it,
Snake lunged his body downward against his own left elbow, which
brought almost his entire weight, at a powerful leverage, against the
brute's horn. At the same time Snake was pulling with his right hand
and the effect of this was to twist the steer's neck so that the animal
lost its balance.

Its speed slackened and, a moment later it toppled over on its side,
and lay there quite exhausted by its run. Though this may sound cruel
it was not, and the steer suffered no harm. In fact it was benefited,
for its mad race was ended, and there was no telling what might have
happened if it had kept on.

The instant Snake saw the steer about to topple over he released his
hold and sprang away.

"Well done!" cried Bud. "That was a dandy!"

"Wish I could do that!" sighed Dick.

"Oh, you will, some day," consoled his cousin.

The three runaway steers were thus secured, and as there was no place
to care for them at the Fort one of the cowboys was delegated to haze
them back to the main herd at Diamond X.

Another day passed in quietness, with no sign from the south of Spur
Creek that any hostile band of sheep herders was on the way to lay
waste, in a sense, the fertile lands of Mr. Merkel. In the meanwhile
there was telephone communication twice a day, or oftener, between the
Fort and the main ranch house.

Nothing new had transpired at Diamond X, and the boy ranchers were told
that matters in Happy Valley were peaceful.

Of course there were the usual occurrences as there were always such on
a big ranch. One or more of the cowboys was continually getting hurt,
more or less seriously, and being doctored in the rough and ready
fashion that, perforce, prevails in the unsettled part of the West.

For though the life of a cowboy may seem very picturesque when you view
it from a seat in a tent or say from Madison Square Garden, in New
York, the real facts of the case are vastly different.

No one can ride horses in the slap-dash style the cowboys ride them,
and they can not handle cattle--often vicious ones--the way the beasts
are handled, without accidents happening.

Nor are cowboys the ones to favor themselves for the sake of avoiding
risks. Rather they go out of their way to look for trouble, as it were.

They are filled with bravado.

So it was that while I have said matters were quiet at the two ranches,
yet small accidents were continually happening. But, as the boys
reported, after a talk over the wir