The Pleasantville press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1912-1929, 1923-05-16

dimly remembered reaching the ranch
and being taken mo Il huge house
and n huge. dimly lighted room. And
it seemed II Ter that she had gone to
sleep at once. and had awakened with
out remembering how Size had gotten
to bed.
With a knock on the door and a
cheerful greeting. Florence entered.
carrying steaming hot water.
GOOD mawnin'. Miss Hammond.
Hope you slept well. You sure were
tired last night. | imagine you'll find
this old ranch-house az cold as a barn.
It'll warm up directly. AIS gone with
the boys and Bill. We're 10 ride down
on the range after a while when your
baggage comes. Breakfast will be
ready soon, and after that We'll look
about the place.
Madeline was charmed with the old
Spanish house, and the more she saw
Of 1t the more she thought what a de-
lightful home Ii could be made. All
the doors opened into a courtyard. or
patio, as Florence called it. The
house was low, IN the shape of a rect
angle, and SC immense In size that
Madeline wondered If 1t had been a
Spanish barracks. Florence led the
way ont on a porch and waved a hand
at a vast. colored void. ''That's what
Bill likes she said.
AT first Madeline could not tell what
vas SKY and what was land. Tie i'm
mensity of the scene stunned her faeul-
ties Of conception. She sat down in
one of the old rocking-cllairs and
looked and looked. and knew that she
was not grasping the reality of what
stretched wondrously before her.
Were up at the edge of the foot
hills" Florence said. It'll sure take
you Il little while to get used to being
up high and seeing so much That's
the secret-We're up high, the air is
clear. and there's the whole bare
world beneath us. Here-see that
cloud of dust down in the valley? It's
the roundup. The boys are there, and
the cattle. Wait, I'll get the glasses"
1.-THE roundup want to know all
about ito see it," declared Madeline.
please tell me what it means. what
it's for, and then take me down there"
It'll sure open your eyes, Miss Ham,
mond. I'm glad you care to know.
Your brother would have made a big
success in this cattle business II Ii
hadn't been for crooked work by rival
r%anchers. He'll make 1t yet, In spite
of them"
Indeed he shall" replied Madeline.
But tell me, please. all about the
roundup
We'll. in the first place. every cat
tleman has to have a brand to identify
his stock. Without II no cattleman,
nor half a hundred cowboys. II he had
so. many. could ever recognize all the
cattle in a big herd. There are no
fences on our ranges. They are all
open to everybody. Every year we
have two big ~roundups. but the boys
do some branding all the year. A calf
should be branded as soon as its
found. This is a safeguard against
cattle-thieyes. We don't have the
rustling of herds and punches of cat.
tie like we used to.
I'VE have our big roundup in the
fall. when there's plenty of grass and
water. and all the riding-stoek as well
as the cattle are in fine shape. The
cattlemen in the valley meet with their
cowboys and drive in all the cattle
they can find. Then they brand and
cut out each mans herd and drive Il
toward home. Then they go on up or
down the valley. make another camp,
and drive in more cattle. 1t takes
weeks"
For Madeline the morning hours flew
by, with a goodly part of the time
spent on the porch gazing out over that
ever-changing vista. At noon a team
ster drove up with her trunks. Then
while Florence helped the Mexican
woman get lunch Madeline unpackad
part of her effects and got out things
for which she would have immediate
need. After lunch she changed her
dress for a riding-habit and, going out
side, found Florence waiting with the
horses.
As Madeline rode along she made
good use of her eyes. The soil WAS
sandy and porous. and she understood
why the rain and water from the few
springs disappeared 90 quickly. What
surprised her was the fact that,
though she and Florence had seemed
to be riding quite awhile. they had
apparently not drawn any closer TO
the roundup. The slope Of the valley
was noticeable after some miles had
been trayersed.
Gradually black dots enlarged and
assumed shape Of cattle and horses
moving round a great dusty patch. In
another half-hour Madeline rode be-
hind Florence 10 the outskirts Of fha
0NN