The Greeley tribune., 1905-12-14


his iron pots, saddles We're thrown
over horses fresh from n long nights
good grazing. cinches We're tiEhtened,
| slickers ana blankets Were adjusted,
and camp melted away in troop OF
horsemen winding away through the
gray of early morning.
The scene of the beef roundup was
mighty plain. affording limitIeSs
scope for handling the cattle OF Il
thousand hills. The specks in the far
distance began to grow as il the screw
+ of field glass was bringing them
nearer. turning them into horSemen,
lunches of cattle. chuck wagons OF
the different outfits. reserves OF horses
restrained by temporary rope corra!s-
all the equipment OF great roundup,
| Dozens of men, multitudes of horses.
hordes of cattle-the mighty plain swa-
lowed all the little, prancing gallop-
ing, believing things, and still looked
| mighty in its loneliness. Men darted
| hither and thither. yelling shrilly: cows.
| born apparently to be leaders, broke
| from the lunches to which they had
been assigned and started at clumsy
run. followed by kindred susceptible TO
| example. Cow punchers, waiting for
Just such manifestations of individu
ality. whirled after them like comets,
and soon they We're again in the paw
ing. heaving sweltering bunch to
which they belonged.
Peter Hamilton, whose particular
skill as COW puncher lay in that
branch of the profession known as
cutting out" found that the work
of the rustlers had been carried on
with no unsparing hand since the early
spring roundup. Calves bearing the
II l. brand-that claimed by conf
! pany known to be made up of cattle
thieves-followed mothers bearing al
most every brand that grazed herds in
that part of the state. The Wetmore
outfit, that used w inclosed in Il
square. We're apparently the heaviest
losers. The cows and calves were
herded at the right of the plain, con
venient to the branding pen, the steers
well away to the opposite side As
Peter drove Il Wsquare COW, followed
by little white faced calf whose brand
had plainly been tampered with, he
heard one Of his associates say:
There's nothing small about the
Fl L except their methods"
whats H L stand for anyway"
the other cow puncher asked.
why, HI, or How Long. Depends
whether you're with 'em or agin en-
Peter wheeled from the men and
headed for the bunch he was cutting
out. He fancied that the man had
looked at him strangely as he offered
choice of meanings for the II l.,
and yet he could not have known that
Peter had gone to Rodney's cabin last
night. Hc flung himself heart and soul
into his work, dashing full tilt at the
snorting. stamping bedlam enveoped
in clouds of dust that dimmed the very
daylight. Calves bleated piteously as
they were jammed in the thickening
pack. Peter shouted, swung the rope
right and left, thinning the bunch
about him, and second later emerged,
driving before him COW, followed by
q calf. These were turned over to COW
boys waiting fot them. Time after
time Hamilton returned to that mass
of unconscious power that with sin
| gle rush could have annihilated the lit
them with the skill of a dealer shut
fling, cutting, dealing a pack of cards.
To the left were the steers, paving
and tearing up the earth in a very &C.
stasy of impotent fury. But handful
Of cowboys kept them in check, cir
cling round and round them on ponies
that did their work without waiting
for quirt or rowel.
The MONDAY sun looked down upon
scene that to the eye unskilled in
these things was as confusion worse
confounded. Cowboys dashed from no.
where in particular and did amazing
things with bit of rope, sending II
through the air with snaky undula-
tons after flying cattle. The rope,
taking on lifelike coils. would pursue
the flying beast like an aerial reptile
then the moose would fall true, and the
thing was done. A second later q cou.
pie of cowboys would be examining the
disputed brand on the prone animal.
| 4hC sASl VI ucSu dLu uulI
rose from the branding pen and min.
gled with the stencil of the herds in
one noisome compound. The yells of
the COW punchers, each having its diff.
ferent bearing on the work in hand
were all but lost in the dull, steady
roar of the cattle, believing in a cho-
rus Of fear, rage and pain. And still
the work Of sorting. branding, cutting
out, went steadily on. Though an out.
slider would not have perceived It, the
work was as crisp cut and exact in its
methods as the work in counting
house.
The beef contract called for thou
sand steers four and FIVE years old,
and, these having been well and duly
counted and some dozen extra head
added in case Of accident. they were
Immediately started on the trail, as