CHAPTER VI
RIDING CIRCLE
By the end of the following day the cutting of the cattle--that isthe work of separating the different brands into the four bunches, orherds--had pretty well been completed. McIntyre, therefore, determinedto send off to their home ranges, which were not far away, the cattlebearing the Sturgis and Powell brands, while the rest of the outfitwould keep on and work the remaining territory. It would take onlythree or four days for the cattle that were now being sent off to reachtheir home ranges, where they could be turned loose, and probably heldby one man with only a little watching. As soon as the cattle hadreached their ranges and been turned over to the people at the ranch,the men who had been sent back with those brands would at once returnto the camp and continue the round-up work. Powell and his hired manwere to take the Powell cattle, while Hugh and Rube were chosen to takeback the Sturgis cattle. McIntyre very wisely kept with him the youngermen, like Charley Powell and Jack, well understanding that they wouldwork harder and longer and would be fresher every day than the oldermen.
The cattle started at daylight the next morning, and Jack rode a fewmiles with the Sturgis cattle, which were going directly acrosscountry, and not around by way of Powell's ranch.
The cows moved very deliberately and were constantly stopping to feed;and by the time Jack had ridden four or five miles back and forthbehind the herd, pushing on the lagging ones and breathing the dustkicked up by the feet of the cattle, he was glad that the task ofdriving the bunch back to the ranch had fallen to others.
Finally he turned about, to go back to the round-up camp.
"I reckon you'll see us again in about four days," Hugh said. "It'lltake us pretty nearly three days to get to the ranch with these cows,and a day to get back to camp. We'll strike it down close to thePlatte, likely on Sand Creek. I don't suppose you have any message foryour uncle?"
"Just tell him I am all right and having a good time. You might tellhim, too, what happened over at Powell's. And, of course, if there'sany mail for me, bring it back with you. I don't expect to hearanything from that man I bought the saddle from. Maybe, instead ofleaving the saddle at Brown's, he just took it with him on the train;but if he did, I wouldn't be a bit surprised if he sent me back my fivedollars."
"Well," said Hugh, "it will be all guessing for a while yet; but I'llbring any mail there is."
"So long," called Rube; and Jack turned and rode back toward the camp.The distance that had seemed so very long when driving the herd, nowseemed surprisingly short, for he rode fast. He did not ride back tothe old camp because they were going to move that morning, and whenhe rode down out of the hills he could see, a couple of miles away onthe prairie, the two wagons and the c?vaya crawling along over thesage-brush flat toward the next camp, which was to be on Box ElderCreek.
When he overtook the wagons, Frank, the cook, who was driving the chuckwagon, told him that McIntyre had left word that Jack should start outand make a short circle to the eastward, taking in the low hills on theedge of the basin, but not going far back, and should turn anythingthat he found down into the flat country, where it could be readilygathered the next day. Jack accordingly rode on to the c?vaya, roped afresh horse, and turned loose Pawnee, and then rode back to the cook'swagon, where he begged from Frank a chunk of bread and some bacon.Having disposed of that, he rode off toward the low hills to the east.
When he had gone a short distance into the hills he saw fresh tracks ofhorses and of cattle running, and from this he concluded that ridershad passed over this ground the day before and gathered what cattlehad been feeding there; and presently, coming across a trail of a goodmany head, with horse tracks following the trail and on top of the cowtracks, he made sure that his conclusion was right.
After riding a mile or two farther, however, he came across a littlebunch of cattle feeding on the steep hillsides of a ravine, and goingaround them he pushed them down the hill and in the direction in whichhe was riding. The cattle were not wild, and it would have been easyto drive them in any direction; but of course they went slowly, and ifJack simply drove them into the round-up camp he could not cover muchcountry; on the other hand, if he drove them down into the valley heknew that at this time of the day they would at once turn about andreturn to the hills where there was water and, in the ravines, thegreen grass that the cattle like.
While he was mulling over this, and wondering what he would better do,the cattle ahead of him passed over a ridge and down the steep sidesof another ravine, and two or three yearlings in play ran down thehill and through a thick patch of low brush that grew at the bottom ofthe ravine. As they rushed into that, from its upper end a small blackanimal, which was unmistakably a bear cub, ran out.
Jack was riding a good quick horse, and almost without thinking heturned and galloped along the steep hillside to try to head off thecub, which kept on up the bottom of the ravine. The ground was verysteep, and broken every now and then by little washouts, and two orthree times Jack held his breath as he wondered whether the horsewould get across them or not. But the animal was sure-footed, besidesbeing swift. It did not even stumble; and before long Jack was bearingdown well toward the bottom of the ravine and was a little ahead ofthe bear. When the two were pretty close together, the bear suddenlyturned and began to scramble up the hill, away from Jack. Two or threejumps of the active horse, however, quickly brought it within ropingdistance, and in a moment the noose was over the bear's head. The horsehad turned, and with a mighty pluck the little bear flew out from thehillside and seemed to land on its head in the middle of the ravine.Jack kept the rope tight for a moment, but seeing that there was nomovement at the other end, he dismounted and walked back to the bear.The little beast--hardly larger than a setter dog--was quite dead. Jackcould not tell whether the pull of the rope had broken its neck, or ithad been killed by its fall.
The work of dressing the cub took but a few moments; but to get it onthe saddle was more difficult, for the horse regarded the carcass withsuspicion and declined to stand when the bear was put on it. Jack wasfinally obliged to blind the animal with his coat until the load wasfirmly tied behind the saddle. Then--being unwilling to take risksin this rough country--he led the animal down the ravine. It did notpitch, though it shied and several times tried to rid itself of thesaddle by prolonged kicking. At length, however, when Jack reached aplace where the ravine was wider and the ground more or less level, hemounted, and the horse went well enough.
Then Jack went back to look for his cattle. He soon found them, andafter following them over three or four ridges, came on another muchlarger group. Gathering them all together, he started down toward theprairie with about seventy-five head of cattle before him. He tookgood note of the point where he left the hills, intending to drive hiscattle into camp and then, if daylight lasted, to come back and resumehis search for others.
He pushed the cattle pretty hard, and about the middle of the afternoonhad brought them within a mile of camp, where he left them and, gettinga fresh horse, returned to the hills.
During the afternoon he found two or three more little bunches ofcattle, and shortly before sundown started in with about thirty head.As he was riding toward camp, he met the bunch that he had driven inthat afternoon working back toward the hills; so he finally brought inand delivered at camp about one hundred head.
The other parties that had been riding circle during the day hadgathered a good many cattle; so that there was again a good-sized herdbeing held near the camp, to be taken on the next day and to be addedto daily, until enough had been gathered for another cutting.
Jack's roping of the little bear was interesting to the camp chieflybecause of the variety that it would give to the daily fare of beef andbacon; but another one of the cowboys had had an adventure that had notturned out so comfortably as Jack's.
Juan, a Mexican, who had drifted into the country from the southwest,and who was a most skilful cow hand, in riding along a steepmou
ntain-side, rough with rocks, had startled from his bed beneath anold cedar tree a big bull elk with thick, growing horns just beginningto branch. Juan, of course, rode after him as hard as he could go.The roughness of the ground and the great rocks that lay everywherescattered along the mountain-side offered no impediment to the elk'sspeed, but the horse could not do its best on this ground, and haddifficulty in overtaking the elk. At length a little patch of smootherground was reached. Juan pushed his horse up within throwing distanceand made a good throw which settled around the animal's head and neck.The loop was so large, however, that it fell down against the brute'schest; and just at that moment pursued and pursuer came to a piece ofground so rough with great rocks that even Juan did not dare to rideinto it. He tried to stop and throw the elk; but there was not timefor him to turn; and the steady pull of the elk's chest on the ropedragged the horse staggering onward for a few feet, when Juan, to savehis mount, was obliged to free his rope from the horn of the saddle.The elk sailed up the mountain-side, the rope dragging behind it, whileJuan sat there on his panting horse and uttered Mexican maledictions.That evening the cowboys had a good deal of fun with Juan.
After supper, Jack saw Tulare Joe sitting on the ground working atsomething a little way from the camp, and walking over to him sawthat he was taking off bits of flesh from a small deer hide which wasentirely fresh.
"Where did you get your hide, Joe?" asked Jack.
"Why," said Joe, "some of the boys started the deer to-day out of alittle patch of brush. It ran from them up over the hill and met mejust on top. I happened to have my rope in my hand and I caught it. I'mgoing to keep it and get two or three others, if I can, and make mea buckskin shirt for winter. They say they're the warmest things youcan wear when you're riding in a cold wind, and they don't muffle youup the way a coat does--they leave you free. I'd like to stretch thishide, if I could; but I won't have time to do it on the round-up. If Icould stretch it and get it dried flat it would make it easier to packand easier to handle when it comes to tanning it; but of course on theround-up I haven't the time to peg the hide out, and no time to do thetanning while it's fresh, the way it really ought to be done."
"I didn't know," said Jack, "that it's better to tan a hide right freshthan after it is dried."
"Yes," said Joe, "it is; at least, that's what I've been told. All Iknow about tanning was taught me by the Navajos down south, and theymake awful good soft buckskin."
"I have never done any tanning; but I have seen a heap of robesdressed by women in the Blackfeet country. They tan a buffalo robe ina wonderful way, so that it is as soft as a piece of cloth; but theydon't make good buckskin. According to all I have heard, the mountainIndians make the best buckskin."
"That's what they say," answered Joe. "I've seen some wonderfulbuckskin made by the Utes, and by the Navajos too."
"You have been down among the Navajos, have you?" Jack asked, as hesat down on the ground and, taking out his pocket-knife, began to workon the skin. "I'm interested in them, for when I was a little fellowI used to read Mayne Reid's books, and they had lots to say about theNavajos, and about the raids they used to make down in Mexico."
"Yes," replied Joe, "they were certainly great raiders; and they've gotlots of men and women and children there in the camp that are as whiteas I am. Most of them, they say, were captured down in Mexico as littlechildren and brought up and raised in the tribe, and now, so far astheir feelings go, are just as pure Navajo as anybody could be."
"I guess that's so. There isn't anything in blood or race that makesa white man different from an Indian, if he is brought up in an Indianway."
"Not much. Those Navajos, too, are mighty handy with tools and withtheir fingers. I reckon you've seen lots of Navajo blankets, andlikely, too, you may have seen some of the silversmith work they do.They make fine rings and sort of pins, like the women wear at theirthroats, and they're pretty handy about setting bits of turquoise insilver. They make a whole lot of real pretty ornaments."
"I've heard something about that," said Jack; "though I've never seenany of their work, except maybe a blanket or two. And you say they'retanners, too?"
"Yes. I had a kind of friend in the camp once when I stayed down there,and he showed me his way of tanning; and he certainly did make nicebuckskin."
"I wish you would tell me how to do it; or, better still, let me seeyou tan this hide," said Jack. "But the first thing you want to do withthis hide is to try to stretch it flat, and that you can't do in thecommon way. Why don't you treat it the way the trappers treat beaverskins?"
"Well, if I knew how, maybe I would; but I don't know how. I never sawanybody trap beaver."
"Why," exclaimed Jack, "I can show you how in a minute and a half ifwe can get some willows that will bend right, and I'm pretty sure wecan, for there's a bunch down there close to the creek. Come on downwith me and we'll cut some shoots; and then if you've got a piece oftwine we'll stretch the hide on a hoop. Very likely it will be set bymorning, and you can get Frank to carry it inside his chuck wagon tiedto the bows."
"I'll go with you," said Joe, "if you'll just show me what to do."
Along the border of the stream was a growth of rather tall willows twoor three years old, and Jack soon cut half a dozen long and ratherslender shoots. Then the boys returned to the place where the deer hidehad been left. Here Jack trimmed the willow shoots in the proper way,leaving many twigs at the smaller ends, and, showing Joe how to do it,they soon made an oblong hoop somewhat longer and wider than the freshdeer hide stretched out on the ground.
"Now," explained Jack, "if you've got a piece of twine we'll sew theedges of this hide just inside the hoop, stretching the hide all wecan, and the hoop will keep it perfectly flat and stretched till it'sdry."
"That's a new one on me," declared Joe. "I never knew any way ofstretching a deer hide except to peg it out flat on the ground, ormaybe to nail it on the side of a barn. That's mighty cute, though, theway you made the hoop by just tying the slender willow twigs around themain piece of wood. It seems firm, too, as if it were going to hold."
"Oh, it will hold all right; and it will do the work it's intended todo. You see there isn't much strain coming on any particular part ofthe hoop. It's evenly distributed all around, and it gives a straightoutward pull to the hide. That's the way we always used to dry ourbeaver skins; but of course they are pretty nearly round, so that wemade those hoops in the shape of a circle."
Joe went over to his bed and from his war-sack fished out a piece oftwine; and before long the deer hide was nicely stretched on the hoop,carried over to the cook wagon, and put in charge of Frank, and, forsafety's sake, tied to the bows at the top of the wagon.
"Well," said Joe, as they walked over to the fire, "I'm mightilyobliged to you for that. If you want me to, I'd like to show you howto tan a deer hide Navajo fashion. Maybe I'll get a chance to do thatbefore the round-up is over--that is, if you'd like to know how."
"I sure would, Joe," answered Jack. "I don't know anything abouttanning myself, though I have seen a whole lot of hides dressed. Itwould be pretty nice to be able to make good buckskin."
About the fire almost the whole camp was gathered, the men smokingtheir last pipes or cigarettes, before turning in, while those who weresoon to go out on night herd had already brought up their horses, whichwere standing saddled not far from the fire. As Jack and Tulare Joestrolled up, McIntyre called to them:
"You two kids had better get your horses now, and be ready to go out onthe last relief. Do you think you can wake up at two o'clock, Jack?"
"I don't believe I can, Mr. McIntyre," Jack replied. "I'll have to getone of the boys to come in and call me."
"Well," said McIntyre, "if you're going to get up at that time, you'dbetter turn in quick, or else you'll be short of sleep."