short rushes with horses started with a jab of the spur or thwack of the
_cuerta_, to see who first should cross a line scratched in the dust, at
either end of which a throng kneeled and craned forward and held out
silver dollars and called bets.

At length the last sheep was shorn, the last sack marked, the pools on
that interesting figure, the total clip of the year, decided, and the
shearers in motley tableau assembled in the ranch-house, before the
table, to have their paper slips redeemed. They did not understand
checks on San Antonio banks; they "didn't want paper;" they had a rather
praiseworthy doubt of green-backs; they wanted the solid _dinero_,--the
"Buzzard," the "Trade," or the radiant Mexican _peso_. Toward midnight
it ceased to be a laughing-matter, paying off, and one was glad to turn
in even in an atmosphere heavy with cigarette-smoke and not
over-fragrant. Next morning the shearers leisurely saddled up and
disappeared through the brush, the Grande Capitan and Capitan lifting
their hats with grace and dignity and calling, "_Adios_!" They left a
rather relaxed ranch, with a marked tendency toward hammocks and long
siestas, varied with a little mild lawn-tennis at evening in an old
corral, which, by the way, with its surrounding fence to stop the balls,
made in many respects an admirable court.




VI.


Toward the end of August the pluvial god, assisted by the physical
characteristics of the region, provided us with a genuine sensation.