ampled out the grass until the ground was as
bare as a city street. Miles distant from the water the old dry grass,
with only an occasional green blade, was the only grazing for the
cattle. The black, waxy soil on the first bottom of the river, on which
the mesquite grass had flourished, was as bare now as a ploughed field,
while the ground had cracked open in places to an incredible depth, so
that without exercising caution it was dangerous to ride across. This
was the condition of the range at the approach of April. Our horse
stock, to be sure, fared better, ranging farther and not requiring
anything like the amount of water needed by the cattle. It was nothing
unusual to meet a Las Palomas _manada_ from ten to twelve miles from the
river, and coming in only every second or third night to quench their
thirst. We were fortunate in having an abundance of saddle horses,
which, whether under saddle or not, were always given the preference in
the matter of water. They were the motive power of the ranch, and during
this crisis, though worked hard, must be favored in every possible
manner.

Early that spring the old ranchero sent Deweese to Lagarto in an attempt
to sell Captain Byler a herd of horse stock for the trail. The mission
was a failure, though our _segundo_ offered to sell a thousand, in the
straight Las Palomas brand, at seven dollars a head on a year's credit.
Even this was no inducement to the trail drover, and on Deweese's return
my employer tried San Antonio and other points in Texas in the hope of
finding a market. From several places favorable replies were received,
particularly from places north of the Colorado River; for the drouth was
local and was chiefly confined to the southern portion of the state.
There was enough encouragement in the letters to justify the old
ranchero's attempt to reduce the demand on the ranch's water supply, by
sending a herd of horse stock north on sale. Under ordinary conditions,
every ranchman preferred to sell his surplus stock at the ranch, and
Las Palomas was no exception, being generally congested with marketable
animals. San Antonio was, however, beginning to be a local horse and
mule market of some moment, and before my advent several small selected
bunches of mares, mules, and saddle horses had been sent there, and had
found a ready and profitable sale.

But this was an emergency year, and it was decided to send a herd of
stock horses up the country. Accordingly, befor