, I found Roundtree and Stallings
coming up with the larger holding. Throwing the two hunches together,
we drifted them a free clip towards camp. We soon sighted the main
herd, and saw across to our right and about five miles distant two of
our men bringing in another hunch. As soon as we turned our cattle
into the herd, Flood ordered me, on account of my light weight, to
meet this bunch, find out where the last cattle were, and go to their
assistance.

With a hungry look in the direction of our wagon, I obeyed, and on
meeting Durham and Borrowstone, learned that the outside bunch on the
right, which had got into the regular trail, had not been checked
until daybreak. All they knew about their location was that the up
stage from Oakville had seen two men with Circle Dot cattle about five
miles below, and had sent up word by the driver that they had
something like four hundred head. With this meagre information, I rode
away in the direction where one would naturally expect to find our
absent men, and after scouring the country for an hour, sighted a
single horseman on an elevation, whom from the gray mount I knew for
Quince Forrest. He was evidently on the lookout for some one to pilot
them in. They had been drifting like lost sheep ever since dawn, but
we soon had their cattle pointed in the right direction, and Forrest
taking the lead, Quarternight and I put the necessary push behind
them. Both of them cursed me roundly for not bringing them a canteen
of water, though they were well aware that in an emergency like the
present, our foreman would never give a thought to anything but the
recovery of the herd. Our comfort was nothing; men were cheap, but
cattle cost money.

We reached the camp about two o'clock, and found the outfit cutting
out range cattle which had been absorbed into the herd during the run.
Throwing in our contingent, we joined in the work, and though Forrest
and Quarternight were as good as afoot, there were no orders for a
change of mounts, to say nothing of food and drink. Several hundred
mixed cattle were in the herd, and after they had been cut out, we
lined our cattle out for a count. In the absence of Priest, Flood and
John Officer did the counting, and as the hour of the day made the
cattle sluggish, they lined through between the counters as though
they had never done anything but walk in their lives. The count showed
sixteen short of twenty-eight hundred, which left us yet over three
hundre