The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1908-03-06
CHAPTER II.

WAY on the other side or the
~ hero two cowboys had been
"a lazily lying on the grass in the
shade cast by the motionlesS
bodies of their ponies. They had been
keeping such Indifferent watch that
neither Of them had seen Miss Rem
wyck. 1t was the noon hour. The
morning shift had gone back to camp,
and the afternoon gang had not yet ar
rived, so there were only these men
watching the herd. The quiet had
made them relax their usual vigilance.
The instant they heard the first ozark"
from the steers they leaped to their
feet and sprang to saddle.
They're off" cried the taller of the
| two as he drove his spurs into his
pony and took straight cut across the
prairie so as to head them off.
"We'll get 'em millin' under the hills
| all rightv shouted his companion as
they raced along.
A quarter of mile, however,
brought them in sight of the woman.
| The first man, who was little ahead,
pointed.
| SuOuleu.
"My Godw said the other. Fright in
their direction. She's a goner if"-
Eastern cried his companion.
He saw that unless the onrush of the
cattle were diverted the girl would be
overwhelmed and trampled to death in
the stampede. Try as he might, he
could not reach her in time, yet he had
| fba nd 10
| like a centaur. He fairly lifted the
| broncho through the air in his mad
| impetuosity. A woman was quicken
! ing sight on the range, and all the
| chivalry in the souls of the men re-
| sponded to the appeal Of her peril;
but, try as they might, they realized
| they could do nothing
"We'll be too later cried the leading
| man.
] "Yep," answered his companion Ia
| conically, driving his spurs home again.
mo-" cried the first man as the cattle
swerved; "she's kept her head. That
woman knows her business. They'll be
milling in a minute"
"Shed ought to be gittin' out'n it
now, though"
Eyes. God. they've got her" he
cried as he saw the girl caught on the
periphery of the whirlng mass.
"We'll git her outw cried the other.
| "If she lives long enough to give us
d chance"
When stampeded cattle get to mill.
ing they turn in upon themselves,
| either involuntarily or because Of pres
sure put upon them by cowboys seek
| ing to control them. They sweep
around in concentric circles In a great
| spiral. The pressure on the outside
| tends to construct the circles more and
more until the cattle are jammed into
| q whirling vertiginous mass, Of which
nothing can be seen but uplifted heads
| and uptossed horns. This mass. fran
tic with fear and fury. sways and
| whirls over the ground like a tornado.
with a motion of rotation and transla-
| ton ut the same time. Above the dust
| of its trampling comes the clicking Of
| the dew claws and the cleft boofs as
| the feet are lifted sharply from the
| ground. These. with the rafting OF
horns and the believing of those on
| the outer edge, make the animal whirl-
| pool a perfect inferno Of noise and
clamor.
| The mill sweeps around and around.
and the only way to break 1t is to un'
wind it-that Is, to cut into the bunch
and start the outer edge Off on a TIM
gent, so that the whole unwinds itself
mechanically by reversing the process
which brought it together. This is an
| operation of much difficulty, attended
with great danger. The man who
breaks in must do it backward. as it
were. He must follow the movement
Of the perimeter of the great circle.
heading as the cattle do, and by skill
| and dexterity force out first one and
then another until he gets the circum-
ference broken. In the end the break
is apt to come quickly. and the awful
maelstrom of maddened animals dis
solves into q peaceable herd almost as
| quickly as it wound itself into fran
| tic mob.
To be caught inside such a mill Is
death. Fortunately Harriet Renwyck
was on the outskirts. The situation
was sufficiently terrifying as il was,
however. Above the dust she could
see n tossing, quverIng expanse Of
horned heads. She was riding a mans
saddle and in man fashion, The pres
sure upon her horse was so tremenr
dous that In order to keep from being