60 The Wilderness Hunter. 



clear, and the herd quiet ; in wild weather, when the cattle 

 are restless, the cowboys never cease calling and singing as 

 they circle them, for the sounds seem to quiet the beasts. 



For over an hour we steadily paced the endless round, 

 saying nothing, with our great-coats buttoned, for the air 

 is chill towards morning on the northern plains, even in 

 summer. Then faint streaks of gray appeared in the east. 

 Latigo Strap began to call merrily to the cattle. A coyote 

 came sneaking over the butte nearby, and halted to yell 

 and wail ; afterwards he crossed the coulie and from the 

 hillside opposite again shrieked in dismal crescendo. The 

 dawn brightened rapidly ; the little skylarks of the plains 

 began to sing, soaring far overhead, while it was still much 

 too dark to see them. Their song is not powerful, but it 

 is so clear and fresh and long-continued that it always 

 appeals to one very strongly ; especially because it is most 

 often heard in the rose-tinted air of the glorious mornings, 

 while the listener sits in the saddle, looking across the 

 endless sweep of the prairies. 



As it grew lighter the cattle became restless, rising and 

 stretching themselves, while we continued to ride round 

 them. 



" Then the bronc* began to pitch 



And I began to ride ; 

 He bucked me off a cut bank, 

 Hell ! I nearly died ! " 



sang Latigo from the other side of the herd. A yell 

 from the wagons told that the cook was summoning the 

 sleeping cow-punchers to breakfast ; we were soon able 

 to distinguish their figures as they rolled out of their bed- 



