ed with Smith & Redman, and I was particular to have it
inserted in the contract between us that every saddle horse, mare, mule,
gelding, and filly was to be in the straight 'horse hoof' brand. There
is a possibility that when Tuttle sees them again at Fort Worth, they
won't look as large as they did on that hillside this morning."

We made an early start from San Antonio the next morning, passing to the
westward of the then straggling city. The vaqueros were disturbed
over the journey, for Fort Worth was as foreign to them as a European
seaport, but I jollied them into believing it was but a little _pasear_.
Though I had never ridden on a train myself, I pictured to them the
luxuriant ease with which we would return, as well as the trip by stage
to Oakville. I threw enough enthusiasm into my description of the good
time we were going to have, coupled with their confidence in Deweese, to
convince them in spite of their forebodings. Our _segundo_ humored them
in various ways, and after a week on the trail, water getting plentiful,
using two guards, we only herded until midnight, turning the herd loose
from then until daybreak. It usually took us less than an hour to gather
and count them in the morning, and encouraged by their contentment, a
few days later, we loose-herded until darkness and then turned them
free. From then on it was a picnic as far as work was concerned, and our
saddle horses and herd improved every day.

After crossing the Colorado River, at every available chance en route we
mailed a letter to the buyer, notifying him of our progress as we swept
northward. When within a day's drive of the Brazos, we mailed our last
letter, giving notice that we would deliver within three days of date.
On reaching that river, we found it swimming for between thirty and
forty yards; but by tying up the pack mules and cutting the herd into
four bunches, we swam the Brazos with less than an hour's delay.
Overhauling and transferring the packs to horses, throwing away
everything but the barest necessities, we crossed the lightened
commissary, the freed mules swimming with the _remuda_. On the morning
of the twentieth day out from San Antonio, our _segundo_ rode into the
fort ahead of the herd. We followed at our regular gait, and near the
middle of the forenoon were met by Deweese and Tuttle, who piloted us to
a pasture west of the city, where an outfit was encamped to receive the
herd. They numbered fifteen men, and looke