516 
it, to make it get up; and it ran one way 
while he walked the other, to his horse. 
He laughed. The calf was not of the 
sex to resent insult. 
Lou joined us, and we rode on. 
“Bull calf?” inquired Lou, casually. 
“No; K-Bar heifer.” 
“T branded a steer calf for the Lazy 
Y, over there,” explained Lou. 
There evidently being no more mave- 
ricks in sight (or else Lou or Thad 
would have seen them) we continued 
on up the draw, and obliquing began 
RECREATION 
the use, when I was not being paid for 
it? Life was too precious. As I 
hesitated, listening, lo and behold, here 
came Thad, chasing a big calf; riding 
as madly as he had in the sage, swing- 
ing his rope. The calf lunged headlong 
beneath a low cedar; so did Thad. The 
calf lurched down a gulch where the © 
branches and brush completely envel- 
oped it; so did Thad. He never fal- 
tered; he certainly was a wild Texan. 
The crashing died away. I was alone. 
I painstakingly trailed Thad, marvel- 

AT THE K-BAR RANCH 
to ascend its side, first plunging into 
and out of an arroya at least fifteen 
feet deep. We “entered “the timber. 
Thad led, winding through the cedars, 
now at a rapid walk, now atatrot. It 
was follow who could, with the branches 
threatening to dislocate one’s neck, or 
cut one in two at the middle. 
We kept on climbing and climbing, 
and winding amidst the timber, until 
after an hour and a half we emerged 
into a small park. Some cattle were 
pointed out afar to the left, grouped 
under a clump of cedar. Thad trotted 
off at an angle; I followed Lou, this 
time. 
Thad disappeared at a gallop; as sud- 
denly as before Lou was seized by 
frenzy, and went destruction-bent, 
crashing through the trees and brush. 
I made a bluff at pursuit—but what was 
ing at the route and momentarily ex- 
pecting to come upon his dead body; 
and eventually found him in the bottom 
of a gulch, calf down and tied, already 
marked, and the irons heating in the 
fire. Thad grinned. His horse was 
heaving ; so was the calf. 
“Why didn’t yu come along?’ he 
queried. 
I grinned back. 
Having finished with the calf, we 
rode away. 
“Lou get after a calf, too?” he asked. 
“He rode as though he was after 
something,” I replied. 
About us stretched mile after mile 
of rolling timber, interspersed with little 
parks. Thad seemed to know where 
he was going; I accompanied. .We 
followed a cow-trail, descending; and 
in due time we came out, below, in a 

