About the only way to travel--it was early in March and the rivers
were swollen--was by boat down the river. So when the cowboys on
Mr. Roosevelt's ranch found that his boat was stolen, they were
sure who had taken it. As it is every man's duty in a half-settled
country to bring law-breakers to justice, and as Roosevelt was,
moreover, Deputy Sheriff, he decided to go after the three
thieves. Two of his cowboys, Sewall and Dow from Maine, in about
three days built another boat. In this, with their rifles, food
enough for two weeks, warm bedding and thick clothes, Roosevelt,
Sewall and Dow set out down the Little Missouri River.

There had been a blizzard, the weather was still bitterly cold,
and the river full of drifting ice. They shot prairie fowl and
lived on them, with bacon, bread and tea. It was cold work poling
and paddling down the river, with the current, but against a head
wind. The ice froze on the pole handles. At night where they
camped the thermometer went down to zero. Next day they shot two
deer, for they needed meat, as they were doing such hard work in
the cold.

On the third day they sighted smoke,--the campfire of the three
thieves. Two boats, one of them the stolen one, were tied up to
the bank. It was an exciting moment, for they expected a fight. As
it turned out, however, it was a tough job, but not a fighting
one. The German was alone in camp, and they captured him without
trouble. The other two were out hunting. When they came back an
hour or two later, they were surprised by the order to hold up
their hands. The half-breed obeyed at once, Finnigan hesitated
until Roosevelt walked in close, covering him with a rifle, and
repeated the command. Then he gave up.