RANCHING INCIDENTS. 73 



want of breath. When he got back home he reported 

 that he had left the old man and the heifer and the 

 calf "still running." I myself met the old gentle- 

 man again some months afterwards, and learned that 

 he had made "a very expeditious journey home." 

 But he expressed his unfeigned astonishment at the 

 way the calf was able to " leap and bound," and he 

 inquired if I could tell him the best way to prevent 

 the heifer from " making so free with her hind legs 

 when he went to milk her." 



Now, in addition to horses and cattle, I had also 

 laid the foundation of a herd of swine by buying a 

 Berkshire sow. The animal arrived by rail in a 

 wooden crate, which was put out at our station and 

 left on the platform. Had we been wise, we should 

 have had the horses draw the pig on a sleigh all the 

 way to her new quarters in our sty. But somehow 

 our instincts did not lean towards wisdom — at all 

 events, not on this occasion. There were one, two, 

 three, four, five of us, and she was but one small pig. 

 Where, then, could be any difficulty or trouble ? We 

 anticipated none. In fact, even before the animal 

 arrived Leslie bargained that he might be allowed 

 to bring her up single-handed. He had led the 

 second horse from the Upper Falls siding to the 

 stable successfully, and a pig is nothing like so big 

 as a horse. 



Before knocking away the side of the wooden 

 crate, Calaby twisted a stout cord round her snout. 

 Then a few blows of a hammer, and the animal was 

 free. The distance we had to take her was about 

 two hundred yards. But all the time we spent 

 traversing those yards (and it was really unconscion- 



