RIDING THE RIM ROCK 91 



ing herd can know its suppressed excitement. To 

 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 

 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 

 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- 



