rested our horses. Once we had them milling, our trouble, as far as
running was concerned, was over, for all two of us could hope to do
was to let them exhaust themselves in this endless circle.

It then lacked an hour of daybreak, and all we could do was to ride
around and wait for daylight. In the darkness preceding dawn, we had
no idea of the number of our bunch, except as we could judge from the
size and compactness of the milling cattle, which must have covered an
acre or more. The humidity of the atmosphere, which had prevailed
during the night, by dawn had changed until a heavy fog, cutting off
our view on every hand, left us as much at sea as we had been
previously. But with the break of day we rode through our holding a
number of times, splitting and scattering the milling cattle, and as
the light of day brightened, we saw them quiet down and go to grazing
as though they had just arisen from the bed ground. It was over an
hour before the fog lifted sufficiently to give us any idea as to our
whereabouts, and during the interim both Stallings and myself rode to
the nearest elevation, firing a number of shots in the hope of getting
an answer from the outfit, but we had no response.

When the sun was sufficiently high to scatter the mists which hung in
clouds, there was not an object in sight by which we could determine
our location. Whether we had run east, west, or south during the night
neither of us knew, though both Stallings and myself were satisfied
that we had never crossed the trail, and all we did know for a
certainty was that we had between six and seven hundred head of
cattle. Stallings had lost his hat, and I had one sleeve missing and
both outside pockets torn out of my coat, while the mesquite thorns
had left their marks on the faces of both of us, one particularly ugly
cut marking Joe's right temple. "I've worn leggins for the last ten