Volume XVII. 



RECREATION 



NOVEMBER, J902. 

 G. 0. SHIELDS (COQUINA,) Editor and Manager 



Number 5, 



BRONCHO BUSTING. 



GEO. B. M'CLELLAN. 



"George, we ought to go out and 

 get that bunch of horses on North 

 Buffalo," said one of the boys on the 

 ranch to me one day in early spring. 

 The bunch was led by an old work 

 mare we had named Mother Rice, be- 

 cause we got her from a man of that 

 name. The mare had not been cor- 

 raled for 2 years, and had collect- 

 ed a bunch of horses nearly as wild 

 as herself. 



"Get Mother Rice and bunch, eh? 

 That is easier said than done. You 

 have never had a round with Mother 

 Rice. With me it's different. I've 

 spent several nights in the badlands, 

 without grub, and with no bed save 

 my sweat-wet saddle blanket, just 

 from thinking I could follow Mother 

 Rice and her bunch." 



"You did not have a good man to 

 help you," said Harve. "Let's give 

 them a whirl anyhow. There are 

 some good horses in that bunch, and 

 with you and old Wagon and Mes- 

 quite and me I believe we can make 

 them think some one has been after 

 them." 



"All right ; if you are aching for a 

 trip I will go, but it's like going 25 

 miles to a dance ; more fun going and 

 dancing than it is coming home." 



However, we finally agreed that 

 we would start the next day but one, 

 so when the time arrived we had our 

 horses all ready and headed for the 

 badlands, with beds and grub on a 

 pack horse. The first day we covered 

 20 or 25 miles. After getting a bite 

 to eat we again saddled our horses 



and went out to locate our bunch. 

 About a mile above where we were 

 camped we found fresh trails of a 

 bunch of horses. We followed the 

 bunch North 2 or 3 miles, and with 

 the field glasses I located them 

 on a flat a mile farther on. The next 

 thing was to find out if it was Mother 

 Rice's outfit, so we started to stalk 

 them. 



We got on the leeward side of the 

 bunch and made for a knoll that 

 seemed close to the horses. By riding 

 some distance around and leaving our 

 horses in the bottom of the gulch we 

 reached the knoll and peered over. 



"Is that her?" asked Harve. 



No need for me to take a second 

 look at the splendid brown mare, with 

 the stripe in the face, standing so 

 quietly not more than 60 or 75 yards 

 away. 



"That is certainly Mother Rice 

 Now be still. Don't show up. If 

 you do they are off." 



There were 13 horses in the bunch, 

 2 of them showing saddle marks. 



"There are at least 2 broken horses 

 in that bunch," said Harve. "We 

 must have them." 



We slipped quietly down from the 

 hill, back to our horses, and rode to 

 camp. Early the next morning we 

 started out to get the bunch. We 

 found them grazing peacefully within 

 a quarter of a mile of where we left 

 them. 



"Now," I said, "we must get be- 

 hind that ridge, so as to be on the 

 other side of them when we jump 



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