a bright fire
burning and a crazy man shouting, "The beeves have stampeded! the herd's
gone! Get up, everybody!" we were almost thrown into a panic. Many of
the boys ran for their night-horses, but Clay Zilligan and I fell on the
cook and shook the statement out of him that the cattle had left their
beds. This simplified the situation, but before I could recall the men,
several of them had reached the bed-ground. As fast as horses could be
secured, others dashed through the lighted circle and faded into the
darkness. From the flickering of matches it was evident that the boys
were dismounting and looking for some sign of trouble. Zilligan was
swearing like a pirate, looking for his horse in the murky night; but
instead of any alarm, oaths and derision greeted our ears as the men
returned to camp. Halting their horses within the circle of the fire,
Dorg Seay said to the cook:

"Neal, the next time you find a mare's nest, keep the secret to
yourself. I don't begrudge losing thirty minutes' beauty sleep, but
I hate to be scared out of a year's growth. Haven't you got cow-sense
enough to know that if those beeves had run, they'd have shook the
earth? If they had stampeded, that alarm clock of yours wouldn't be a
circumstance to the barking of the boys' guns. Why, the cattle haven't
been gone thirty minutes. You can see where they got up and then quietly
walked away. The ground where they lay is still steaming and warm. They
were watered a little too soon yesterday and naturally got up early this
morning. The boys on guard didn't want to alarm the outfit, and just
allowed the beeves to graze off on their course. When day breaks, you'll
see they ain't far away, and in the right direction. Parent, if I didn't
sabe cows better than you do, I'd confine my attention to a cotton
patch."

Seay had read the sign aright. When day dawned the cattle were in plain
view about a mile distant. On the return of the last guard to camp, Vick
Wolf explained the situation in a few words. During their watch the herd
had grown restless, many of the cattle arising; and knowing that dawn
was near at hand, the boys had pushed the sleepy ones off their beds
and started them feeding. The incident had little effect on the
irrepressible Parent, who seemed born to blunder, yet gifted with a
sunny disposition which atoned for his numerous mistakes.

With the Blue Mountains as our guiding star, we kept to the westward of
that landmark, crossing the Llan