f H ugh s com
.

i ng into camp at the right moment and seeing and ,

hearing me that g ot me out o f it I th i nk on that

, .

trip I learned a c o uple o f les s ons abou t doing what

I w a s t old to that I h av e never forgotten and my in ,

struction came 1n t he shape o f two huge scare s S ay .

,
”
y o u seem t o ha v e shed your f oot gear in that mud -
.

”
Y es Do n ald replied
,
I f they had not let go
.
,

I w o uld probably be there still or a t lea st a part o f ,

me Y ou might have s ucceeded in pulling the upper

.

part o f my body away but my f eet and legs w o ul d ,

”
hav e b een down t here yet -
.

” ’
Well said J ack
, there s no hope o f reco v er i n g
,
 F L AG G I NG A N ANTELO PE 2 55
’
anything from that mud You ll have to get ne w s h oes .

”
and spurs .

’
S pur s I ll have to get but I have shoes at the ,

ra nch f
’

It w a s t w o o r three week s after their elk hunt that

the t w o boy s on being tol d that fre s h meat w a s
,

again needed decided that they w ould go over to

,

Willow C reek t w enty five miles from home where

,
-
,

the Pick ranch had an old cabin and camping there ,

would try to kill three o r four buck antelope Donal d .

w a s e s pecially keen about that for though in previou s ,

trip s to the United State s he had killed one or two

antelope hi s experience with thi s curious and inter
e s ting animal w as limited .

It w a s propo s ed that Jack Ma s on s hould go along .

Each man woul d take hi s s add le hor s e and w hile t w o

w ould ride the third would drive the w agon h i s
, ,

s addle animal carrying the saddle being tied up to

the hames o f one o f the team hor s es In the w agon .

they woul d t ake a tent and three or four days g rub ’

.

They s tarted one morning in good s ea s on and were

four or five miles from the ranch be fore the s un sho w ed
its face over the high eastern h ills .

A littl e farther o n as Jack a nd Donal d rode up

,

on a lo w ridge Jack saw o ff to the le ft a yearling

,

buck antelope di s tant not more than sixty o r seventy

,

yard s which gazed s teadily at them Jack pulled up

,
.

and motioned to Donald to get o ff hi s h o r s e and kill

the yearling which notwithstanding their mo v ements
, , ,

s tood looking at them Donal d gave Jack his reins .

and stepped behind the hor s es where he thre w a ,

cartridge i nto hi s gun and fired at the antelope At .

the rep o r t th e yearling trotted a f ew s t eps t oward

2 5 6 JACK , THE YOUN G COWBO Y

them and Jack saw the ball strike the prairie far
,

beyond the animal Again Donald fired and again .

,

the antelo p e advanced a f ew s tep s Jack saw the .

s econd bullet knock Up the du s t far to w ard the hill

s ide .

’
You re s hooting too high ! he called to Donald ;
’
you re s eeing too much o f your foresight Draw .

down a good deal finer and aim at th e point o f his

”
b rea s t .

The th i rd time Donal d shot and this time the ante

lope fell .

“
Where did you hol d for that l a s t shot ? asked
Jack as the t w o rode up to the fallen animal
, .

“ ”
S quare f or t he brea s t s aid Donald , .

’
Well i f that s the ca s e you mu s t dra w your
, ,

sight s till finer for I believe you hit that antelope in

,
”
t he neck high up ,
.

When they di s mounted thi s proved to be the f act .

The antelope s neck wa s broken by a ball which had

’

entered the throat only about three i nche s beneath

t he head .

“
Wa s this antelope in s ane ? Donald a s ked Jack ,

as they began the w ork of dre ss ing the animal .

Why did he not run away ? In s tead o f doing that

”
h e kept coming clo s er at each s hot .

That s e as ily explained In the first place the sun

’
.
,

was shining square i n hi s eyes and we were bet w een ,

him and th e sun there fore he could not make out ,

’
what we were Besides that you s ee he s a yearl ing
.
, ,

and it s quite possible that he never be fore heard the

’

”
sound o f a gun Evidently it did no t s ca re him at all
. .

I m glad to have that e

“ ” ’
Well said Donald , ,
Y

p lained I f you had not told

. me how it wa s I s hould ,
2 5 8 JACK TH E YOUN G COWBOY
,

I see f eeding on the prairie o ff to the north I f they .

shoul d happen t o be M r Sturgis cattle we ought to .

’

turn em back to th e ranch It seems to me I heard

’
.

Rube speak the other night o f seeing some tracks lead

ing o ff in thi s direction but s omehow he lo s t the trail
,

and couldn t find em It may be that these are the

’ ’
.

’ ’
ca tt l e and i f there s any bee f among em they certainly
,
”
ought to be thro w n back no w .

”
Right you are s aid Jack L et s get the tent
,
.
’

up and then w e ll leave Donald to pack w ood and water

’

and buil d the fire and we ll go o ff and look at the

,
’

”
cattle .

Donald wa s ready to attend to the c oo king s o far as

he could There really w a s not much to do for they
.
,

had brought s ome bread ; and all that w a s nece ss ary

w a s to cut and fry some meat and boil the co ff ee , .

Jack suggested that Donald might skin the antelope

and get the meat ready for frying It would take the .

t w o Jack s only a s hort time to ride over to the cattle ,

but i f they proved to be Sturgi s cattle they ought to ’

be looked a fter I f they had located them s elves up

.

on the high bench and w ere likely to s tay there there ,

w as no special reason for driving them back into the

Ba s in ; on the other hand i f they w ere s lo w ly travel ,

ing a w ay from the Ba s in they ought to be turned back .

When the boys reached th e cattle only fif teen or

’
eighteen head they found that they were Sturgis
—

cattle ch iefly cows and young s t o ck but with them

.
,

four or five s teers s ome o f w hich w ould be ready for

,

s hipment that autumn A careful look over the .

ground and the disco v ery o f a more o r le s s wor n trail

,

where th e cattle seemed for several day s to have been

going to water made the men think that the animal s
.
 FLA GGI N G AN ANTELO PE 2 59

were not trav el ing but w ould s tay there or t here , ,

about for some time

,
.

Well said Jack Dan v er s

,
”
I be l ieve these cattle ,

h a v e stopped here Why not leave them alone and .

,

keep an eye on them for the day or t w o that we are

'

hunting he re and then when we s tart back two o f u s

,

can drive them along to the ranch and t urn t hem

loose do w n by t he lake ?
’
I gue ss that s the thing to do agreed Jack Mas o n , .

Meantime i f they s hould mo v e away one o f us can

, ,
’ ’
pick up the trail and probably o v ertake em I don t .

seem to reme mber any o f the s e cows on the r o und up -

,
”
but o f c o ur s e they were there .

I remember th at bla ck and w hite co w and her c al f ,

and that bob tailed bay steer over there I th ink the
~
.

day they w ere cut ou t was about the time you we nt

”
into town to inter vi e w your f riend Cla ib Wo o d .

Ma s on laughed .

I j us t envy yo u f ellows the f un you had o ut o f

that l ittle argument that Cla ib and I had in t ow n I .

’
believe I v e bee n better t han a comic paper to that
’ ’ ”
round up camp and it didn t co st em anything either
—
, , .

When they returne d to camp they found that Donald

had been busy Th e bed s were in the tent ready for
,

unrolling ; the antelope had been s kinned and meat cut

for frying ; the co f fee had been boiled and w a s standing
i n the a shes near the fire w here it would keep hot .

Donal d had un s addled hi s horse and turned it loo s e

w ith drag rope and had tied the rope s o f the tw o
—
,

work hor s es to bunches o f sage brush -

.

Bully f o r you ! called Jack Thi s looks like .

bu sine ss Ju s t as s o o n as we p i cke t o ur horses we ca n

.

”
ha v e s upper .
2 66 JACK ,
THE YOU N G c o ws o y

The work o f pi cketing the h o rses s o that they could

ge t a s much gra ss as possible and ye t would not get
’
tangled in one another s ropes was soon over and ,

be fore the sun had s et the simpl e meal was finish ed and
the dishe s w a s hed ready for break fa st
, .

The night was clear and warm with a full m o on , ,

and n o thing di s turbed the rest o f the hun t ers though ,

as they fell a s leep they heard the ch o rus o f coyotes

from the nearby hills .

I t w as not light the next morning when Jack Dan v er s

heard Mason putting on hi s shoes and a moment later ,

pu s hing a s ide the flap o f the tent Jack also began to .

dre ss and in a v ery f ew minu t es the two men were pre

paring break fast around the d a ncing fire D awn had .

come and was swi ftly spread i ng o v er the sky J ack .

called to Donald who groaned a response bu t be f ore

,

l ong appeared a t the fire j us t i n time to be salu t ed by

Jack wh o h ad returned f rom the s t ream w i th th e
,

bucket and the c o f fee kettl e filled w ith water

-
.

After breakfa s t th e three rode a little way to the

,

no rth where f rom a h i gh knoll they could see the ca ttle

, ,

placed j u s t about as th ey h a d been the night be fore ; '

and then turning eas t and pa ss ing through some broken

,

country they came to a rolling plateau more or les s

,

interrupted by ravines where they saw not a f ew ante

,

lope Most o f these were bu s ily feeding on the higher

.

ground and for a time the boy s could s ee no way o f

approaching any o f them Finally Donald and Jack .

Danvers leaving their horses set out to crawl up a

, ,

low swale which they hoped might bring them within

long shot o f a herd o f eigh t or ten antelope guarded
apparently by a big buck They crawled and crawled .

under the h ot sun and D onal d though t t h a t he had

,
2 62 JACK ,
THE YOUN G C O WBOY

Th is red h andkerchie f around my neck will do

for a flag But there s nothing to tie it to except our
.
’

t w o gun s and i f it s ucceed s we ought to u s e them for

,

another purpo s e .

“ ” ’
Why here s ai d Jack
,
I ll take this rod f rom
, ,
”
my rifl e and w e can ti e the flag to that .

Jack s rifl e wa s fitted with tube s below the barrel and

’

through these ran the s lender steel rod w hich might

be u s ed to drive out a s hell i f by any chance one s houl d ,

stick in the breech o f the gun .

Jack t ook t he rod from its place and tied Do nald s ’

handkerchi e f to one end and then slowly rai s ed it in

the ai r and w aved it in plain s ight o f the antel o pe ; For
a s hort time they did not notice it and then an old doe ,

faced around to w ard the boys and stood there lo o k ing r

and in a moment all o f them were looking Presently .

the old doe started o ff on a canter to get nearer to the

flag She gallope d for forty or fi f ty yard s then
.
,

s topped and looked Then s he turned and trotted o ff a .

s hort di s tance and turned and looked again ; and the n

,

galloped up s till nearer And what this old doe did all .

the other s did Presently it seemed a s i f the buck took

.

courage as i f perhaps he wanted to s how o ff be fore

-

hi s family H e galloped up to within s eventy h y e or

.
-

eighty yard s and then turning to the l eft made a s i f

, , ,

h e w oul d circl e around t hi s strange thing that fluttered

to the w ind .

N ow ! whispered Jack H e may not come any .

nearer I f you can hit him when he i s trotting ; o r

.
, ,
’
i f you ll wait for him to st 0 p I believe you can get him , .

I think I w ould w ait ; he ll probably s top be fore h e ’

”
h as gone far .

S o it turned ou t B e fore long the buck stopped .

 FLAGGIN G AN ANTE L O PE 2 63

faced s quar ely ar o und and Donald with the

, ,

ory o f the previous night s s hooting in hi s mind

’

a v ery fine sight on the antelope s che s t lo w ’

and fired The buck reared on his hind legs

.

nd holding h i s fore leg s stitfl y out be fore him fell

, ,

ve r backward The doe s looked at him for a moment

.

nd then scurried o ff like so many frightened rabbits ,

e th e boys ri s ing f ro m t he ground stretched thei r

, ,

(1 limbs a nd stamped about to res to re the ciren

’
Tha t wa s a no th er go od shot Donald I d like to
,
.

’
know h o w you held and we ll see j ust where the ball
,
”
hi t .

I drew the sight j us t as fine as I possibly could ,

and held o n the V ery lo wer edge o f hi s brea st I f the .

ball fl ew as high a s las t ni ght it seems to me it ought to

have broke n the lower part o f his neck bu t i f I held ,

r ight and the li fe line i s as lo w a s I fancy you say i t

,
”
i s I belie v e that I mu s t ha v e hit h i s heart
,
'

When they reached the buck they f ound tha t Donald

,

had d o ne j us t that The ball had en t ered an inch and

.

a ha l f o r two i nche s abo v e the lower le v el o f the brea s t ,

and a l i t tle to o ne side o f the br eas t bone had p i erce d

-

t he hear t and gone entirely t hr o ugh t he antelope .

J ack shook hand s w it h Do na l d .

A g o od shot ! he exclaimed I shouldn t be

.
’

surprised i f y o u c o uld b eat us all w it h t he rifl e .

T he shot h a d so th o r o ugh l y b l ed t he an t el ope tha t

it wa s unnecessary to cu t it s t h ro a t and when i t w as ,

r i pped up all th e bloo d i n it s b o dy see m ed to have

ga thered i n t he vi scera l c avit y .

B e f ore the an t e lo pe wa s dresse d J a ck Mas o n c a m e up

wit h the i r h o r ses .
2 64 JACK THE YOUN G C OW BO Y
,

My l he exclaimed be nding o v er and resting o n

the saddle horn a s he w atched the boy s at w ork that s
-
,
’

’
a fine head You don t o ften s ee one like that Why
. .

don t you take it Donald and carry it back to the ol d

’

, ,

country to orn a ment the w all s o f your baronial hall ?

”
I bel ieve I w ill Mason s aid Donald ; and when
, ,

I ge t i t hung on tho s e w all s I ll invite you and Cla ib ,

’

W o od to come over and give us your little barroom

ac t We can have lot s o f We s tern color in the V illage
.

”
where I live with j u s t a f ew o f the pro pe rtie s
,
.

Ma s on laughed .

“ ’
I believe it w oul d have been better if I d kill ed
Cla ib he said
,
You fellow s wouldn t have s o much
.
’ ’

to j osh about then .

The two follo w ing day s spent at thi s camp resulted

in the capture o f three more buck antelope and the ,

nex t morning camp w a s broken and the w agon started

back to the basin D onal d drove w hile Jack Mason and
.
,

Jack Danver s rode w ell out on the prairie and rounded

up all the cattle they could s ee and drove them s lo w ly
toward the ranch In the early part o f the day the
.

c attl e were slo w to move but a fter th e s un got hotter ,

and more directly overhead they s eemed to work along

better and s hortly a fter noon had th e appearance o f

,

really striking out a fter water which o f course in due , , ,

time they found .

At the place where the road cro ss ed the water Don

al d had stopped unhitched his team taken o ff the
, ,

bridles and tied the animal s out to feed ; and Mason

and Jack were del ighted w hen they came in sight of
th e camp to see Donal d fu ss ing about the fire and to
find a go o d meal j ust ab o ut ready .
 CHAPTE R X XV

TH E DA N C E AT THE S C H OO L H O U S E

TH E weeks went by Haying time came and all

.

hand s were busy cutting hauling and stacking The

,
.
.

winter had been one o f heavy s nows and water was ,

plenti ful in the i rrigating ditche s R a ins h a d be en .

more frequent than u s ual that s pring and s ummer and ,

in many a little meado w too s mall for fen cing there

, ,

was a growth o f grass worth cutting One o f the .

labor s o f the summer about which the men gro w led

bitterly was the ne v er ending work o f keeping the
-

rang e cattl e away from the s e l ittle un fenced piece s in ,

order to protect the gro w ing gra ss The cattle re .

turned again and again to the s e patche s o f fresh green

gra s s and the men were forced to exerci s e constant
,

v igilance t o keep them o ff the meadows .

At la s t the haying was over The s tacks were all

.

protected from t he w ind and care fully fenced again s t

ravages o f the range stock Now the n i ght s w ere
.

gro w ing shorter and cooler ; sometimes there w as a

fros t with a skim of ice The le a ve s o f the aspen s
, .

began to turn yellow Down on the lake the b roods

.

o f young ducks which had been reared there were

gradually being added to by th e arrivals o f early mi
grants from the north The la s t time Jack and Donald
.

went out on the mountains for fresh meat for the

house they had k i lled a bull elk wh o se horns though
, ,

2 66
 NGE AT T H E S CH OOL H OU S E 2 67

ng the v el v et were f ull gro w n and hard and

,
-
,

t he an i mal was f at S eptember wa s at hand and be

.
,

fore many days Jack woul d be obliged to turn hi s face

eastward and get back t o college and w ork .

M r Sturgi s s ai d one morn i ng a t

”
Well boy s
, , .

’
break fa s t , it s about time for us to gather our be e f
and start it in to the railroad We ought to find it all .

pretty clo s e at home and I hope we can begin to ,

morro w and ga t her it and take i t to the railroad i n

,
”
short order .

The day was devoted to getting up the horses and

preparing the wagon for the s hort trip for early the ,

next morning they were to s tart for a little s tream

t w elve or fi f teen miles a w ay w here there w a s a corral ,

and a good camping place Hugh had declared that on .

thi s trip he would drive the team and w ould cook and ,

Jack Donald Jack Mason Rube and M r Sturgis were

, , , .

to gather the bee f .

Do nald who had bec o me rea so nably skil ful with the
,

rope and at home on a c o w horse declared that i f Hugh ,

could cook h e coul d w rangle the hor s es and that h e ,

would do tha t i n addition to hi s ri ding It was no t .

likely that there woul d be any night herding to be done .

Th e beeves a s they were cut out in con s iderable

,

bunches could be sent back to th e ranch and held in

,

the pa s ture for a s hort time ; w hile the horse bunch

woul d be l ikely to s tay w ith the ol d bell mare that mo s t
o f them kne w so w ell .

Long be fore s unri s e the riders s et out travel ing to

, ,

the nort hea s t intending to ride circle o f the ba s in and

,

to turn i n to w ard th e camp all the cattle found The s e .

could be turned loo s e again a fter the bee f had been cut
o u t ; and p o ss i bly there would be time fo r another ci rcle
 to the sou t h when more cattle could be brought in th e
,

same night or the next morning ; when a gain the bee f

woul d be cut o ut and the cows and young s tock turned
,

lo os e
.

No t lon g a ft er the r i ders had go ne Hugh cl imbed ,

i n t o the w ago n and chirruping to h is team soon d i s

, ,

appeared do w n the v alley .

I t was a fine morning for riding and all the men f elt ,

its i nvigorating i nfluence The air was keen but dry .

,

a light breeze j ust stirred the t op s o f the s age and the

taller grass stems and from the bu s hes everywhere
,

s ounded t he swee t m elancholy autumn w his tl e of the

, ,

meadow lark -
.

F ew cattle were f ound a s the r i ders wen t north but ,

a s soon a s t hey t urned east and s outh they came on

f requen t groups brought in not long be fore from the
,

round up The cattl e were fat and logy and the work
-
.
,

o f pushing them along w as s low so that not nearly ,

s o much ground w as covered nor so much accompli s hed ,

a s had been hoped Neverthele s s it w as a respectable

.
,

bunch o f cattle that was dr i ven up tha t a ftern o on near

the wagon where th e work o f cutting began
,
.

Some years be fore M r Sturgis had bu il t near th i s

, .

place a large and s tout corral o f pole s hauled fro m the

mountain s and i t wa s in this that the beeves were to
,

be put and held until enough had been brought to

,

gether to drive up to the ranch .

The work o f cutting wen t on rapidly and be f o r e ,

n i ght all the steer s fit to s hip had been put in the corral .

Then t w o o f the men set out and drove the cows and
the young stock up to w ard the mountain s th rowin g ,

them back as far a s po ss i ble on to the ground from

wh i ch they h ad been brought tha t morni ng T his .
2 76 J ACK , T HE Y OU N G COW BOY

little tha t was exc i ting but an abundance o f hard w o rk

, ,

although there had bee n no riding night herd for which ,

the bo ys were de v o utly thank ful .

The return t o the ranch was delibera t e and it t ook ,

them t wo days to get there The bee v e s were driven a .

short di s tance in the early morning and allowe d to

f eed and re s t and then another s hort drive in the a f ter
,

n o on completed the day s tr av el ; but the steers were

’

herded at night and because o f the small numbe r o f

,

men t he tours o f duty w ere long i nstead o f three —

rel ie fs there was o nly one Howe v er this wa s f or a .

,

single night only .

For two weeks the bee f wa s le f t in the pasture and

i n this t i me regained whatever weight it had lost i n the
round up The men who from time to time ro de into
i

-
.

the pasture and around among the cattl e were proud

o f thei r quality i t was certainly a bunch to br i ng J o y
to i ts owner .

At len gt h M r Sturgis recei v ed word that i n thr ee

.

day s the cars for his shipment w ould be on the railroad

s id ing and the bee f was started to town The jo urney
, .

was unmarked by any special incident ; bu t t he herd

had not be en long on th e road be fore i t was learned
that another bunch o f bee f was al s o on th e w ay t o the
railroad and would reach there about the same time
a s M r Sturgi s cattle
’
. This was important ne w s f or
.
,

it wa s no t certain that t h e loading corrals were large

enough to hold many more cattle than t ho s e i n M r .

’
S turgi s gather and i f the other people s hould by any
,

chance ge t first to the railroad and occupy the corrals ,

the matter might be a serious one as there was no f eed ,

for th e cattl e within six or eight miles o f the to w n .

That night M r S turgi s asked Jack t o ride over th e

.
 T H E DA N CE AT T H E S CH O O L H OU S E 2 7 1

next morning to w h ere the other cattle were bein g

dri v en and h nd out definitely whose they were ho w
, ,

many and when they expected t o ship Meantime the

,
.

Sturgi s be eve s would be driven on to th e railroad ; bu t

i f t here shoul d be any l ikel ihood that for any cause the
shi pment woul d be delayed the cattle would be turne d ,

o ff the road be fore the to w n wa s reached and hel d ,

until it was po s sible to see what should be done .

It was late that n i ght w h en Jack returned to the

camp and a s soon as he had turned out his h o rse he
,

went to hi s un cle .

It was a false alarm he repo rted ; the ca ttle t ha t,

are coming are M r Powell s and there are only about .

’

one hundred o f them H e ha s ordered cars and hope s .

to ship with you H e and Charley were propo s ing to

.

g o on to Chicago with the cattle and to help w ith our s ,

as well as the i rs T h at will mak e four or five men t o

.

”
the tra i n .

We s hall cert ainly be glad t o have the help o f those

extra men s aid M r St urgi s
”
, I ve been wonder i ng
. .
’

what w e were going to do There ought to be at least .

four men w ith the s e cattle ; and s ix w oul d be better I .

may have to get Rube and Ma s on and Hugh to go ; but

”
Hugh i s getting a l ittl e bit old for work o f that kind .

I d l ike to go
’
s aid Jack but I must get back I
, , ,
’
suppo s e I ve lo s t too much time as it i s I can help
.
,
.

load but then I mu s t take the pas s enger Another

, .

thing ; I hear there i s going t o be a dance in t o wn two

nights from no w Charley Powell brought the new s.

when he c ame out the other day and M rs P o w ell and ,

.

”
B ess are with the Powell o utfit going to the da nce ,
.

I suppo se likely t h e wh o l e c o un t ry w i ll be there .

What do yo u kn o w abo u t t he Cla ib W oo d and M aso n

2 7 2 JACK TH E YOUN G COWBOY
,

trouble Jack , Is that likely to be renewed when we

?

get into to w n ? I don t think Mason i s likely to make ’

any trouble but Wood h a s rather a bad name Sup .

po s e you s peak to Ma s on about it be fore we get in and ,

I ll try to find Wood there and we ll see i f w e can t s top

’ ’ ’

or at lea s t po s tpone any renewal o f this quarrel , .

T w o days later the beeve s were in the loading corrals ,

but the promi s ed car s had not yet made their appear
ance M r Sturgi s knowing o f old th e uncertainties of
. .
,

railroad promi s e s had provid ed against such a cont i n

,

genc y by arranging for a lot o f hay and the beeve s ,

w ere fed t hat night and were t o be fed again the next
morning I t was hoped that during the night the cars
.

’
would come Powell s cattl e came in a little later than
.

the Sturgi s herd and they al s o had to be fed and fed

, ,

with M r Sturgi s hay The next day i f it were not

.
’
.
,

po ss ibl e to load it w ould be necessary to drive the

,

beeve s eight or ten mile s over to the ba nk s o f t he Medi

cine Bow R i ver and to hold them there .

B e fore they reached to w n Jack spoke t o Mason ,

abou t th e po ss ibility o f further trouble with Cla ib

Wood and Mas on declared that so far as he wa s con
, ,

cerned he had got through with Wood and had a bso

, ,

lutely nothing again s t him .

”
O i cour s e s aid Ma s on ’
I ll be on the lookout
, , ,

’
and i f Cla ib trie s any o f hi s trick s on me I ll ha v e to ,
’
be j ust a little bit quicker than he is ; but I v e no quarrel
’ ”
with Cla ib and don t want any,
.

Soon a fter they reached to w n M r S turgis looked up .

Cla ib and had quite a t alk with him

,
H e was a p .

p a ren tly fully reco v ered from hi s inj uries but the ,

week s that he had spent under a roo f had bleached

a way his outdoor color a nd he looked pale and thin .
2 74 JACK ,
T HE YOUN G C OWBOY

the s e mus i cians should become t oo tip s y during the day

t o furni s h the mu s ic in the evening had a ppointed a ,

t ru s t wo rthy person to go about with each one and see

t ha t he did not drink .

S oo n a fter dark wagons began t o dr iv e up to the

,

schoolhou s e and to unload their freight o f laughing ,

chattering people excited by the pro s pect o f the da nce ;

,

and a little later the frequent pounding o f quick gallop

i ng ho o fs told that the co w boys w ere gathering B e .

f ore long the rail to w hich the horses w ere tied w a s

crowded from end to end while their rider s gathered ,

on either side o f the door s quatted on the ground and ,

smoked their pipe s and cigarette s and di s cu ss ed the

e v ents o f the range the cal f crop t he incident s o f
—
,

the round up s and the piece o f bee f

-
, .

P resently from w ithin the building came the sound o f

music and a number o f the men ro s e to thei r feet threw
, ,

a w ay their cigarettes and with ra s ping s haps and clink

,

i n g spurs entered th e door In the littl e anteroom

,
.
,

each man pau s ed to dive s t himsel f o f s purs s haps belt , ,

and s i x sh ooter
-
all the s e thing s being tied together
—

and pl aced i n a corner of the room .

In the ballroom the women and children s at on one

s i de and the men rather s hame facedly tiptoed ov er to
, ,

the other side and s eated themselves The co s tume s .

were those o f e v eryday wear though mo s t o f the men ,

were fre s hly s haven S ome o f them w o re coats and

.

mo s t o f them overall s o ften turned up f or eight o r ten

,

inche s s o a s to s how the trouse rs beneath Almo s t all

, .

o f them wore the high heeled co w boy boots o f th e -

period and not one carried a weapon The w omen

,
.

and chil dren w ere dre ss ed in thei r be s t ; s ome o f th e

younger girl s w ore w hite perhaps w ith a bright ribbo n
,
 TH E DAN CE AT T H E S CH OOL H OU S E 2
75

t ied about the neck Eyes sh o ne bright and faces were

.

expectant .

The schoolhouse benches had been mo v ed back close

to the wall and the extra ones put out through the
windows and piled up out s ide the building At the end .

o f the room o n a littl e plat form w h ere commonly th e

,

teacher sat were the musicians Four oil lamps on

, .

th e four s ides o f the room ga v e abundant light .

Presently J im Decker master o f ceremonies walked

, ,

o v er the floor holding a candl e in one hand and a j ack

kni fe i n th e other sha v ing w ax on the floor and then
, ,

trying with h is foot to rub it into th e wood ; and at

length when h i s candle was exhausted and he put h is
,

kni fe i n hi s pocket a burst o f music s o unded f rom the

,

two fiddlers and the clari o net man .

Take your partners for the quad rille ! Decke r

sh o uted in s tentorian tone s .

A number o f men at once crossed over each b o wing ,

lo w or nodding be fore the lady o f hi s choice and asking ,

her t o dance ; and i n a f ew minutes the ro o m wa s

crowded w ith promenading couple s .

It was only a moment before this that J ack and D on

a ld having come up from the corral where t hey had
,

been feeding and watering the stock had entered the ,

ro o m J ack had to l d Donald abo ut Bess Po well and

.
,

wanted him t o dance w ith her but they were too late ,

f or the first dance As they l ingered by the door look

.
,

ing for Mrs Powell to whom Donald must be pre

.
,

s ented the sets were formed and the dance began J i m

,
.

D eck er was call i ng o ff the figu res i n a rude rhym e .

Ad a ms a ll, swing y o ur E ve s,

wa s soon f ollowed by the d i rect i on ,

2 76 JACK ,
T HE YOUN G COWB O Y
B al an ce to yo ur limb erger che e se .

D onald nudged Jack .

G reat i s n t it ?
,
he whispe red
’
.

Jack as s ented by making the Indian sign for chief ,

rai s ing the upturned f o refinger high abo v e the hea d

and turning it down w ard .

A fe w moment s late r they were s peaking w i th M rs .

Powell .

Why didn t you get he re earlier s o that you coul d

’

ha v e danced the first quadrille w ith B es s ? she s aid to

i

”
Jack . She h o ped you w ould a s k her .

”
Why Mr s Powell he expla ined we were down
, .
, ,

at the corral feeding and watering a nd only j ust got

here M r Donald and I both want some dances with
. .

Be ss .
1

’
She ll be glad to dance wa s the response ; bu t ,
’ ”
you ll ha v e to w ait a while .

The dancers were enj oying themselves greatly .

Though the men largely outnumbered the women there ,

were at first some girls w ithout partners The novelty .

o f the surroundings s truck terror to the heart s o f some

o f t he mos t dar i ng rider s and ropers and kept them ,

glued to thei r s eats Buck Wil s on T w enty One John.

,
-

son and Red Casey o f the B ar Lazy A w hose feats in

, ,

broncho busting and rop i ng had made them famous on

t he range f elt thei r courage ooze a w ay when it came
,

t o fac i ng a girl and asking her t o dance Their bash .

fulness was added to by t he shout s o f J i m Decker and

o ther older men who tried to i nduce them to pluck up
,

heart and cho o se pa rtners for the dance .

O ne by one tim id men who had not ye t dared t o ,

come into the ballroom slip pe d through the d o o r and , ,

apparently tryin g to make themsel v es a s small as p o s

2 8
7 , J ACK , THE YO UN G C O W BOY
V

it b r o ke up t he S turgi s o utfit were down in t he loading

corrals hard at work getting the st eers into the cars a s
,

fa st as th ey could .

’
And the next morning Jack s heart s tr i ngs were-

s tretched when he s hook hands with hi s fr i ends and

took the p a ssen g er fo r the Atlant i c c o as t
.

T H E E ND