The Florida agriculturist., 1889-10-23

tie slope To the prairie, and indicating be
yond all question the presence there of 8
stout and high and impossible wire fence.
There are few things the cavalryman
holds in meaner estimate.
'That marks the western limit,
thought Perry to himself, land doubt
less reaches miles away to the south.
from what hear Now. where does one
enter?'
A little farther on he came upon
trail leading from the low bluffs to his
left hand 1t crossed the winding bride
path on which he rode, though some OF
the hoof tracks seemed to join, and wheel
tracks too. chad marked that between
the fort and the point no sign of wheel
appeared; it was hoof trail and moth
ing more Now light and little trav-
eled wagon track came in from the north,
and while one branch seemed to cross the
Monee and to ascend the opposite slopes
close along the wire fence. the other
Jolned HIM and went on down the stream.
This he decided to follow.
A ride of few hundred yards brought
him to a point where shoulder of bluff
twisted the trail well in towards the
stream, and he, thinking to cross and re-
connoiter on the other shore, turned No
Ian in that way and was suddenly
brought up standing by the heaviest and
most forbidding wire fence he had ever
seen Yes there it stretched away
through the cottonwoods, straight as a
die, back to the angle whence started
the southward course he first had noted,
and, looking down stream, far as the eye
could reach, he marked it.
"Well." thought Perry. I've often
heard an Englishmans house was his
castle, but who would have thought of
stalking and wiring in half county
half Texas county-in this hoggish
way? How far down is the entrance
anyhow
Following the trail, he rode down
stream full half mile, and still there
seemed no break. Nowhere on the other
shore was there sign Of bride path lead
ing up the slopes. Turning to his left in
some impatience. he sent Nolan at rapid
lope across the intervening bottom" :"
and soon reached the bluffs, which rose
perhaps forty or fifty feet above the
stream Once on the crest. the prairie
stretched before him northward, level as
floor, until it met the sky; but it was
southwark he longed to look, and thitheI
quickly turned. Yes, there it lay-Dun-
raven Ranch, in all it's lonely majesty
From where he gazed the nearest build
ing stood a good long mile away. That
it was the homestead he OWNED at once,
for broad veranda ran around the
lower story, and white curtains were
visible at the dormer windows of the
upper floor Back of it and on the eastern
flank were other buildings, massive look
ing, single storied affairs, evidently
stables, storehouses and corrals. There
wassL tall windmill there-an odd sight
in so remote region-and big water
tank.
Perry wondered how it ever got there.
Then at the southwest angle was build
ing that looked like an office of some
kind. He could see horses tethered there
and what seemed to be human figures
moving about Beyond it all, to the
east and south, were herds of grazing
cattle. and here and there in the dim dis.
tance horseman moved over the prai.
rie. This reminded him of the stranger
who had given him the slip; and he
gazed westward in search of him.
Far up the valley, between him and
the distant post, he could plainly see 8
black object just descending the slopes
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