ins of the pioneer drover in a light
conveyance. The trip was uneventful, the traveling was done
principally by night, and on the arrival at Loving's frontier home,
six hundred miles from Fort Sumner, his remains were laid at rest with
Masonic honors.

Over thirty years afterward a claim was made against the government
for the cattle lost at Horsehead Crossing. Wilson and I were witnesses
before the commissioner sent to take evidence in the case. The hearing
was held at a federal court, and after it was over, Wilson, while
drinking, accused me of suspecting him of deserting his employer,--a
suspicion I had, in fact, entertained at the time we discovered him
at the cave. I had never breathed it to a living man, yet it was the
truth, slumbering for a generation before finding expression.

CHAPTER V

SUMMER OF '68

The death of Mr. Loving ended my employment in driving cattle to Fort
Sumner. The junior member of the firm was anxious to continue the
trade then established, but the absence of any protection against the
Indians, either state or federal, was hopeless. Texas was suffering
from the internal troubles of Reconstruction, the paternal government
had small concern for the welfare of a State recently in arms against
the Union, and there was little or no hope for protection of life or
property under existing conditions. The outfit was accordingly paid
off, and I returned with George Edwards to his father's ranch. The
past eighteen months had given me a strenuous schooling, but I had
emerged on my feet, feeling that once more I was entitled to a place
among men. The risk that had been incurred by the drovers acted like a
physical stimulant, the outdoor life had hardened me like iron, and
I came out of the crucible bright with the hope of youth and buoyant
with health and strength.

Meanwhile there had sprung up a small trade in cattle with the North.
Baxter Springs and Abilene, both in Kansas, were beginning to be
mentioned as possible markets, light drives having gone to those
points during the present and previous summers. The elder Edwards had
been investigating the new outlet, and on the return of George and
myself was rather enthusiastic over the prospects of a market. No
Indian trouble had been experienced on the northern route, and
although demand generally was unsatisfactory, the faith of drovers
in the future was unshaken. A railroad had recently reached Abilene,
stockyards had been built for the