he moisture.

Darkness settled down earlier than usual that night. Yet, to the boy's
great relief, the fog lifted shortly afterwards and the stars came out
brightly.

With the skill of an old cowman Tad had bedded down the herd and began
to ride slowly about them, whistling vigorously. His face ached from the
constant puckering of his lips, and his wounds gave him considerable
pain. Yet he lost none of his cheerfulness.

At times Tad found himself drooping in his saddle as his sleepiness
overcame him. But he fought the temptation to doze by talking to himself
and bringing the quirt sharply against his legs.

"Tad Butler, don't you dare to go to sleep!" he warned himself. "It's
the first real duty you have had to perform, so you're not going to make
a mess of it. My, but I'm hungry!"

From that on the boy never allowed his eyelids to drop, though at times
they felt as if weighted down with lead.

After what seemed an eternity, the gray dawn appeared on the eastern
horizon. Immediately Tad began routing out the cows that they might have
an opportunity to graze before the rising of the sun. It was his
intention to point them toward where he believed the camp to be the
moment they had grazed to their satisfaction. Until then it would not be
wise to start the animals on their course.

About six o'clock, deciding that they had eaten enough, Tad began
galloping up and down, shouting and applying his quirt here and there to
the backs of the cows. It was slow work for one lone horseman to start
five hundred cattle on the trail. Yet, after half an hour of effort, he
had the satisfaction of seeing them begin to move.

"Whoop!" shouted the boy. "I'm a real cowboy this time!"

Yet his task was more difficult than he had imagined it could be. While
he was urging on one part of the herd, the others would lag by the
wayside and begin to graze.

Constant effort and continual moving about at high speed on his part,
were necessary to keep up any sort of movement among the cattle.

The lad headed as nearly as possible for the southeast, believing that
he had come from that direction.

At the same time a party had set out from the camp in search of young
Butler. They had laid their course more toward the southwest. Holding
these directions the two parties would not come within some miles of
each other.

Tad's eyes were continually sweeping the plains in hope of discovering a
horseman or some signs of the main herd, which he