V.


When the prickly pear had made a golden garden of the prairie and the
heart of _Cereus phoeniceus_ was warm with the intention of lighting its
gorgeous crimson torch on the divides; when the arroyo, but lately a
pretty streamlet, had told wellnigh all its beads to the sun-god, and
had but here and there in its parched length an isolated pool; when the
flock at noon no longer flushed the last teal from the creek, because
that lingering bird had finally winged its way toward Manitoba or some
other favorite retreat northerly,--at this time the constant wind,
gentle but never-failing, and almost always from the south, was
overweighted with a roar of multitudinous bleating and befouled with
dust; for shearing was going on at the ranch. It is a very picturesque
occupation, but it soils the most delightful season of the year, the
fresh month of May, with a fortnight of dusty toil, anticipating the
sun, and not halting promptly on his setting.

The shearing-shed lay somewhat apart from the other ranch buildings,
with a system of pens at its back, with chutes and swinging wickets for
"cutting out" lambs from their mothers destined for the shears, and
other incidental purposes. The shed was a roof of bearded
mesquite-grass, stayed by boughs and supported on live-oak or pecan
posts, the outside or bounding rows of which were sheathed up with
boards four feet or so, the remainder space up to the roof being open
for draught. On these boards Baleriano Torres, Secundino Ramon, and