cross
his face, he merely turned to a tall young man in the doorway and
quietly remarked, "Mell, the lady would like some milk."

A glint of amusement was in the eyes of Mell, but he made no reply, just
quietly "sifted out," and a few moments later, while the foreman was in
the midst of a story, a most appalling tumult broke upon our ears.
Calves bawled, bulls bellowed, galloping hooves thundered, men shouted
and laughed--in a most amazing uproar.

Rushing to the door in search of the cause of this clamor, I found it to
be related to my wife's innocent request.

Tied near the cabin was a leaping, blatting, badly frightened calf while
inside the corral, a cow evidently its dam, was charging up and down the
fence, her eyes literally blazing with fury, pursued by Mell on a swift
pony, a rope swinging in his hand. On the top rails of the enclosure a
row of delighted loafers laughed and cheered and shouted good advice to
the roper.

"What is he doing?" asked my amazed wife, as Mell brought the cow to
earth in a cloud of dust.

"Milking the cow," replied the boss with calmly hospitable inflection.
"If you'll be patient jest a few minutes----"

The insane animal, strong as a lioness, in some way freed herself from
the rope and charged her enemy--Mell's pony fled. "O, don't let him hurt
her," pleaded Zulime. "I don't want any milk. I didn't know you had to
do that."

"It's the only way to milk a range cow," I explained.

"Don't worry, Miss," the foreman added reassuringly. "It's all in the
day's work for Mell."

Again the cow went to earth and Zulime, horrified at the sight, begged
them to restore the calf to its dam. At last this was done, and a
grateful peace settled over the scene.

The cowboys were highly delighted and I was amused, but Zulime was too
shocked to see any humor in Mell's defeat. "Do they really milk their
cows in that way?" she asked me.

"Yes, when they milk them at all," I replied, inwardly filled with
laughter. "As a matter of fact they get all their cream out of cans.
Milking that cow was a new departure for Mell, I think he was a little
disappointed at not being allowed to go through with it."

"I'm glad he didn't. I'll never mention milk again--in this country."

We slept in the bed of our wagon-box that night while the crew rode away
to fight a prairie fire. We heard them come quietly in toward dawn, and
when we awoke and looked out of our cover we saw them lying all about us
on the gr