ing
her arm above her head with a triumphant gesture.

He slowed his pony down, and soon she dashed to his side.

"You fellows are certainly a bright lot of cow-punchers," she exclaimed.

"What's the matter now?" asked Ted gloomily.

"Didn't any of you think of scouting down the coulee?"

"I confess I didn't."

"You ought to be laid off the job for a week."

"Why?"

"You can get those cattle out of that hole in an hour."

"We can! How do you know?"

"The coulee runs out about a mile to the west, and straight to the
north, up a wide swale, lies the ranch house in full view."

"Stella, you're all right. But the cattle are bogged, and they can't
move even down the coulee."

"I believe they can."

"How?"

"When the other boys come back from breakfast all of you jump into the
coulee and tramp the snow down as much as you can ahead of the leaders.
Then start them up."

"Bully for you, Stella; you're a better cow-puncher than any of us."

"No, I'm not, but because I don't know as much about it I go at it in a
woman's way, which is a roundabout way, and nearly always foolish to
look at, but sometimes does the work."

This suggestion had the effect of taking a great load from Ted's
shoulders, for if he did not succeed in getting the herd out before
night they would freeze solid in their molds of snow, and then he would
never get half of them out alive.

Presently Bud and the other boys came winging back from breakfast, and
Ted told them of the plan for releasing the cattle, at the same time
praising Stella and giving her all the credit for the idea.

"Peevish peppers, but I'm a tenderfoot," grunted Bud. "Why in Sam Hill
didn't I think o' that myself? I reckon I'm gettin' too old fer ther cow
business. I ought ter be milkin' cows at some dairy farm."

The boys followed Stella's suggestion, and, leaping into the coulee,
wheeled their ponies about until they had a well-beaten road for several
hundred feet toward the west.

Then, cutting out a bunch of about fifty steers, led by a wise old
fellow, the herd leader, whom they called Baldy on account of the spot
of white hair between his horns, drove them along the path. After
getting the bunch going well, the boys drove them with yells and the
lashing of quirts into the deep snow ahead, and would not let them stop.

Another bunch was driven up, and soon there was a smooth road along the
bottom of the coulee to the open ground, over which the cattle passed t