clump of cottonwoods where the wagon would be found, seven of us
turned and rode back for Ogalalla. With picked mounts under us,
we avoided the other cattle which could be seen grazing
northward, and when fully halfway to town, there before us on the
brink of the mesa loomed up the lead of a herd. I soon recognized
Jack Splann on the point, and taking a wide circle, dropped in
behind him, the column stretching back a mile and coming up the
bluffs, forty abreast like an army in loose marching order. I was
proud of those "Open A's;" they were my first herd, and though in
a hurry to reach town, I turned and rode back with them for fully
a mile.

Splann was acting under orders from Flood, who had met him at the
ford that morning. If the cattle were in the possession of any
deputy sheriff, they had failed to notify Jack, and the latter
had already started for the North Platte of his own accord. The
"Drooping T" cattle were in the immediate rear under Forrest's
segundo, and Splann urged me to accompany him that forenoon,
saying: "From what the boys said this morning, Dave and Paul will
not be given a hearing until two o'clock this afternoon. I can
graze beyond the North Fork by that time, and then we'll all go
back together. Flood's right behind here with the 'Drooping T's,'
and I think it's his intention to go all the way to the river.
Drop back and see him."

The boys who were with me never halted, but had ridden on towards
town. When the second herd began the ascent of the mesa, I left
Splann and turned back, waiting on the brink for its arrival. As
it would take the lead cattle some time to reach me, I
dismounted, resting in the shade of my horse. But my rest was