"
We made camp early that evening on the home river, opposite the range
of the _manada_. Sending out Pasquale to locate the band and watch them
until dark, Uncle Lance outlined his idea of circling the band and
bagging the outlaw in the uncertain light of dawn. Pasquale reported
on his return after dark that the _manada_ were contentedly feeding on
their accustomed range within three miles of camp. Pasquale had
watched the band for an hour, and described the _ladino_ stallion as a
cinnamon-colored coyote, splendidly proportioned and unusually large for
a mustang.
Naturally, in expectation of the coming sport, the horses became the
topic around the camp-fire that night. Every man present was a born
horseman, and there was a generous rivalry for the honor in telling
horse stories. Aaron Scales joined the group at a fortunate time to
introduce an incident from his own experience, and, raking out a coal of
fire for his pipe, began:--
"The first ranch I ever worked on," said he, "was located on the Navidad
in Lavaca County. It was quite a new country then, rather broken and
timbered in places and full of bear and wolves. Our outfit was working
some cattle before the general round-up in the spring.
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