CHAPTER VII
ALL IN THE DAY'S WORK
The brief visit of Priest proved a tonic to the boys. If a firing lineof veteran soldiers can be heartened, surely the spirit and courage oforphan waifs needed fortifying against the coming winter. The elementshave laughed at the hopes and ambitions of a conqueror, and aninvincible army has trailed its banners in the snow, unable to cope withthe rigors of the frost king. The lads bent anew to their tasks with acheerfulness which made work mere play, sweetening their frugal fare,and bringing restful sleep. The tie which began in a mercenary agreementhad seemingly broken its bonds, and in lieu, through the leaven of humanlove, a new covenant had been adopted.
"If it's a dry, open winter," said Dell at breakfast next morning,"holding these cattle will be nothing. The water holds them nowwithout herding."
JOEL WELLS AND HIS SPANISH COW-PONY]
"Yes," replied Joel, "but we must plan to meet the worst possiblewinter. A blizzard gives little warning, and the only way to overcomeone is to be fully prepared. That's what Mr. Paul means by bringing upthe ammunition. We must provide so as to be able to withstand awinter siege."
"Well, what's lacking?" insisted Dell.
"Fuel. Take an axe with you this morning, and after riding around thecattle, cut and collect the dead and fallen timber in Hackberry Grove.Keep an eye open for posts and stays--I'll cut them while you're haulingwood. Remember we must have the materials on the ground when Mr. Paulreturns, to build a corral and branding chute."
Axe and scythe were swung that morning with renewed energy. Within aweek the required amount of hay was in stack, while the further supplyof forage, promised in the stunted corn, was daily noted in itsadvancing growth.
Without delay the scene of activity shifted. The grove was levied on, achange of axe-men took place, while the team even felt a new impetus bymaking, instead of one, two round trips daily. The fuel supply grew, notto meet a winter's, but a year's requirements. Where strength wasessential, only the best of timber was chosen, and well within the timelimit the materials for corral and branding chute were at hand on theground. One task met and mastered, all subsequent ones seemed easier.
"We're ahead of time," said Joel with a quiet air of triumph, as thelast load of stays reached the corral site. "If we only knew the plans,we might dig the post-holes. The corn's still growing, and it won't doto cut until it begins to ripen--until the sugar rises in the stock. Wecan't turn another wheel until Mr. Paul returns."
Idleness was galling to Joel Wells. "We'll ride the range to-day," heannounced the following morning. "From here to the ford doesn't matter,but all the upper tributaries ought to be known. We must learn thelocation of every natural shelter. If a storm ever cuts us off from thecorrals, we must point the herd for some other port."
"The main Beaver forks only a few miles above Hackberry Grove,"suggested Dell.
"Then we'll ride out the south fork to-day and come back through thesand hills. There must be some sheltered nooks in that range of dunes."
That the morning hour has gold in its mouth, an unknown maxim at the newranch, mattered nothing. The young cowmen were up and away with therising sun, riding among and counting the different bunches of cattleencountered, noting the cripples, and letting no details of theconditions of the herd, in their leisurely course up the creek, escapetheir vigilance.
The cattle tallied out to an animal, and were left undisturbed on theirchosen range. Two hours' ride brought the boys to the forks of theBeaver, and by the middle of the forenoon the south branch of the creekwas traced to its source among the sand dunes. If not inviting, thesection proved interesting, with its scraggy plum brush, its unnumberedhills, and its many depressions, scalloped out of the sandy soil by theaction of winds. Coveys of wild quail were encountered, prairie chickentook wing on every hand, and near the noon hour a monster gray wolfarose from a sunny siesta on the summit of a near-by dune, and sniffedthe air in search of the cause of disturbance. Unseen, the boys reinedin their horses, a windward breeze favored the view for a moment, whenten nearly full-grown cubs also arose and joined their mother inscenting the horsemen. It was a rare glimpse of wary beasts, and like aflash of light, once the human scent was detected, mother and whelpsskulked and were lost to sight in an instant.
"They're an enemy of cattle," whispered Joel when the cubs appeared."The young ones are not old enough yet to hunt alone, and are stillfollowing their mother. Their lair is in these hills, and if this provesa cold winter, hunger will make them attack our cattle before spring. Wemay have more than storms to fight. There they go."
"How are we to fight them?" timidly asked Dell. "We have neither dog norgun."
"Mr. Paul will know," replied Joel with confidence. "They'll not botherus while they can get food elsewhere."
The shelter of a wolf-pack's lair was not an encouraging winter refugeto drifting cattle. The boys even shook out their horses for a shortgallop in leaving the sand dunes, and breathed easier once the open ofthe plain was reached. Following a low watershed, the brothers made awide detour from the Beaver, but on coming opposite the homestead, nearthe middle of the afternoon, they turned and rode directly for theranch, where a welcome surprise greeted them.
Four men were at work on the branding chute. A single glance revealedboth Priest and Forrest among the quartette. On riding up to the stablecorral, in the rough reception which followed, the lads were fairlydragged from their saddles amid hearty greetings. "Well, here we areagain, and as busy as cranberry merchants," said Priest, once orderwas restored.
"Where's your herd?" inquired Joel.
"He hasn't any," interrupted Forrest; "he's working for me. About thistime to-morrow evening, I'll split this ranch wide open with two herds,each of thirty-five hundred two-year-old steers. I'm coming with somestyle this time. You simply can't keep a good man down."
"There were two herds instead of one to go to the old man's beef ranch,"explained Priest. "We brought along a couple extra men and came througha day ahead. We can't halt our cattle, but we can have the chute andcorrals nearly ready when the herds arrive. All we'll lack is thehardware, and the wagons will reach here early during the afternoon."
The homestead presented a busy scene for the remainder of the day. Everyold tool on the ranch was brought into service, and by twilight theoutlines of the branding chute had taken form. The stable corral wasbuilt out of heavy poles and posts, with a capacity of holding near onehundred cattle, and by a very slight alteration it could be enlarged,with branding conveniences added.
At this point it was deemed advisable to enlighten the boys regardingthe title of stray cattle. Forrest and Priest had talked the matter overbetween themselves, and had decided that the simple truth concerning thefacts was the only course to adopt. The older of the two men, by theconsent of years, was delegated to instruct the lads, and when thequestion of brands to be adopted by the new ranch was underconsideration, the chance presented itself.
"In starting this ranch," said the gray-haired foreman to the boys, asthey all sat before the tent in the twilight, "we'll have to use twobrands. Cattle are conveyed from one owner to another by bill-of-sale.In a big pastoral exodus like the present, it is simply impossible tokeep strays out of moving herds. They come in at night, steal in while aherd is passing through thickets, while it is watering, and they may notbe noticed for a month. Under all range customs, strays are recognizedas flotsam. Title is impossible, and the best claim is due to the rangethat gives them sustenance. It has always been customary to brand theincrease of strays to the range on which they are found, and that willentitle you to all calves born of stray mothers."
The brothers were intent listeners, and the man continued: "For fear ofwinter drifting, and that they may be identified, we will run all thesestrays into Two Bars on the left hip, which will be known as the'Hospital' brand. For the present, that will give us an asylum for thatbranch of flotsam gathered, and as trustees and owners of the range, allincrease will fall to Wells Brothers. However, in acceptin
g thisdeputyship, you do so with the understanding that the brand is merely atally-mark, and that in no way does it deprive the owner of comingforward to prove and take possession of his property. This methodaffords a refuge to all strays in your possession, and absolves you fromany evil intent. All other cattle coming under your control, with theknowledge and consent of the owner or his agent, are yours in feesimple, and we will run them into any brand you wish to adopt."
"But suppose no one ever calls for these stray cows?" said Joel,meditating.
"Then let them live out their days in peace," advised Forrest. "Theweeds grow rankly wherever a cow dies, and that was the way theirancestors went. One generation exempts you."
The discovery of wolves in that immediate vicinity was not mentioneduntil the following morning. The forces were divided between the tasks,and as Priest and Joel rode up the valley to the site of the new corral,the disclosure was made known.
"Wolves? Why, certainly," said Priest, answering his own query. "Wolvesact as a barometer in forecasting the coming of storms. Their activityor presence will warn you of the approach of blizzards, and you want totake the hint and keep your weather eye open. When other food becomesscarce, they run in packs and will kill cattle. You are perfectly safe,as yours will be either under herd or in a corral. Wolves always singleout an animal to attack; they wouldn't dare enter an inclosure. Takenadvantage of in their hunger, they can be easily poisoned. A wolf dearlyloves kidney suet or fresh tallow, and by mixing strychnine with either,they can be lured to their own destruction."
The post-holes were dug extra deep for the corral. The work wascompleted before noon, the gate being the only feature of interest. Itwas made double, fifty feet wide, and fastened in the centre to a strongpost. The gate proper was made of wire, webbed together with stays,admitting of a pliability which served a double purpose. By sinking anextra post opposite each of the main ones, the flexibility of the gatealso admitted of making a perfect wing, aiding in the entrance or exitof a herd. In fastening the gate in the centre short ropes were used,and the wire web drawn taut to the tension of a pliable fence. "You boyswill find this short wing, when penning a herd, equal to an extra man,"assured the old foreman.
The first round-up on the new ranch took place that afternoon. Forresttook the extra men and boys, and riding to the extreme upper limits ofthe range, threw out the drag-net of horsemen and turned homeward. Thecattle ranged within a mile or two on either side of the creek, and byslowly closing in and drifting down the Beaver, the nucleus of the ranchwas brought into a compact herd. There was no hurry, as ample time mustbe allowed for the arrival of the wagons and stretching of the wire, infinishing and making ready the upper corral for its first reception ofcattle. There was a better reason for delay, which was held in reserve,as a surprise for the boys.
As expected, the wagons and remudas arrived at the new ranch hours inadvance of the herds. The horse wranglers were detailed by Priest, andfitting an axle to the spool of wire, by the aid of ropes attached tothe pommels of two saddles, it was rolled up to the scene of its use atan easy canter. The stretching of the wire was less than an hour's work,the slack being taken up by the wranglers, ever upholding Texasmethods, from the pommels of saddles, while Priest clinched the strandswith staples at the proper tension. The gates were merely a pliableextension of the fence, the flexible character requiring no hinges."Now, when the stays are interwoven through the wire, and fastened inplace with staples, there's a corral that will hold a thousand cattle,"said one of the wranglers admiringly.
It was after sunset when the herd was penned. Forrest, after countingthe round-up to his satisfaction, detailed Dell and Joel to graze theherd in a bend of the Beaver, out of sight and fully a mile above, andtaking the extra men returned to the homestead. The trail herds hadpurposely arrived late, expecting to camp on the Beaver that night, andwere met by their respective foremen while watering for the day. Inreceiving, at Dodge, two large herds of one-aged cattle, both foremen,but more particularly Forrest, in the extra time at his command, hadlevied on the flotsam of the herds from which his employer was buying,until he had accumulated over one hundred cattle. Priest had secured,among a few friends and the few herds with which he came in contact,scarcely half that number, and still the two contingents made a verymaterial increase to the new ranch.
The addition of these extra cattle was the surprise in reserve. Joel andDell had never dreamed of a further increase to the ranch stock, andForrest had timed the corralling of the original and late contingents asthe climax of the day's work. Detailing both of the boys on the point,as the upper herd was nearing the corral, it was suddenly confronted byanother contingent, rounding a bend of the creek from the oppositequarter. Priest had purposely detailed strange men, coached to the pointof blindness, in charge of the new addition, and when the two bunchesthreatened to mix, every horseman present except the boys seemed blindto the situation.
Dell and Joel struggled in vain--the cattle mixed. "Well, well," saidForrest, galloping up, "here's a nice come-off! Trust my own boys topoint a little herd into a corral, and they let two bunches of cattlemix! Wouldn't that make a saint swear!"
"Those other fellows had no man in the lead or on the point," protestedDell dejectedly. "They were looking away off yonder, and their cattlewalked into ours. Where were you?"
"One of my men was telling me about an old sweetheart of his down onthe Trinity River, and it made me absent-minded. I forgot what we weredoing. Well, it's too late in the day to separate them now. We'll penthem until morning."
The appearance of Priest and the readiness with which the strange menassisted in corralling the herd shortly revealed the situation to thecrafty Joel. On the homeward canter, the gray-haired foreman managed todrop a word which lightened Dell's depression and cleared up thesupposed error.
That was a great night on the Beaver. The two wagons camped together,the herds bedded on either side of the creek, and the outfits mingledaround the same camp-fire. Rare stories were told, old songs were sung,the lusty chorus of which easily reached the night-herders, and wasanswered back like a distant refrain.
The next morning the herds moved out on their way without a wasted step.Two men were detailed from each outfit, and with the foremen and theboys, a branding crew stood ready for the task before them. The chutehad been ironed and bolted the evening previous, and long before theearly rays of the sun flooded the valley of the Beaver, the firstcontingent of cattle arrived from the upper corral.
The boys adopted Bar Y as their brand. The chute chambered ten growncattle, and when clutched in a vise-like embrace, with bars fore andaft, the actual branding, at the hands of two trail foremen, was quicklyover. The main herd was cut into half a dozen bunches, and before thenoon hour arrived, the last hoof had passed under the running irons andbore the new owner's brand or tally-mark.
Only a short rest was allowed, as the herds were trailing the limit oftravel, and must be overtaken by evening. When crossing the railroad afew days before, it was learned that Grinnell was the railroad depot forsettlers' supplies, and the boys were advised to file their order forcorn, and to advance a liberal payment to insure attention. All detailsof the ranch seemed well in hand, the cattle were in good condition towithstand a winter, and if spirit and confidence could be imparted, fromage to youth, the sponsors of the venture would have felt little concernfor the future. If a dry, open winter followed, success was assured; ifthe reverse, was it right to try out the very souls of these waifs in awintry crucible?
The foremen and their men left early in the afternoon. On reaching adivide, which gave the party of horsemen a last glimpse of the Beaver,the cavalcade halted for a parting look.
"Isn't it a pretty range?" said Forrest, gazing far beyond the hazyvalley. "I wish we knew if those boys can stick out the winter."
"Stick? We'll make them stick!" said Priest, in a tone as decisive as ifhis own flesh and blood had been insulted.