f existence broken only by the great variety of mirage, the glare of
heat-waves, and the silent signal in the sky of other voyageurs like
ourselves. On reaching Pig Boggy, nothing but pools greeted us, while
the regular crossing was dry and dusty and paved with cattle bones. My
curiosity was strong enough to cause me to revisit the old bridge which
I had helped to build two seasons before; though unused, it was still
intact, a credit to the crude engineering of Pete Slaughter. After
leaving the valley of the Solomon, the next running water was Pawnee
Fork, where we overtook and passed six thousand yearling heifers in two
herds, sold the winter before by John Blocker for delivery in
Montana. The Northwest had not yet learned that Texas was the natural
breeding-ground for cattle, yet under favorable conditions in both
sections, the ranchman of the South could raise one third more calves
from an equal number of cows.

The weather continued hot and sultry. Several times storms hung on our
left for hours which we hoped would reach us, and at night the lightning
flickered in sheets, yet with the exception of cooling the air, availed
us nothing. But as we encamped one night on the divide before reaching
the Smoky River, a storm struck us that sent terror to our hearts. There
were men in my outfit, and others in Lovell's employ, who were from ten
to twenty years my senior, having spent almost their lifetime in the
open, who had never before witnessed such a night. The atmosphere seemed
to be overcharged with electricity, which played its pranks among us,
neither man nor beast being exempt. The storm struck the divide about
two hours after the cattle had been bedded, and from then until dawn
every man was in the saddle, the herd drifting fully three miles during
the night. Such keen flashes of lightning accompanied by instant thunder
I had never before witnessed, though the rainfall, after the first dash,
was light in quantity. Several times the rain ceased entirely, when the
phosphorus, like a prairie fire, appeared on every hand. Great sheets of
it flickered about, the cattle and saddle stock were soon covered, while
every bit of metal on our accoutrements was coated and twinkling with
phosphorescent light. My gauntlets were covered, and wherever I touched
myself, it seemed to smear and spread and refuse to wipe out. Several
times we were able to hold up and quiet the cattle, but along their
backs flickered the ghostly light, w