
WITH THE MOUNTAIN COWBOYS 
rough, being full of cafions and deep 
arroyas, with the mesas and the high 
hills rising on every side. The flats 
are covered with sage and grease- 
wood, extending up into the pines and 
cedars of the 
slopes. Rocks 
outcrop every- 
where. In such 
a country the 
K-Bar cows, 
and cows of mS 
many another &% 
brand, rustle | 
for themselves 
and live almost 
as wild as do 
the deer. ree ¥ 
Thad and Se 
Lou and I rode 
on, out from img 
the ranch; we #uyeL4 
forded the ae 
rushing, tur- ee 
bid creek, and & 
climbed the & 
opposite bank. S32 
Thad was a #2 og 
Perang. and 
had punched 
cows all over the Southwest and West 
for fifteen years. Lou was an lowan 
—but the best range roper in this 
section, nevertheless. Thad wore leath- 
er chaps; Lou wore overalls unpro- 
tected. 
Our horses at an incessant trot, we 
had gone six or seven miles, along the 
draw through which wended the 
crooked creek, when the two cowboys 
turned into a side draw. Cattle were 
disclosed ahead of us—a sprinkling 
grazing upon the grass_ springing 
amidst the sage. They raised their 
heads, as we approached, and stared. 
Suddenly, without a word, Lou struck 
spurs into his horse, and sped careen- 
ing off to the left, as if possessed. 
While I gazed, startled, Thad, seized 
by a similar craze, likewise bolted 
away, to the right. I pursued Thad, 
my horse deftly picking a path 
through the brush, well nigh unseat- 
ee Pay rms 

burned into side and gat a es K 
atd 
ing me with his abrupt twistings and 
dodgings. 
Thad was swinging his rope over his 
head, and racing an old mammy and her 
calf. The old mammy went scot-free, 
but, they calf 
vainly doubled 
@ and bawled; 
4 Thad’s hand 
jerked forward 
a bit, the loop 
sailed true, and 
m settled about 
my the calf’s neck. 
i Thad’s horse 
Le Ot Sc, 
the cali, de- 
m scribing half 
ef a somersault, 
sp lay choking 
and stunned. 
When, 1.ar- 
rived Thad was 
standing over, 
tying its four 
feet together, 
while he held a 
boot-heel upon 
its neck. 
“Why didn’t y’u help me rope this 
calf?” he demanded, with a grin. 
I grinned back. 
Having hog-tied his victim, he cast 
the loop off from it; and now assisted 
by the tenderfoot he gathered some dry 
sage, built a little fire, and placed there- 
in his saddle-irons (horse-shoes welded 
shut) for heating. Then he knelt upon 
the calf, and proceeded with his pocket- 
knife to ear-mark it and cut a dewlap. 
The calf bawled to no avail. Thad 
wiped his knife and fingers on it, and 
the irons being hot, again knelt and 
burned into side and flank a big K. 
Crossed sticks were the leverage for his 
iron. 
He scattered the fire. 
“Look out, now; this calf’s mighty 
fractious,” he warned. 
Consequently the tenderfoot mounted 
in haste. But after removing the rope 
from the calf’s feet Thad calmly kicked 
a se S a 
