CHAPTER III 

 THE FIRST DAY'S WORK 



BEFOKE starting out from Hillsboro we branded the 

 pack burros. They were all "broncs" caught wild 

 in the hills and quite unmanageable. The job, in 

 consequence, was fraught with a certain amount of 

 excitement. Since we were anxious to be on our 

 way, every one including Ewing, who showed up 

 bright and early, apparently none the worse for his 

 "day of rest" turned in and helped. But it was, 

 notwithstanding, a matter of considerable difficulty 

 to rope and hog-tie the score of restive jackasses 

 and to hold down each one in turn while the pack- 

 ers, who wielded the branding irons, seared a large 

 ",IT. S." on the neck of the prostrate "jack" or 

 "jinny." 



Wetherby, of us all, took the occasion most seri- 

 ously. He approached the conflict with a purpose- 

 ful mien worthy of a crusader, and expended a tre- 

 mendous amount of energy during the morning; 

 though his chief utility lay, after it was all over, in 

 having furnished us with a laugh that lingered in 

 our minds many a day. He elected in the beginning 

 to wield a rope, alleging familiarity with the art, 

 but the astute burros eluded his feverish casts with 



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