Roanoke Rapids herald., 1923-09-21


it seemed to her that she had gone to
sleep at once, and had awakened with
out remembering how she had gotten
to bed
With a knock on the door and a
cheerful greeting, Florence entered,
carrying steaming hot water.
Good nIawnin'. Miss Hammond.
Hope you slept we'll You sure were
tired last night. imagine you'll find
this old ranchhouse as cold as barn
It'll warm up directly. AIS gone with
the boys and Bill. We're to ride down
on the range after while when your
baggage comes. Breakfast win be
ready soon, and after that well look
about the place"
Madeline was charmed with the old
Spanish house. and the more she saw
of it the more she thought what a de-
lightful home 1t could he made. All
the doors opened into "A courtyard. or
patio. MS Florence called it. The
house was low, in the shape of rect
angle, and So immense in size that
Madeline wondered if 1t had been a
Spanish barracks. Florence led the
way out un porch and waved a hand
at a vast. colored void. That's what
Bill likes" she said.
At first Madeline could not tell What
was sky and what WAS land Tie I'm
mensity of the scene stunned her fAcul
ties of conception. She sat down in
one of the old rocking chairs and
looked and looked. and knew that she
was not eraSping the reality of what
stretched wondrously before her,
Were up at the edge of the foot
hills" Florence said. "It'll sure take
You little while to get used to being
up high and seeing so much That $
the secret-we're up high. the air is
clear. and there's the whole bare
world beneath us. IIere-see thar
cloud of dust down in the valley? It's
the roundup. The boys are there, and
the cattle. Wait, I'll get the glasses"
"The round,upi | want to know all
about ito see it," declared Madeline
"PleaSe tell me what 1t MEANS what
it's for, and then take me down there"
i' u Nhit 'ltii Hbtl NttS' MISS
mond I'm glad you care to know
Your brother would have made a big
success in this cattle business if ii
hadn't been for crooked work by rival
ranchers. He'll make 1t yet, in spite
of them"
But tell me, please. all about the
roundup"
well. In the first place, every cnt-
tleman has to have brand to identify
his stock. Without it no cattleman
nor half hundred cowboys. if he haG
so many, could ever recognize all the
cattle in big herd There are no
fences on our ranges. They are nll
open to everybody. Every year we
have two big round-ups. hut the boys
do some branding all the year. A calf
should be branded as soon rs it's
found. This is safeguard against
cattle-theves. We don't have the
rustling of herds and lunches of cat
tie like we used to.
1--WE have our big roundup in the
fall, when there's plenty of grass and
water, and all the riding-st stock us 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 it
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 goodly part of the time
spent on the porch gazing out over that
ever-changing vista. AT noon team
ster drove up with her trunks. Then
while Florence helped the Mexican
woman get lunch Madeline unpacked
part of her effects and got out things
for which she would have immediate
need After lunch she changed her
dress for a rding-habt 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 so 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 traversed.
Gradually black dots enlarged and
assumed shape of cattle and horses
moving round a great dusty patch. In
another hulf-bour Madeline rode be
hind Florence to the outskirts of the