Dawn found the outfit at attention.  Every movement was made with alacrity.  Two men assisted a husky boy to corral the remuda, others harnessed in a span of mules, and before the sun peeped over the horizon, the cavalcade moved out up the valley, the courier returning to the station.  The drag-net from below would be thrown out from the old winter corral; but as an hour’s sun on the cattle rendered them lazy, half the horsemen halted until the other sighted the grove above.  As early as advisable, the gradual circle was begun, turning the cattle into the valley, concentrating, and by slowly edging in, the first round-up of the day was thrown together, numbering, range run, fully six hundred head.  Two men were detailed to hold the round-up compactly, Dell volunteered to watch the cut (the beeves selected), leaving the other three to cut out the marketable cattle which would make up the shipment.  A short hour’s work followed, resulting in eighty-odd beeves being selected.  Flesh, age, and the brand governed each selection, and when cut into a class by themselves, the mettle of the pasture was reflected in every beef.

The cut was grazed up to the second round-up, which contributed nearly double the former number.  On finishing the work, a count of the beeves was made, which overran in numbers the necessary shipment.  They were extremely heavy cattle, twenty head to the car was the limit, and it became necessary to trim or cull back to the desired number.  Sargent and Joel passed on every rejected beef, uniform weight being desirable, until the shipment stood acceptable, in numbers, form, and finish.

The beeves were watered and grazed out on their course without delay.  Three days and a half were allowed to reach the railroad, and a grazing pace would land the herd in the shipping pens in good season.  The day’s work consisted in merely pointing and drifting the cattle forward, requiring only a few men, leaving abundant help to initiate the cook and wrangler in their field duties.  Joel had been a close observer of the apparent ease with which a cook discharged his duty, frequently halting his wagon on a moment’s notice, and easily preparing a meal for an outfit of trail men within an hour.  The main secret lay in the foresight, in keeping his work in advance, and Joel lent every assistance in coaching his cook to meet the emergency of any demand.

Sargent took the wrangler in hand.  The different bunches of horses had seen service on the trail, were gentle to handle, and attention was called to observing each individual horse and the remuda as a whole.  For instance, in summer, a horse grazes against the breeze, and if the remuda was freed intelligently, at darkness, the wind holding from the same quarter during the night, a practical wrangler would know where to find his horses at dawn.  The quarter of the breeze was therefore always noted, any variation after darkness, as if subject to the whim of the wind, turning the course of the grazing remuda.  As among men, there were leaders among horses, and by noting these and applying hobbles, any inclination to wander was restrained.  Fortunately, the husky boy had no fear of a horse, his approach being as masterly as his leave-taking was gentle and kindly—­a rare gift when unhobbling alone in the open.