The Argosy, March 27, 1920 — page 104: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

254 THE ARGOSY. cabins scattered over the range, occupied during the winter by Circle L cowboys whose duty it was to guard the cattle against the aggressions of timber wolves: and from rustlers, cold, and starvation. For two days the chuck-wagon had been sent rattling to the various line camps, stocking them with supplies against the winter, As the weather was threatening the hoodlum wagon had been pressed into service this morning; and all the men, with the exception of the blacksmith—who was working diligently in his shop near the cor- ral; and two punchers—Davies and Har- ris, who had been assigned to Number One camp—were away with the two wagons. Davies and Harris had not been able to resist the lure of “ town.” The prosperity that had descended upon them had made them restless, and the night before they had importuned Lawler to permit them to spend ‘one more night in town before holin’ up for the winter.” Lawler had consented: and now he was wishing that he hadn't. . For when he emerged from the ranch-house this morning he saw a dark cloud bank far in the north, moving southward on the chill wind. The herd, he knew, was somewhere on the big level beyond the crest of the valley, in the vicinity of Number One line camp. It was an isolated section off the trail that led to town—a section of featureless level near a big break in the valley. The break opened upon another big level that stretched southward for a hundred miles. In other days Luke Lawler had lost many cattle there; they had drifted through the break by hundreds. with a blizzard be- hind them; and had been swallowed by the great waste, Two years before—aware of the previous losses—Lawler had erected a wire fence across the big break, extending from a craggy mountain wall on the western end, to a sheer butte that marked the end of the break, eastward. Lawler had sent Red King to the crest of the valley on his way to the Hamlin cabin, when he noted that the cloud bank in the north had grown denser, nearer. The wind had increased in velocity, and he had to lean against it as he rode; and it was so cold and raw that he drew his heavy cap down ovex his eyes to shield them, and drew over his mouth the heavy woolen scarf he wore around his neck, He rode on a short distance, casting troubled glances into the north. He found himself wondering if Davies and Harris had gone to the line camp. If they hadn’t, and a storm broke, the herd on the big level was in danger. He brought Red King to awhalt. The big horse pranced, whistling eagerly. He champed on the bit, tossed his head, raising it finally and staring straight into the north. “You see it too, eh, King?” said Lawler. “Well, we can’t take that chance: we'll have to go to the camp.” He headed Red King down into the val- ley again, where the bitter wind did not strike them, riding westward rapidly. It was noon before Lawler and Red King had traveled half the distance to the line camp. A dull, gray haze was sweeping southward. It mingled with the southern light and threw a ghostly glare into the valley, making distance deceptive, giving a strange appearance to the landmarks with which Lawler and the horse were familiar. Lawler increased Red King’s pace. He saw that the storm was nearer than he had thought, and that he would have to work fast to get the cattle headed into the valley before it broke. The distance from the Circle L ranch- house to the big plain near the line cabin was about fifteen miles, and the trail led upward in a long, tiresome rise, Yet Red King struck the level with a reserve strength that was betrayed by the way he fought for his head as he saw the leyel stretch be- fore him. He was warmed up—he wanted to run. But Lawler drew him down in an effort to locate the herd before he started to- ward it. Man and horse.made a mere blot on the yawning expanse of land that stretched away from them in all directions. A lone eagle in the sky or a mariner adrift on a deserted sea could not have seemed more isolated than Lawler and Red King, In this limitless expanse of waste land, horse and rider were dwarfed to the proportions conniclooolkS.cCotn