By noon the herd had grazed out five miles on its way. The boys
were so anxious to get off that on my return the camp was
deserted with the exception of the cook and the horse-wrangler,
none even returning for dinner. Before leaving I had lunched at
Los Lobos with its owner, and on reaching the wagon, Levering and
I assisted the cook to harness in and start the commissary. The
general course of the Nueces River was southeast by northwest,
and as our route lay on the latter angle, the herd would follow
up the valley for the first day. Once outside the boundaries of
our camp of the past week, the grass matted the ground with its
rank young growth. As far as the eye could see, the mesas,
clothed in the verdure of spring, rolled in long swells away to
the divides. Along the river and in the first bottom, the timber
and mesquite thickets were in leaf and blossom, while on the
outlying prairies the only objects which dotted this sea of green
were range cattle and an occasional band of horses.

The start was made on the 27th of March. By easy drives and
within a week, we crossed the "Sunset" Railway, about thirty
miles to the westward of the ranch in Medina. On reaching the
divide between the Leona and Frio rivers, we sighted our first
herd of trail cattle, heading northward. We learned that some six
herds had already passed upward on the main Frio, while a number
of others were reported as having taken the east fork of that
river. The latter stream almost paralleled the line between
Medina and Uvalde counties, and as we expected some word from
headquarters, we crossed over to the east fork. When westward of
and opposite the ranch, Runt Pickett was sent in for any
necessary orders that might be waiting. By leaving us early in
the evening he could reach headquarters that night and overtake