H tinting from the Ranch. 27 



gle of trees ; while yet others looked like parks, the cot- 

 tonwoods growing in curved lines or in clumps scattered 

 here and there. 



On our way we came across a bunch of cattle, among 

 which the sharp eyes of my foreman detected a maverick 

 two-year-old heifer. He and one of the cowboys at once 

 got down their ropes and rode after her ; the rest of us 

 first rounding up the bunch so as to give a fair start. 

 After a sharp run one of the men, swinging his lariat 

 round his head, got close up ; in a second or two the 

 noose settled round the heifer's neck, and as it became 

 taut she was brought to with a jerk ; immediately after- 

 wards the other man made his throw and cleverly heeled 

 her. In a trice the red heifer was stretched helpless on 

 the ground, the two fierce little ponies, a pinto and a 

 buckskin, keeping her down on their own account, tossing 

 their heads and backing so that the ropes which led from 

 the saddle-horns to her head and hind feet never slack- 

 ened. Then we kindled a fire ; one of the cinch rings 

 was taken off to serve as a branding iron, and the heifer 

 speedily became our property — for she was on our range. 



When we reached the ranch it was still early, and 

 after finishing dinner it lacked over an hour of sundown. 

 Accordingly we went for another ride ; and I carried my 

 rifle. We started up a winding coulie which opened 

 back of the ranch house ; and after half an hour's canter 

 clambered up the steep head-ravines, and emerged on a 

 high ridge which went westward, straight as an arrow, to 

 the main divide between the Little Missouri and the Big 

 Beaver. Along this narrow, grassy crest we loped and 



