facing it full in the eye, the herd was allowed to tack westward
as they went down the farther slope. This watershed afforded a
fine view of the surrounding country, and from its apex I scanned
our rear for miles without detecting any sign of animate life.
From our elevation, the plain dipped away in every direction. Far
to the east, the depression seemed as real as a trough in the
ocean when seen from the deck of a ship. The meanderings of this
divide were as crooked as a river, and as we surveyed its course
one of Bob's men sighted with the naked eye two specks fully five
miles distant to the northwest, and evidently in the vicinity of
the old trail. The wagon was in plain view, and leaving three of
my boys to drift the cattle forward, we rode away with ravenous
appetites to interview the cook. Parent maintained his reputation
as host, and with a lofty conversation reviewed the legal aspect
of the situation confronting us. A hasty breakfast over, my
brother asked for mounts for himself and men; and as we were
corralling our remuda, one of the three lads on herd signaled to
us from the mesa's summit. Catching the nearest horses at hand,
and taking our wrangler with us, we cantered up the slope to our
waiting sentinel.

"You can't see them now," said Burl Van Vedder, our outlook; "but
wait a few minutes and they'll come up on higher ground. Here,
here, you are looking a mile too far to the right--they're not
following the cattle, but the wagon's trail. Keep your eyes to
the left of that shale outcropping, and on a line with that lone
tree on the Saw Log. Hold your horses a minute; I've been
watching them for half an hour before I called you; be patient,
and they'll rise like a trout. There! there comes one on a gray
horse. See those two others just behind him. Now, there come the