“Holy mither of Moses!” he broke loose, “and where’s the rist of me tin china? Hev them bloomin’ cow-punchers swallowed dish an’ all wid their praties? It’s no more than half my utensils4 I can dig up at all, at all.” He gave way to an outburst of profanity that made Fred stare. Suddenly he stopped short:—“Hold on, Patsy, me boy. That’s enough. Now cast the divil out of ye—cast him out, I say.” Pat grabbed his flask5 of whisky as he spoke6, and took a drink. “There!” he said solemnly, “that’s better. Me feelin’s and me conscience are both relaved. There’s nuthin’ loike good spirits for castin’ out the divil, me boy. Here’s to make sure!” A long drink{167} followed, while Fred broke into a laugh that loosed the tension of his worry and made things go better. They pitched in then and soon had things ready.
A few hours later they were on the road, Pat driving the team at a lusty trot7, while Fred, trailing the extra saddle horses, jogged along in the dust behind. The sun was still several hours above the western hills when they reached the rendezvous8. Two other outfits9 had already arrived, and another swung into camp shortly afterward10.
The team unhitched, and another pony11 caught to relieve Brownie, Pat and Fred began hurriedly to get supper for the hungry range riders, who, they knew, would shortly begin to straggle in as hungry as wolves. A big quaking aspen fire was soon talking cheerily, and it was not long before the bacon and “praties” were singing in the frying pans, while the Dutch ovens were doing duty to put a tempting12 brown on the baking powder batter13 that had been poured into them.
The sun had just slipped behind a bank of flaming clouds that hovered14 above the western hills, when the first herd15 of cattle was driven in, and a half-dozen cowboys whooped17 into camp. Too ravenous18 to wait, they began to attack the smoking food. Half an hour later,{168} another bunch came; and from then on till midnight the cooks were kept busy with feeding the cowboys that continued to drift in.
“Be jabers, and it’s worse than a short order café,” complained Pat. “This ‘meals at all hours’ will keep the cook up all night, I’m thinkin’.” But he kept bravely at it till all of the boys were fed.
Night herders were posted to keep the big bunch of cattle within bounds. The “horse wranglers” were assigned their watch, and the other tired men, pillowing their heads on coats and saddles, tucked their blankets about them and slept like logs under the star-sown sky.
Nothing unusual happened that night. Daylight broke to find the cattle still somewhat nervous, but manageable. The horses were grazing peacefully not far away; while half a dozen weary cowboys clung about the herd, half asleep in their saddles.
After a time the cooks began to get busy, and one after another the sleeping cow-punchers got up, “sayin’ their prayers backwards,” as Pat put it, by damning themselves and the world in general as they stretched and yawned, and waited for breakfast.
Sunrise found them all awake, fed, and ready for business. Saddling their ponies19, they struck{169} for the herd as lively as the bucking20 bronchos that they rode.
Fred was given the task at first to herd the extra horses; but Noisy happened to get pitched from his pony, sustaining a sprained21 ankle, and he was given this lighter22 task, while Fred, much to his joy, was sent to help Dan, Dick, and Jim cut out the Bar B cattle from the big herd, which was now bunched rather compactly on the flat, with cowboys circled about it.
The term “roundup” has a rather romantic connotation. It has gathered a picturesque23 meaning. All the cowboy life seems to focus in this crowning part of his work. The excitement of the chase, the tests of skill with rope and horse, the grit24 and daring of it all, added to the unexpected that always happens—so thrill and fill the roundup with significance that it is small wonder this time has come to stand out so distinctly as the cowboy’s carnival25.
Fred came to this, his first roundup, with joyous26 anticipation27. His reading of cowboy stories, so-called, had given him a good many impressions that needed correcting. Before the day had passed he found out that there is more reality than romance in the roundup.
All day long, amid the bawling28 roar of the excited herd, in clouds of choking dust, whipped{170} up by the shifting cattle and plunging29 horses, the cutting out went on. From early morn till just before dark, the dust-covered, sweat-streaked men and ponies kept up their struggle to separate the cattle that belonged to their respective ranches31 from the rest of the big bellowing32 bunch.
Slowly the watchful33 rider and horse, working together like a centaur34, would circle the herd till the right mark or brand was spied. A touch of the rider’s heel and the horse would leap straight toward the animal that bore the brand, pushing in among the restless cattle till close upon the picked “critter,” and there the horse would stay till the cow was crowded to the edge and forced to break from the herd, to be rushed with a whoop16, at cow-gallop, pell-mell across the flat to the growing bunch where she belonged.
Dan and Jim were adept35 at the business. Their trained horses, too, showed almost human intelligence. Chief was especially skillful. Once he sighted his victim, he clung to its flanks like a leech36, turning, twisting, following its every move till he chased it home. Dick and Fred, given the task of helping hold the main herd, had no part at the beginning in the “cutting out”; but after a time Dan, to give{171} Chief a rest, told them to go into the fun for a while. Both of them leaped at the chance, and they managed fairly well for “tenderfeet.”
But it wasn’t all fun. They went at it nervously37 and soon both they and their horses were ready to quit. Noon came and passed. There was no stopping for dinner. The dust grew thicker as they grew hungrier. Their tempers began to get a rough edge; and occasionally they let loose their ugly feelings.
Fred was sent to help hold the Bar B herd. The big bunch had dwindled38 to a handful. Finally the last cow was cut out and Dick and Jim brought her whooping39 across the flat. For a closing flourish as they plunged up to their herd, they jerked out their revolvers and emptied them into the air. The nervous cattle jumped as if shot and bolted across the flat with the boys full chase behind them. Fred was on Brownie, who was straining every nerve to get ahead and turn the herd, when suddenly she lurched and fell, throwing the boy over her head. The herd swept on. Fred lay dazed for a moment, then he rose and went to his little mare40. She had staggered to her feet and stood trembling with pain. The boy was stunned41 to find one of her front legs broken. A badger42 hole had done its wicked work. The boy turned heartsick;{172} he threw his arms about the suffering animal’s neck and cried like a child.
Jim was the first to find the boy in his trouble.
“It’s a damned shame, Teddy, and it’s all my doin’s, damme. I orter had better sense. But brace43 up, boy; brace up. I’ll do the square thing.”
Dan and Dick had ridden up. Dan leaped from his horse and examined the broken leg carefully.
“No use,” he shook his head soberly; “the little mare’s done for. There’s just one thing left to do, Fred; you must end her sufferings quickly.”
“Oh, I can’t do it; I can’t do it!” replied Fred, chokingly.
“No, you don’t,” said Fred, with a touch of anger. “If she has to die, no heartless cuss shall kill her.” He paused—then turning to Dan asked feelingly—“Won’t you please do it for me?”
“If you wish it, my boy.”
Fred stroked the suffering mare’s forehead, and laid his face against her glossy45 brown cheek. She pressed his face gently in response to his sympathy, then he turned quickly and walked{173} hurriedly toward camp, never once looking back. The boys sat silent, respecting his sorrow, all but Dick. His face carried a flush of anger and the suggestion of a sneer46, which made Jim say, when Fred was out of hearing,
Fred had just reached the camp wagon, when Dan’s revolver was heard. Brownie’s sufferings were over; this was the one comforting thought that echoed through his brain through the long gloomy night.
Jim and Dan planned to get the boys to “chip in” and buy Fred another saddle horse; but before they could put their generous thoughts into execution, both of them were sent with the beef steers49 to the shipping50 point, three days’ drive away. When they returned, Fred had left the ranch30. No one knew where he had gone.
It happened in this way. He was sitting out on the corral fence one day with Cap Hanks and Dick, when suddenly the foreman turned on Dick and asked, “Have you been ropin’ any cattle around this ranch?”
“No,” said Dick, a little confused.
“Well, some one has,” said the foreman, “for Jim found one of the blooded heifers up{174} the creek51 strangled to death with this rope on, and he says that the string belongs to you.”
“Don’t know a damned thing about it,” said Dick. “The rope ain’t mine, that’s dead sure.”
“Well, Teddy, it’s up to you. Is this your lasso?”
“Yes, sir, it is.”
“Then you roped the heifer?”
“No, sir, I didn’t.”
“Who did?”
“It’s not my place to tell.”
“Then I’ll go,” replied Fred; “if the fellow that threw that rope won’t own up and take his medicine, I’ll take it for him; but I won’t tell.”
And he went. Rolling his few clothes in a bundle, he slipped out of the old shack53 into the grove54 near by. All the word he left was this note, which he put in the till of Dan’s trunk:
Dear Dan,
I am discharged because I won’t “beller.” Perhaps I’m doing wrong, but my head is so troubled just now I can’t think very clearly. I wish I might have a word with you. Thank you for all your kindness. Say good-by to the boys. I hope they won’t think I am as bad as some would make me out to be.
Fred.
{175}
“I’ll bring that stubborn little cuss to time,” said Hanks; “it ain’t the first critter that’s turned up missin’ out of that blooded bunch. Two others are gone.”
“The kid’s done some careless herdin’,” insinuated56 Dick.
“Well, he’ll pay fer it. I’ll keep the price o’ them heifers out of his wages.” Hanks didn’t think that Fred would leave. He was astounded57 to find him gone.
If Dan had been at the ranch, the result undoubtedly58 would have been different. When he did return to learn from Fred’s note and Noisy the full story, he was angry.
“Hanks,” he said, “you’re boss here; and I ought to respect your orders, but I want to tell you that you haven’t given that boy a square deal.”
“That’s my business,” retorted Hanks. “Nobody can kill the stock around this ranch without paying for it.”
“Who knows that he has killed any stock? I don’t believe it. There are other ranches that have lost stock. There’s some nigger in this business, and I’ll fetch him out.”
“That’s right,” put in Dick, “stick up for the cow-kid.”
“You cowardly cuss!” Dan broke out, letting slip his temper; “don’t you bark again, or you’ll{176} rue59 it. If the truth were known, I’ll bet you are at the bottom of this dirty work. You have treated that boy like hell ever since you came to this ranch. And all because he wouldn’t be a hoodlum like you.”
Dick’s face blazed, but he couldn’t find tongue to retort, so he simply cowered60. The other boys sat mute. Suddenly Dan checked himself, and stalked out of the door, walking toward the corral to cool down his temper.
“Dan’s dead right, Cap,” said Jim; “you didn’t give the kid a square deal.”
“Well, let him tell who roped that heifer; that’s all I asked.”
“What! ‘beller’ on some one else? Look here, boss; I’d see you in hell first, and then I wouldn’t. I like the kid’s grit. Let the guilty cuss who done it own up and take his medicine.”
“Yis, be jabers, be it bitter or swate, that’s scripture,” put in Pat; “come on now and take the medicine I’ve got fer ye and fergit yer troubles. These praties are gittin’ cold.”
The boys needed no further urging. They grabbed up their tin dishes and began to eat heartily—all but Dick; he didn’t have much of an appetite. His conscience had been stung a little into life.
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1
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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wagon
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| n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车 | |
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utensils
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| 器具，用具，器皿( utensil的名词复数 )； 器物 | |
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flask
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| n.瓶，火药筒，砂箱 | |
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spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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7
trot
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| n.疾走，慢跑；n.老太婆；现成译本；(复数）trots:腹泻（与the 连用）；v.小跑，快步走，赶紧 | |
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8
rendezvous
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| n.约会，约会地点，汇合点；vi.汇合，集合；vt.使汇合，使在汇合地点相遇 | |
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9
outfits
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| n.全套装备( outfit的名词复数 )；一套服装；集体；组织v.装备，配置设备，供给服装( outfit的第三人称单数 ) | |
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10
afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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pony
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| adj.小型的；n.小马 | |
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tempting
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| a.诱人的, 吸引人的 | |
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13
batter
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| v.接连重击；磨损；n.牛奶面糊；击球员 | |
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14
hovered
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| 鸟( hover的过去式和过去分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
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15
herd
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| n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起 | |
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16
whoop
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| n.大叫，呐喊，喘息声；v.叫喊，喘息 | |
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17
whooped
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| 叫喊( whoop的过去式和过去分词 )； 高声说； 唤起 | |
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ravenous
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| adj.极饿的，贪婪的 | |
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ponies
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| 矮种马，小型马( pony的名词复数 )； ￡25 25 英镑 | |
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20
bucking
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| v.（马等）猛然弓背跃起( buck的现在分词 )；抵制；猛然震荡；马等尥起后蹄跳跃 | |
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21
sprained
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| v.&n. 扭伤 | |
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22
lighter
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| n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级 | |
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23
picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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24
grit
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| n.沙粒，决心，勇气；v.下定决心，咬紧牙关 | |
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carnival
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| n.嘉年华会，狂欢，狂欢节，巡回表演 | |
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26
joyous
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| adj.充满快乐的；令人高兴的 | |
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anticipation
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| n.预期，预料，期望 | |
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28
bawling
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| v.大叫，大喊( bawl的现在分词 )；放声大哭；大声叫出；叫卖（货物） | |
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29
plunging
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| adj.跳进的，突进的v.颠簸( plunge的现在分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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30
ranch
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| n.大牧场，大农场 | |
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ranches
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| 大农场， （兼种果树，养鸡等的）大牧场( ranch的名词复数 ) | |
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32
bellowing
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| v.发出吼叫声，咆哮（尤指因痛苦）( bellow的现在分词 )；（愤怒地）说出（某事），大叫 | |
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33
watchful
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| adj.注意的，警惕的 | |
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centaur
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| n.人首马身的怪物 | |
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35
adept
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| adj.老练的，精通的 | |
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36
leech
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| n.水蛭，吸血鬼，榨取他人利益的人；vt.以水蛭吸血；vi.依附于别人 | |
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37
nervously
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| adv.神情激动地，不安地 | |
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38
dwindled
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| v.逐渐变少或变小( dwindle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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39
whooping
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| 发嗬嗬声的，发咳声的 | |
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40
mare
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| n.母马，母驴 | |
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41
stunned
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| adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词 | |
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42
badger
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| v.一再烦扰，一再要求，纠缠 | |
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43
brace
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| n. 支柱,曲柄,大括号; v. 绷紧,顶住,(为困难或坏事)做准备 | |
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44
blurted
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| v.突然说出，脱口而出( blurt的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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45
glossy
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| adj.平滑的；有光泽的 | |
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46
sneer
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| v.轻蔑；嘲笑；n.嘲笑，讥讽的言语 | |
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47
jeer
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| vi.嘲弄，揶揄；vt.奚落；n.嘲笑，讥评 | |
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48
winced
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| 赶紧避开，畏缩( wince的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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49
steers
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| n.阉公牛，肉用公牛( steer的名词复数 )v.驾驶( steer的第三人称单数 )；操纵；控制；引导 | |
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50
shipping
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| n.船运（发货，运输，乘船） | |
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51
creek
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| n.小溪，小河，小湾 | |
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52
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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53
shack
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| adj.简陋的小屋，窝棚 | |
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54
grove
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| n.林子，小树林，园林 | |
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55
bridle
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| n.笼头，束缚；vt.抑制，约束；动怒 | |
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56
insinuated
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| v.暗示( insinuate的过去式和过去分词 )；巧妙或迂回地潜入；（使）缓慢进入；慢慢伸入 | |
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57
astounded
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| v.使震惊(astound的过去式和过去分词)；愕然；愕；惊讶 | |
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58
undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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59
rue
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| n.懊悔，芸香，后悔；v.后悔，悲伤，懊悔 | |
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60
cowered
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| v.畏缩，抖缩( cower的过去式 ) | |
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