branded, it follows that an uncut pair of ears means that its owner has
never felt the iron.

So, now we had to look first of all for calves with uncut ears. After
discovering one, we had to ascertain his ownership by examining the
ear-marks of his mother, by whose side he was sure, in this alarming
multitude, to be clinging faithfully.

Calves were numerous, and J H cows everywhere to be seen, so in
somewhat less than ten seconds I had my eye on a mother and son.
Immediately I turned Little G in their direction. At the slap of my
quirt against the stirrup, all the cows immediately about me shrank
suspiciously aside. Little G stepped forward daintily, his nostrils
expanding, his ears working back and forth, trying to the best of his
ability to understand which animals I had selected. The cow and her
calf turned in toward the centre of the herd. A touch of the reins
guided the pony. At once he comprehended. From that time on he needed
no further directions.

Cautiously, patiently, with great skill, he forced the cow through the
press toward the edge of the herd. It had to be done very quietly, at
a foot pace, so as to alarm neither the objects of pursuit nor those
surrounding them. When the cow turned back, Little G somehow happened
always in her way. Before she knew it she was at the outer edge of the
herd. There she found herself, with a group of three or four
companions, facing the open plain. Instinctively she sought shelter.
I felt Little G's muscles tighten beneath me. The moment for action
had come. Before the cow had a chance to dodge among her companions
the pony was upon her like a thunderbolt. She broke in alarm, trying
desperately to avoid the rush. There ensued an exciting contest of
dodgings, turnings, and doublings. Wherever she turned Little G was
before her. Some of his evolutions were marvellous. All I had to do
was to sit my saddle, and apply just that final touch of judgment
denied even the wisest of the lower animals. Time and again the turn
was so quick that the stirrup swept the ground. At last the cow,
convinced of the uselessness of further effort to return, broke away on
a long lumbering run to the open plain. She was stopped and held by
the men detailed, and so formed the nucleus of the new cut-herd.
Immediately Little G, his ears working in conscious virtue, jog-trotted
back into the herd, ready for another.

After a dozen cows had been sent across to the cut-herd