se men with whom he was associated were the vikings of
the Plain. The Red Man was conquered, and, daily, the skulls of the
buffalo, his predecessors, stared vacantly into his face.

By the middle of summer they reached their destination, for the cattle
were contracted to a cowman in the Cherokee Strip, Indian Territory.
The day of delivery had arrived. The herd was driven into a pasture
where they met another outfit of horsemen similar to their own. The
cattle were strung out and counted. The men agreed on the numbers. But
watchful eyes scanned every brand as they passed in review, and the
men in the receiving outfit called the attention of their employer to
the fact that there were several strays in the herd not in the
road brand. One of these strays was a line-back, bar-circle-bar,
two-year-old steer. There were also others; when fifteen of them had
been cut out and the buyer asked the trail foreman if he was willing
to include them in the bill of sale, the latter smilingly replied:
"Not on your life, Captain. You can't keep them out of a herd. Down in
my country we call strays like them _poker steers_."

And so there were turned loose in the Coldwater Pool, one of the large
pastures in the Strip, fifteen strays. That night, in a dug-out on
that range, the home outfit of cowboys played poker until nearly
morning. There were seven men in the camp entitled to share in this
flotsam on their range, the extra steer falling to the foreman.
Mentally they had a list of the brands, and before the game opened the
strays were divided among the participants. An animal was represented
by ten beans. At the beginning the boys played cautiously, counting
every card at its true worth in a hazard of chance. But as the game
wore on and the more fortunate ones saw their chips increase, the
weaker ones were gradually forced out. At midnight but five players
remained in the game. By three in the morning the foreman lost his
last bean, and ordered the men into their blankets, saying they
must be in their saddles by dawn, riding the fences, scattering and
locating the new cattle. As the men yawningly arose to obey, Dick
Larkin defiantly said to the winners, "I've just got ten beans left,
and I'll cut high card with any man to see who takes mine or I take
one of his poker steers."

"My father was killed in the battle of the Wilderness," replied Tex,
"and I'm as game a breed as you are. I'll match your beans and pit you
my bar-circle-bar st