this ranch is going to take a month's holiday."

CHAPTER XV

IN COMMEMORATION

A heavy rainfall continued the greater portion of two days. None of us
ventured away from the house until the weather settled, and meantime I
played the fiddle almost continuously. Night work and coarse living in
camps had prepared us to enjoy the comforts of a house, as well as to do
justice to the well-laden table. Miss Jean prided herself, on special
occasions and when the ranch had company, on good dinners; but in
commemoration of the breaking of this drouth, with none but us boys to
share it, she spread a continual feast. The Mexican contingent were not
forgotten by master or mistress, and the ranch supplies in the warehouse
were drawn upon, delicacies as well as staples, not only for the
_jacals_ about headquarters but also for the outlying ranchitas. The
native element had worked faithfully during the two years in which no
rain to speak of had fallen, until the breaking hour, and were not
forgotten in the hour of deliverance. Even the stranger vaqueros were
compelled to share the hospitality of Las Palomas like invited guests.

While the rain continued falling, Uncle Lance paced the gallery almost
night and day. Fearful lest the downpour might stop, he stood guard,
noting every change in the rainfall, barely taking time to eat or catch
an hour's sleep. But when the grateful rain had continued until the
evening of the second day, assuring a bountiful supply of water all
over our range, he joined us at supper, exultant as a youth of twenty.
"Boys," said he, "this has been a grand rain. If our tanks hold, we will
be independent for the next eighteen months, and if not another drop
falls, the river ought to flow for a year. I have seen worse drouths
since I lived here, but what hurt us now was the amount of cattle and
the heavy drift which flooded down on us from up the river and north on
the Frio. The loss is nothing; we won't notice it in another year. I
have kept a close tally of the hides taken, and our brand will be short
about two thousand, or less than ten per cent of our total numbers. They
were principally old cows and will not be missed. The calf crop this
fall will be short, but taking it up one side and down the other, we got
off lucky."

The third day after the rain began the sun rose bright and clear. Not a
hoof of cattle or horses was in sight, and though it was midsummer, the
freshness of earth and air was li