He sat on his horse looking after them.

"I'm sorry for them" says he. "It must he almighty hard
scratchin'."

Well, we rode the range for upwards of two year. In that time we
saw our Texas friends--name of Hahn--two or three times in
Willets, and heard of them off and on. They bought an old brand
of Steve McWilliams for seventy-five dollars, carryin' six or
eight head of cows. After that, from time to time, we heard of
them buying more--two or three head from one man, and two or
three from another. They branded them all with that McWilliams
iron--T 0--so, pretty soon, we began to see the cattle on the
range.

Now, a good cattleman knows cattle just as well as you know
people, and he can tell them about as far off. Horned critters
look alike to you, but even in a country supportin' a good many
thousand head, a man used to the business can recognise most
every individual as far as he can see him. Some is better than
others at it. I suppose you really have to be brought up to it.
So we boys at the Lazy Y noted all the cattle with the new T 0,
and could estimate pretty close that the Hahn outfit might own,
maybe, thirty-five head all told.

That was all very well, and nobody had any kick comin'. Then one
day in the spring, we came across our first "sleeper."

What's a sleeper? A sleeper is a calf that has been ear-marked,