nineteenth century, encountered countless droves of wild horses all over the
plains. Across the Grand Canyon, however, wild horses were comparatively few
in number in the early days; and these had probably come in by way of
California.

The Stewarts and Slone had no established mode of catching wild horses. The
game had not developed fast enough for that. Every chase of horse or drove was
different; and once in many attempts they met with success.

A favorite method originated by the Stewarts was to find a water-hole
frequented by the band of horses or the stallion wanted, and to build round
this hole a corral with an opening for the horses to get in. Then the hunters
would watch the trap at night, and if the horses went in to drink, a gate was
closed across the opening. Another method of the Stewarts was to trail a
coveted horse up on a mesa or highland, places which seldom had more than one
trail of ascent and descent, and there block the escape, and cut lines of
cedars, into which the quarry was ran till captured. Still another method,
discovered by accident, was to shoot a horse lightly in the neck and sting
him. This last, called creasing, was seldom successful, and for that matter in
any method ten times as many horses were killed as captured.

Lin Slone helped the Stewarts in their own way, but he had no especial liking
for their tricks. Perhaps a few remarkable captures of remarkable horses had
spoiled Slone. He was always trying what the brothers claimed to be
impossible. He was a fearless rider, but he had the fault of saving his mount,
and to kill a wild horse was a tragedy for him. He would much rather have
hunted alone, and he had been alone on the trail of the stallion Wildfire when
the Stewarts had joined him.

Lin Slone awoke next morning and rolled out of his blanket at his usual early