said about the remudas before leaving, and while we had an
abundance of horses, no one knew them better than I did. For that
reason I wanted to be present when their allotment was made, for
I knew that every foreman would try to get the best mounts, and I
did not propose to stand behind the door and take the culls. Many
of the horses had not had a saddle on them in eight months, while
all of them had run idle during the winter in a large mesquite
pasture and were in fine condition with the opening of spring. So
bidding my folks farewell, I saddled at noon and took a
cross-country course for the ranch, covering the hundred and odd
miles in a day and a half. Reaching headquarters late at night, I
found that active preparations had been going on during my
absence. There were new wagons to rig, harness to oil, and a
carpenter was then at work building chuck-boxes for each of the
six commissaries. A wholesale house in the city had shipped out a
stock of staple supplies, almost large enough to start a store.
There were whole coils of new rope of various sizes, from lariats
to corral cables, and a sufficient amount of the largest size to
make a stack of hobbles as large as a haycock. Four new
branding-irons to the wagon, the regulation "Circle Dot,"
completed the main essentials.

All the foremen had reported at the ranch, with the exception of
Forrest, who came in the next evening with three men. The
division of the horses had not even come up for discussion, but
several of the boys about headquarters who were friendly to my
interests posted me that the older foremen were going to claim
first choice. Archie Tolleston, next to Jim Flood in seniority in
Lovell's employ, had spent every day riding among the horses, and
had even boasted that he expected to claim fifteen of the best