Cattle-Ranch to College

oming in the doorway, frying pan in hand. "He was shot

away from

d much to win his heart. Though they were anxiously waiting to hear the story of the bullet holes and the spot of blood, Abe continued to talk about gravies, the advantages of a very h

eavy deal table cleared. The fire replenished, and Abe's pipe

ventured Ben at last, unable t

de his acquaintance about ten years ago at Boisé City, and the first thing I heard of him was that he'd just killed a gambler-gambler was a hard case, so nobody

with their guns, and dead shots. One of 'em shot a man in the arm, near our shack back in Bismarck, and m

r him, so he turned outlaw and road agent near Virginia City, and held up Ben Halliday's stages till the vigilance committee hung some of his partners and got too hot on his trail. Not a thing more did I hear of him till he turned up about two years ago with this bunch of sheep of your fa

was going in would get it for him. Even with such care, though, he knew it wasn't safe for him to stay in one place very long, so one day in spring he told me he was going to quit and move on. Don't you boys ever turn 'bad men,'" said Abe, with a laugh; "it don't pay. Brave as that poor chap was, he was fairly afraid of his shadow when he got to thinking of sheriffs' poss

bunches of sheep near there, so I told him and talked a good deal about one thing or another having to do with them. I remember I told him I was looking for a

xican Jack?" inquired Ben, who did

chased back for cover to the other side. I dismounted, crawled up to the top, and looked over. There at the door sat Mexican Jack, six-shooter in hand. I couldn't understand why in the world he should shoot at me, so I rode over to look up Billy, the other herder, and find out what was up. He hadn't been to the shack since morning and knew nothin

ke a move with that deadly pistol hand of his. Once he quivered a bit and his right hand stirred toward his gun. I almost plunked him then, I was so nervous, but there was no other sign of wakefulness or life. We decided he must have gotten hold o

had come over to America a year before expressly to kill Mexican Jack, who had shot his brother in some quarrel. I had supplied the missing link of information, a

said John. "But what

ied, and acquitted; for no jury out here would convic

f him," exclaimed both boys in chorus. "We

d good herder, and it was worth while to keep on the right side of him. Now, you boy

untry was all new to the boys and they plied their guide with questions. They learned that Abe Miller was to stay

d move to the new mine (about fifteen miles

nd of shed, open in front and built of round, chinked logs, entirely lacking in comforts of every kind, was to be their ho

nd introduced them to "Polly" and her two sons, Dick and Pete, the ev

N THE FLOCK.

much better herder than her young masters at first, and Dick and Pete were not far behind. They moved the "bunch" to fresh feeding grounds at the command, and fully understood the wig-wag code of the plains. When driving at a distance from camp Polly would trot to a hill top

hese four-footed enemies were almost always prowling about, looking hungrily for a chance at a stray sheep or lamb. A coyote or wolf among an unprotected flock

ound. During the two mid hours of the day the animals rested, lying down quietly, and the brothers would take advantage of this time to get in as much sport as the spot afforded. Rifles were always slung on the saddle, and the slinking coyotes gave plenty of opportunity to show good marksmanship. Occasionally the curiously marked antelope appeared, looking, as Charley Green once said, "

e flock preparatory to stretching the rope corral. Ben was on one side with Polly and Dick, John on the other with Pete; all was going well, and John and Pete, neither very experienced in the business in hand, began to feel the pride that goeth before a fall. Suddenly the sheep fifty yards from where John stood began to sca

It looked as if he would have to give up the chase. At last, however, he tried gradually turning to one side and heading it back to the bunch; even then it might have got away if Polly, taking in the situation, had not flown to the rescue. John came ba

atching half the night. A fire was built on one side of the enclosure, and the watcher lay on the other. The sheep, probably the mos

. From time to time he replenished the fire and made a careful scrutiny of the country round in search of the lurking enemies of his charges. Till he woke his brother a

t was in the winter that the boys' greatest hardships were encountered, for they found it necessary more than once literally to carry some of the flock through snow drifts to the ran

on they had often heard: "as crazy as a sheep herder." The shepherd's life in the far West is as uninteresting, ambitionless, and lonely an existence as falls to the lot of man. For long periods of time a shepherd is so entirely alone with his flock and his dogs that the experience not infrequently costs him his reason. It was a terribly lonely l

o that they formed quite a settlement. Occasionally the miners' sons would ride out to visit the Worth boys, who were delighted to see them, though there was little in common between them. The miners were Easterners, as a rule, and knew nothing of horsemanship, hunting, or

ers occupied most of their time in thinking what they would do when they

here with these woolly idiots a

But what are we going to do when we get back? You can bet your

y's head reflectively as he spoke, and the good dog, undemonstrative

switched if I want to go to coal mining,

ad enough of mining to last me a lifetime." He shi

them. They would soon change the solitude for their bustling, busy home. It was home, and that was good to think of. Yet it was a home where a boy's love of fun and his healthy animal spirits were not considered: h

said Ben

h the same tone, "there is o

id Ben aga

John began. "He said that a mail route was to be run from Ragg

e job. That shuts u

able to make that trip on time, in winter-he'll never be able to make it at all. You'll see that

more independent spirit, so it was John who always had the deciding voice when there was a doubtful plan. Ben's yielding disp

own, the two went at each other, good humoredly but with seriousness, advising one another when a mistake was made. Every blow, every trick, that Tom Malloy had taught John they tried till they knew it perfectly. Every feint, every f

the mountains. They were glad to get away from the ranch, but when they reviewed the passed long months and reali