On the Cattle Ranges 71 



the time when the days are longest on these great 

 northern plains; and in addition there is the regu- 

 lar night guarding and now and then a furious 

 storm or a stampede, when for twenty hours at a 

 stretch the riders only dismount to change horses 

 or snatch a mouthful of food. 



I started in the bright sunrise, riding one horse 

 and driving loose before me eight others, one carry- 

 ing my bedding. They traveled strung out in sin- 

 gle file. I kept them trotting and loping, for loose 

 horses are easiest to handle when driven at some 

 speed, and moreover the way was long. My rifle 

 was slung under my thigh; the lariat was looped 

 on the saddle-horn. 



At first our trail led through winding coulies, 

 and sharp grassy defiles; the air was wonderfully 

 clear, the flowers were in bloom, the breath of the 

 wind in my face was odorous and sweet. The pat- 

 ter and beat of the unshod hoofs, rising in half- 

 rhythmic measure, frightened the scudding deer; 

 but the yellow-breasted meadow larks, perched on 

 the budding tops of the bushes, sang their rich full 

 songs without heeding us as we went by. 



When the sun was well on high and the heat of 

 the day had begun we came to a dreary and barren 

 plain, broken by rows of low clay buttes. The 

 ground in places was whitened by alkali ; elsewhere 

 it was dull gray. Here there grew nothing save 

 sparse tufts of coarse grass, and cactus, and sprawl- 



