Sunset Ranch: A Story of a Boy's Adventures in the West — page 60: what you’re looking at

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

52 The Indian Foray. caused them to give up the herding business and flee madly over the plains. The game was well won. All that remained now was to gather the scattered cattle in a bunch and head them in the direction of the ranch, where they could be guarded until the marauders had left the country. This might appear a gigantic task in the eyes of a greenhorn, but to experienced cowboys and herders it presented no great difficulties. Soon their familiar shouts rang over the prairie, and the horses darted hither and thither, rounding up the cattle that had been scattered, “milling” them by degrees until they were in one compact, bellowing herd. The Indians had quite vanished from view, hav- ing evidently come to the wise conclusion that there might be other cattle far easier to run off than those bearing the X bar X brand, and which were guarded by so determined a posse of cowboys. “How about that girl Old Sile told us was with the Indians?” said Cuthbert. “Was that a mis- take?” “You don’t know Old Sile,” said Karl, simply. “Well, where on earth is she? We saw no sign of her among the cattle thieves.”’ “Guess she’s around somewhere,” said Karl. “Like as not they’ve tied her to a tree until such time as they picked out their beef.” “You're sure there is a captive girl?” “What Old Sile says ’'d swear by. But, here, if you want to get on the track of that girl we might try that clump of cottonwoods. What say?” “Right. Let’s lose no time.” Soon they entered among the trees with consid- erable curiosity, and Karl had even another motive in looking keenly about, for he could not forget the two cattle thieves who had been dismounted as a Connicloookks.€©