I feel sorry, but to think what a fool, fool, fool I'd been. Yes, fool,
three times over -- a hundred times -- to put my liberty and life
against such a miserable stake -- a stake the devil that deals the pack
is so safe to win at the end.

I may as well go on. But I can't help breaking out sometimes
when I hear the birds calling to one another as they fly over the yard,
and know it's fresh air and sun and green grass outside
that I never shall see again. Never see the river rippling under
the big drooping trees, or the cattle coming down in the twilight
to drink after the long hot day. Never, never more! And whose fault is it?
Who have I to blame? Perhaps father helped a bit; but I knew better,
and no one is half as much to blame as myself.

Where were we? Oh, at the cave-mouth, coming out with our bridles
in our hands to catch our horses. We soon did that, and then we rode away
to the other cattle. They were a queer lot, in fine condition,
but all sorts of ages and breeds, with every kind of brand and ear-mark.

Lots of the brands we didn't know, and had never heard of.
Some had no brands at all -- full-grown beasts, too;
that was a thing we had very seldom seen. Some of the best cattle
and some of the finest horses -- and there were some real plums
among the horses -- had a strange brand, JJ.

`Who does the JJ brand belong to?' I said to father.
`They're the pick of the lot, whose ever they are.'

Father looked black for a bit, and then he growled out, `Don't you ask
too many questions, lad. There's only four living men besides yourselves