and wrapped the loose end of our ropes to the pommels, having already tied the lariats to the heavy corral rope from the animal’s horns.  When the word was given, we took a good swinging start, and unless something gave way there was one steer less in the hog.  After we had landed the animal high and dry on the bank, it was but a minute’s work to free the rope and untie the hobbles.  Then it was advisable to get into the saddle with little loss of time and give him a wide berth, for he generally arose angry and sullen.

It was dark before we got the last of the bogged cattle out and retraced our way to camp from the first river on the trip that had turned us.  But we were not the least discouraged, for we felt certain there was a ford that had a bottom somewhere within a few miles, and we could hunt it up on the morrow.  The next one, however, we would try before we put the cattle in.  There was no question that the treacherous condition of the river was due to the recent freshet, which had brought down new deposits of sediment and had agitated the old, even to changing the channel of the river, so that it had not as yet had sufficient time to settle and solidify.

The next morning after breakfast, Flood and two or three of the boys set out up the river, while an equal number of us started, under the leadership of The Rebel, down the river on a similar errand,—­to prospect for a crossing.  Our party scouted for about five miles, and the only safe footing we could find was a swift, narrow channel between the bank and an island in the river, while beyond the island was a much wider channel with water deep enough in several places to swim our saddle horses.  The footing seemed quite secure to our horses, but the cattle were much heavier; and if an animal ever bogged in the river, there was water enough to drown him before help could be rendered.  We stopped our horses a number of times, however, to try the footing, and in none of our experiments was there any indication of quicksand, so we counted the crossing safe.  On our return we found the herd already in motion, headed up the river where our foreman had located a crossing.  As it was then useless to make any mention of the island crossing which we had located, at least until a trial had been given to the upper ford, we said nothing.  When we came within half a mile of the new ford, we held up the herd and allowed them to graze, and brought up the remuda and crossed and recrossed them without bogging a single horse.  Encouraged at this, we cut off about a hundred head of heavy lead cattle and started for the ford.  We had a good push on them when we struck the water, for there were ten riders around them and Flood was in the lead.  We called to him several times that the cattle were bogging, but he never halted until he pulled out on the opposite bank, leaving twelve of the heaviest steers in the quicksand.