RIDING THE RIM ROCK 91 







.:' ing herd can know its suppressed excitement. To 



i keep that excitement in check was the problem of 

 ; Wade and his men. And the night had not yet be- 

 gun. 



When the riders had brought in the drags and 

 the chuck-wagon had lumbered up with supper, Wade 

 set the first watch. 



Along with the wagon had come the fresh horses 

 and Peroxide Jim, a supple, powerful, clean-limbed 

 buckskin, that had, I think, as fine and intelligent 

 an animal-face as any I ever saw. And why should 

 he not have been saved fresh for just such a need as 

 this? Are there not superior horses to match supe- 

 ; rior men a Peroxide Jim to complement a Wade 



> and so combine a real centaur, noble physical power 

 ; controlled by noble intelligence? At any rate, the 



horse understood the situation, and though there was 



\ nothing like sentiment about the boss of the P 



Ranch riders, his faith in Peroxide Jim was complete. 



The other night horses were saddled and tied to 



/ the wheels of the wagon. It was Wade's custom to 



1 take his turn with the second watch ; but, shifting 



', his saddle to Peroxide Jim, he rode out with the four 



; of the first watch, who, evenly spaced, were quietly 



i circling the herd. 



:" The night, for this part of the desert, was unusu- 



> ally warm; it was close, silent, and without a sky. 

 The near thick darkness blotted out the stars. There 



is usually a breeze at night over these highest rim- 



