Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1916-07-06

TIC S4OpS, SpuIuIug D0uodlu Ilolr lee
the food they bad longed- for. TheJ
did not stop I'll they reached the Tlcf
bottoms. Lieber smiled affectionately
There's spirit for you" he said.
The cattle followed but the men had
to beat the first through away from
the gap. They had stopped to eat and
had blocked the way. At last they
were all in and the gap closed. One
or two stood with straddled feet and
continued TO low, their lips just brush
ing the lush grass. Poor beasts" said
Lieber, the smile gone from his face,
they are too weak to eat"
He and Gerry went back to the
house for breakfast The herders sat
and smoked. They had had coffee: 1t
would see them through half the day.
Before Lieber left, the horses were
herded once more and with much trou-
Die driven out upon the desert. Lie
Der turned to Gerry. Don't let them
back in until tomorrow, please" he
said. IF you do, they'll founder"
what about the cattle?" asked Ger
~.
THE cattle are all right. They
haven't enough spirit left to kill them
selves eating. They'll begin lying
down pretty soon. Good-by, and re-
member, you'll get warm welcome
up at Lieber's whenever you feel like
riding over"
Thanks said Gerry. "Good-by."
he watched Lteber ride away on
the road the priest had taken. Fa-
Zenda Flores, his isolated refuge, was
beginning to link itself to a world.
Man, like a vine, has tendrils. To
climb he must reach them out and
cling
The reward of those long months of
preparation was at hand. Once every
spade thrust had seemed but the pre-
cursor to barren effort Now every
stroke of the hoe seemed to bring forth
fresh green leaf. Life fell into an
enhancing monotone 1t became an
endless chain that forged its own links
and heightened out into an endless
perspective. Days passed. The ar
rival of Lieber's foreman to see how
the stock was progressing was an
event. He brought with him an old
saddle and bridle-a gift from Lieber
to Gerry. "He says" the foreman re-
marked with a leer, on making the
presentation, you can ride anything
you can catch"
Gerry felt the foreman needed put
ting in place. He went into the house
and reappeared carrying something in
his hat. He climbed the fence and
called. The horses raised their heads
and looked. Some were lazy after wa
tering but the others trotted over to-
ward him. They stopped few yards
off and scrutinized him as though to
divine his intentions. Then they ap-
preached cautiously, with tense legs.
ready to whirl and bolt. A greedy colt
refused to play the game of fear to a
finish. He strobe forward and was re-
warded with large lump of sugar.
The sugar was coarse and black, first
cousin to virgin molasses, but it was
redolent. The horses crowded around
Gerry. They paved at him. He had
to beat them back. They made a bold
assault on the empty but odorous hat.
Gerry laughed and cleared the fence to
get away from them. 81 think your
master must BE- mistaken" he said
with a smile to the foreman ."SOme
Of these colts can never have been
backed"
The foreman looked his admiration.
He began to take Gerry seriously; it
was man to man now. He pointed out
the horses that were broken to saddle
and named their gaits and mettle
Then his shrewd eyes looked around
for further details to add to his report
to his master. He noted that few,
a very few, of the cattle were still
lying down when they should have
been on their feet and eating. These
were herded into a corner of their own
and old Bonifacio was tending them.
Beside each was a pile of fresh cut
grass. AS they ate they uosed it away,
but Bonifacio made the rounds and
with his foot pushed back the fodder,
keeping it in easy reach.
The roreman's eyes caught on two
newborn calves. They had been taken
from their weak mothers and were in
a rough pen by themselves. The fore
man did not have to count the stock
to see that none was missing. He was
cattle bred. A gap in the herd or the
bunch of horses would have flown at
the seventh sense Of the stockman the
moment he laid eyes on the field In
stead there were these two calves.
Master" he said to Gerry, you have
made up your mind not to lose head
You would save even these little ones,
born before their timer
Gerry nodded gravely. He had
worked hard to save all. He WINGED
at the mere thought of death at Fa-
zenda Flores even down to these least
weaklings. He himself had fed them
patiently from warm bottle. In trOu-
BILE and valuable time they had cost
him an acre of cotton. But an acre of
cotton was a small price to pay for
life.
A grip Of the hand and the foreman
was off in a cloud Of dust. At the
bridge he pulled his horse down to the
shambltng fox trot that spares beast
and man but eats steadily into long
journey. A bearer of good tidings rides
slowly.
Gerry turned to bis work but cry
from the house arrested him. He