to express his thoughts?"

A prolonged moan, a lowing of cattle in pain, came to his ears. He made
directly for the sound, and soon saw the herd huddled together by the
snake-fence which zigzagged along the bank of the creek. He went on till
he came to the boundary fence which ran at right angles to the water,
and then turning tried to drive the animals towards the corral. He met,
however, with unexpected difficulties. He had brought a stock-whip with
him, and used it with some skill, though without result. The bullocks
and cows swerved from the lash, but before they had gone ten yards they
wheeled and bolted back. At first this manouvre amused him. The Elder,
he thought, has brought me to do what he couldn't do himself; I'll show
him I can drive. But no! in spite of all his efforts, the cattle would
not be driven. He grew warm, and set himself to the work. In a quarter
of an hour his horse was in a lather, and his whip had flayed one or
two of the bullocks, but there they stood again with necks outstretched
towards the creek, lowing piteously. He could not understand it.
Reluctantly he made up his mind to acquaint the Elder with the
inexplicable fact. He had gone some two hundred yards when his tired
horse stumbled. Holding him up, Bancroft saw he had tripped over a mound
of white dust. A thought struck him. He threw himself off the horse,
and tasted the stuff; he was right; it was salt! No wonder he could not
drive the cattle; no wonder they lowed as if in pain--the ground had
been salted.

He remounted and hastened to the corral. He found the Elder sitting on
his horse by the shoot, the bars of which were down.

"I can't move those cattle!"

"You said you knew how to drive."

"I do, but they are mad with thirst; no one can do anything with them.
Besides, in this sun they might die on the road."

"Hum."

"Let them drink; they'll go on afterwards."

"Hum." And the Elder remained for some moments silent. Then he said, as
if thinking aloud:

"It's eight miles to Eureka; they'll be thirsty again before they get to
the town."

Bancroft, too, had had his wits at work, and now answered the other's
thought. "I guess so; if they're allowed just a mouthful or two they can
be driven, and long before they reach Eureka they'll be as thirsty as
ever."

Without a word in reply the Elder turned his horse and started off at
a lope. In ten minutes the two men had taken down the snake fence for a
distance of some fifty y