88 The Hunting Field With Horse and Hound 



of earth, were low and formed one side of a corral made of old 

 railroad ties set on end and close together. This was for horses. 

 The cattle corral, or branding pen, joins the horse corral and 

 is also circular in form, with a recess for heating branding 

 irons. It is witliin the former enclosure that the young horses 

 are driven, roped and saddled; and in the latter, the year's 

 crop of calves are roped, thrown, and branded. So far as 

 buildings go, the above describes the requirements of a 10,000 

 acre cattle ranch, that carries from three to four thousand 

 head of cattle and about a hundred head of horses, all ages 

 included. 



The buildings were duly inspected while the cowboys had 

 their breakfast, after which our host says, "Come," and without 

 more ado we file into the dining room and take a seat any- 

 where on the bench where a plate is waiting. The knives 

 and forks are of iron, the spoons of tin. The provisions well 

 cooked and abundant — ham and eggs, boiled potatoes, cream, 

 gravy, corn bread, buckwheat cakes and coffee. No apologies, 

 no ceremony, what you cannot reach, ask for; if you don't 

 get all you want, it's your own fault. 



While breakfast with our host is being served, the cowboys 

 ride away for the day's work, which at this time consisted of 

 cutting out the best conditioned cattle and rounding them up 

 to the ranch, preparatory to driving them to the railroad station 

 and earring them for market. It would be interesting to fol- 

 low this work for a week and end up by riding twenty- 

 seven miles Saturday evening after supper, to a dance 

 where there were seven women and twenty men; but this is 

 what we have in anticipation for our next visit to the plains. 

 For the present we must confine ourselves to the chase. 



Breakfast over, we go to the shed, to find our horses saddled 

 and bridled, and a team hitched to a wagon that is to carry the 

 hounds. Mr. Petrie, Steepleton, our host and the writer are 

 to go mounted. 



