at the instance of the
red-headed foreman, to take a day and a half in reaching the ranch; that
tardiness in gathering must not be made up by a hasty drive to the point
of delivery; that the animals must be treated humanely.

On reaching the ranch we found that Mr. Booth and some of his neighbors
had arrived from the Frio with their contingent. They had been allotted
six hundred head, and had brought down about two hundred extra cattle
in order to allow some choice in accepting. These were the only mixed
brands that came in on the delivery, and after they had been culled down
and accepted, my employer appointed Aaron Scales as clerk. There were
some five or six owners, and Scales must catch the brands as they were
freed from the branding chute. Several of the owners kept a private
tally, but not once did they have occasion to check up the Marylander's
decisions. Before the branding of this hunch was finished, Wilson, from
Ramirena, rode into the ranch and announced his cattle within five miles
of Las Palomas. As these were the last two hundred to be passed upon,
Nancrede asked to have them in sight of the ranch by sun-up in the
morning.

On the arrival of the trail outfit from San Antonio, they brought a
letter from the contractors, asking that a conveyance meet them at
Oakville, as they wished to see the herd before it started. Tiburcio
went in with the ambulance to meet them, and they reached the ranch late
at night. On their arrival twenty-six hundred of the cattle had already
been passed upon, branded, and were then being held by Nancrede's outfit
across the river at their camp. Dupree, being a practical cowman,
understood the situation; but Camp was restless and uneasy as if he
expected to find the cattle in the corrals at the ranch. Camp was years
the older of the two, a pudgy man with a florid complexion and nasal
twang, and kept the junior member busy answering his questions. Uncle
Lance enjoyed the situation, jollying his sister about the elder
contractor and quietly inquiring of the red-haired foreman how and where
Dupree had picked him up.

The contractors had brought no saddles with them, so the ambulance was
the only mode of travel. As we rode out to receive the Wilson cattle
the next morning, Uncle Lance took advantage of the occasion to jolly
Nancrede further about the senior member of the firm, the foreman
smiling appreciatingly. "The way your old man talked last night," said
he, "you'd think he expec