ters
of fine beef would be carried into the cellar, or Mr. Winters would be
requested to step to the door and see if they had captured the horse he
wanted. The Rancheros accomplished this with their lassos, which they
carried suspended from the horns of their saddles wherever they went. A
lasso is a long rope, about as large as a clothes-line, and is generally
made of rawhide. One end of it is fastened to the saddle, and the other,
by the aid of a strong iron ring, formed into a running noose. This
contrivance these herdsmen could use with a skill that was astonishing.
Mounted on their fleet horses, they would ride up behind a wild steer,
and catch him by the horns, around his neck, or by one of his feet, as
suited their fancy.

On the morning we find Frank and Archie on the porch, their nearest
neighbor, also a stock-raiser, had ridden over to inform them that one
of his fine steers, which he had intended to drive to market, had
escaped from his Rancheros, and joined one of Mr. Winters's droves;
whereupon Frank, who, in the absence of his uncle, acted as the head man
of the ranch, sent for Carlos, and commanded him to capture the runaway,
and confine him in the cow-pen until his owner should send for him.
Carlos had obeyed the first part of the order, but just then it seemed
that that was all he could do. The steer had suddenly taken it into his
head that he had been driven far enough, and that he would not go
through the gate that led into the cow-pen; and, although Carlos pulled
him by his lasso, which he had thrown over his horns, and another
Ranchero, named Felix, vigorously applied a whip from behind, the
obstinate animal refused to budge an inch. Sometimes he would kick, and
plunge, and try to run off; and then the horse on which Carlos was
mounted, which seemed to understand the business quite as well as his
master, would plant his fore-feet firmly on the ground to stop him.
Finding that he could not effect his escape in that way, the steer would
run around in a circle; and the horse would turn around also, keeping
his face toward the animal all the while, and thus avoid being wrapped
up in the lasso. This novel battle had been going on for nearly ten
minutes, and even Frank had become highly excited over it.

"Pull him along, Carlos!" shouted Archie, jumping about on the porch as
if he had lost all control over his legs, and they would dance in spite
of every thing he could do to prevent it. "Pull him along! W