122 RANCH LIFE AND THE HUNTING-TRAIL 



rest every third night. I took first watch, my two companions, revolver 

 under head. roUing up in their blankets on the side of the fire opposite 

 that on which the three captives lay ; while I, in fur cap, gantlets, and 

 overcoat, took my station a little way back in the circle of firelight, in a 

 position in which I could watch my men with the absolute certainty of 



UOWN-STKEAM. 



being able to stop any movement, no matter how sudden. For this night- 

 watching we always used the double-barrel with buckshot, as a rifle is 

 uncertain in the dark ; while with a shot-gun at such a distance, and with 

 men lying down, a person who is watchful may be sure that they cannot 

 get up, no matter how quick they are, without being riddled. The only 

 danger lies in the extreme monotony of sitting still in the dark guarding 

 men who make no motion, and the consequent tendency to go to sleep, 

 especially when one has had a hard day's work and is feeling really tired. 

 But neither on the first night nor on any subsequent one did we ever abate 

 a jot of our watchfulness. 



Next morning we started down-stream, having a well-laden flotilla, 

 for the men we had caught had a good deal of plunder in their boats, 

 including some saddles, as they evidently intended to get horses as soon 

 as they reached a part of the country where there were any, and where it 

 was possible to travel. Finnigan, who was the ringleader, and the man I 



