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Story of Wool

<h2>CHAPTER VII A NARROW ESCAPE</h2> <ANTIMG class="figleft" src="images/idog.png" width-obs="150" height-obs="170" alt="" /> It was not long before Donald felt almost as at home in the hill country as did Sandy himself. They pitched camp and stayed in one place until the grazing began to get scarce; then they "pulled up" and tramped on. Sandy knew the region well and was therefore seldom at a loss to find water-holes. During the night they watched the flock, and as soon as the herd had fed in the morning and was ready to come to rest they left the dogs on guard and slept. Donald usually slept soundly, for the fresh air and exercise kept him in perfect health. Sandy, on the other hand, slept [104] with one eye open—or one ear open—the boy could never quite decide which it was. But the result was the same; by some mysterious means Sandy was always conscious of every move of his flock. Donald never tired of watching the young Scotchman. What a picture he was in his flannel blouse, open at the throat; his baggy trousers and sheepskin belt; his sombrero with its band of Mexican leather; and the field-glasses slung over his shoulder! From these glasses, his rifle, and his crook he was seldom parted. His great knuckles, broad from the grasp of his staff, were like iron; and his lithe, wiry body was never weary. And yet with all his strength Sandy was the gentlest of men with his sheep. To his dogs he was a god! Still, with all their devotion, the collies evidently understood that the sheep were their first care and they never deserted their watch to accompany Sandy when he went on a hunt for water-holes or more abundant feeding grounds. They were wonderfully intelligent animals—these collies. Donald constantly marveled [105] at their cleverness. They were quick in singling out the slow or wayward sheep and would bite their heels to hurry them along. They also recognized the leaders and it was to them that they communicated the directions Sandy gave them. Yet Sandy seldom spoke to his dogs. A motion of his arm and they would spring forward and follow out his wish. Only when he commanded it did they bark. With their drooping, bushy tails and sharp noses they reminded Donald far more of wolves than dogs. Sandy was kind to all of them, but it was Robin and Prince Charlie of which he was most fond. They had been bred from dogs his father had brought from the Old Country, he explained to Donald. There were few persons in the world for whom he cared so much. Once when Robin had been lost on the range the herder had traveled the hills three whole days to find him. "What makes shepherd dogs so different from other dogs, Sandy?" asked Donald one day. "Some of it is in their blood. They seem to want to herd sheep—they can't help it. Then [106] some of the credit of a fine sheep dog is due to his training. Why, I was months working over Robin and the Prince. I had them with goats and sheep from the time they were born. As soon as they were big enough I began teaching them to come when I called 'em. A good dog has got to learn to come to you when you speak. If he has done wrong he has got to come and be punished. Some dogs will run away when they see that you have caught them doing the wrong thing. You cannot let a sheep dog do that." "But how do you train them so they won't?" "I will tell you. It seems a heartless sort of way, but I had to do it. I tied them with a long piece of rope; then I called them. As soon as they came I spanked them good and hard, and afterward I'd pat them and give them a scrap of meat. They understood in time. They would come anyway—sure thing. If I whacked 'em it was all the same to them. By and by when they got so they would mind, I didn't have to whack 'em, and now it is seldom I lay hand to 'em. It was no pleasure to me, I can tell you, and I quit [107] it just as soon as I felt sure they would walk up like gentlemen whenever I spoke, no matter if they knew beforehand that they were to be whipped. You can see why this had to be, Don. Of course you know such dogs have the nature of wolves. In fact the better the shepherd dog, the more like a wolf he is. Now a wolf is a born enemy of sheep. Sometimes the wolf in a shepherd dog will get the better of him and he will turn about and kill the lambs instead of guarding them. If a sheep-dog is once a killer he has to die. You can never be sure of him again. So you cannot turn a dog loose on the range unless he will come to you when you speak." "I suppose he might start killing sheep and you would not be able to get control of him," ventured Donald, much interested. "That is just it! He must come even if he knows he is to be shot the next minute. There is no safety for the sheep unless it is so. My dogs would come to me willy-nilly." "Isn't it wonderful?" "Yes, unless you have been months and months, [108] as I was, getting them to do it; and even then it is rather wonderful. But a thing quite as wonderful as that is that they know every sheep in the flock. Let a ewe from another fold come in and they will scent her quick as lightning. And there is something else they will do: they understand well as ourselves that sheep will walk right over ledges and into pits, one after another; so the collies will stand guard at the edges of such places and warn 'em off. What is that but human, I ask you?" Donald nodded. "The men down at Crescent say," went on Sandy smiling broadly, "that I am daffy about dogs—my own dogs most of all. Well, haven't I cause? There is not a shepherd in this part of the country but would swap his collies for mine; or they'd buy them. I've been offered many a dollar for the two. But I'm no swapping my dogs, nor selling them, either! Sometimes, you know, we fat up sheep for the market and sell them as muttons. We then have to get the sheep into cars to send them off and it is no so easy if they haven't the mind to [109] go. Well, you should see Robin and the Prince at the job. They will run right along the backs of the herd, biting the necks of the leaders until they get them aimed where they want 'em to go; then they'll nip the heels of the others till they march up the planks into the cars neat as a line of soldiers. Or they will drive a flock onto a boat the same way. It is a great thing to get dogs that can do that. It takes more wit than a man has. Once a sheep-raiser from California saw Robin down at Glen City getting a lot of sheep off to Chicago on the train and he was hot for having him. He offered me into the hundreds if I would let him take the collie back with him." "And you wouldn't sell?" "The money ain't coined would tempt me to part with either of my dogs!" Sandy replied, with a contented shake of his head. He did not speak again, but lapsed into a thoughtful silence. There were many of these long silences during those days on the hills and to his surprise Donald had come to enjoy them. At first he had looked [110] forward eagerly to the coming of the camp-tender, who made his rounds three times a week. Not only did this Mexican bring fresh-baked bread, cold meat, and condensed milk to add to the campers' stock of salt pork, lentils, and coffee, but he brought messages from the outside world; gossip from the other herders; and now and then a letter from Donald's father. These visits were as exciting as to meet an ocean liner at sea. Gradually, however, Donald looked forward less and less to seeing the tiny Mexican burros with their loaded paniers wend their way up the hillsides. He grew into the shepherd life until like Sandy he found himself courting the sense of isolation and almost resenting the intrusion of the camp-tender. He could now understand why the herders who had lived on the range for years were such a silent lot of men. When his father and he had first arrived at Crescent Ranch the shepherds had had so little to say that Donald, who was a sensitive lad, had felt sure that the men did not like to have them come. Later, however, he had found the [111] herders kindly despite their taciturn manner. It was not ill-will but habitual silence. "What a lot of things people say that they don't need to, Sandy," he observed to the Scotchman one day. Sandy chuckled outright. "So you have come to that way of thinking, have you? We'll make a shepherd of you yet! Well, well, it is true enough. Folks chatter and chatter and what does it amount to? Many's the time they wish afterward they had held their tongues. But it is all as we're made. Some drop into being contented on the range; others cannot bear the stillness. I was ever happy alone in the open; but my brother Douglas was uneasy as a colt." "I didn't know you had a brother, Sandy!" exclaimed Donald, in surprise. "Aye, a little lad, five years younger than myself." "What—what became of him, Sandy?" "What became of him—that's a question that I wish I could answer! He came to Crescent Ranch [112] years ago with my father and me and was about the place for a long time. But he was all for the city. He hated the quiet of the hills. He wanted to be seeing people and to be around in the rush of things, and he begged my father to let him go to some big place and find a job. My father was ever a strict man and he would have none of the youngster's going off by himself. There came a day, though, when the lad was so sore and unhappy that my father bid him set off for the East. There was no other way to satisfy the boy. But it was a sad time for my father—and for me, too." "Where did he go?" "To some city on the coast, I dinna just know where. We were ever thinking he would come back some day—but he never did. It is years now since I have had tidings from him. But sometimes when I am here by myself I cannot but wonder where he is and what has become of him. He'd be a man near twenty-five now." "Does my father know this?" "Likely not." "May I tell him?" [113] "Aye, to be sure. No boy should have secrets from his father." "I can't see why a boy should want to," declared Donald. "Why, my father and I are—well, we are the greatest friends in the world! I like to be with him better than any one else." "So I figure. He must be thinking now and again that he'd like a sight of you at Crescent instead of seeing Thornton every day." "What sort of a man is Thornton, Sandy?" "What sort of a man do you take him to be?" "I do not like him!" was the prompt reply. "And wherefore?" "Oh, I—don't—know." "A poor reason. Dinna say that about any man until you get a better one." Donald colored. Sandy had dropped many a curt word that had brought the boy up, standing. Whatever else the young herder was he was just. Not only did Donald's liking, but his respect for him, increase. Ah, what happy days they passed together! Donald became so attached to the various camps [114] that he hated to leave them. Sometimes he and Sandy would stay in a spot a week, sometimes ten days; then onward and upward over the great plateaus of the mountains they made their way. These flat reaches of pasture-land were like huge steps. It was hard to realize that they were constantly climbing. Yet up, up, up they went! Each camp was several hundred feet higher than the last. As they went on the pasturage became richer, the air cooler. Clear streams from melting, snowy summits rushed along, leaving pathways of music behind them. With a hawk's keenness Sandy chose the most fertile stretches of grass for the flock. "The weight of the clip depends on good grazing," he explained to Donald. "The clip?" "Aye, the wool. Wool is sold by the pound, you must know. The better the feed, the thicker the wool. We must look out, though, for poisoned meadows. There do be many in this region." "Poisoned meadows!" "Fields where poison herbage grows. Hundreds [115] of sheep lose their lives devouring poisonous weeds. Keep your eye out for signs, laddie." "Signs! Signs up here!" "Where else? That is one of the many things our United States government does for us. It posts notices of poisoned meadows to warn the grazers on the range." "That is a pretty nice thing to do!" Donald said. "Sure enough it is," agreed Sandy. "Some day the survey will have all the water-holes catalogued along with the poisoned herbage, and will then be able to direct herders to the best grazing grounds. That is what the government is busy trying to do now." "And yet sheep-owners kick at paying for permits," exclaimed Donald. "Why, lots of that permit money must come back in this way to the very men who pay it." "For certain! And mind what I'm telling you—you will see more things that the government is doing for the herders when you get higher up. You will see great pastures fenced in with coyote-proof wire—pastures to be used in lambing [116] time so the young creatures will be safe from prairie-dogs." "Do you have coyotes on the range?" "Do we? Do we? Folks would know you for a tenderfoot right off if they heard you ask that question! The coyote, I'd have you know, is the pest of the sheepman. He's the meanest critter—but there, why be talking? You'll see for yourself soon enough. The government has spent thousands of dollars killing coyotes on these ranges." "To help the sheep-raisers?" "So." "Well, I don't wonder my father wanted Crescent Ranch to pay its full share for permits. Since we are getting all these advantages, we ought to bear our part of the expense, oughtn't we?" said Donald. "That's my feeling. We ought to be proud, too, we are bearing it. It's a grand country! I wasn't born here, like you, but I came here as a child, and the bones of my people are here. I mean to live in America and take what it offers, [117] and wouldn't I be the churl not to give the little I can in return! I haven't money, but I can live up to the laws. Scotchman though I be 'twill no hinder me from making a good American of myself." "Bully for you, Sandy!" cried Donald. Then he added soberly: "I am going to be a better American when I get back home." "Dinna wait till then, laddie—be a better one now!" Sandy chanced to be deftly cutting the outline of a thistle on a spruce staff he was carving for the boy. Donald watched him in silence as he worked in the fading light. The sun had set behind the chain of near hills, and the plateau where they were camping was gray with shadows. Through the dusk they could see the flock lazily browsing among the junipers. Suddenly there was a cry from Sandy. He threw down the staff and sprang to his feet. "The herd!" he shouted. "They're off!" Sure enough! Without a cry the leaders had started for the rimrock, and in their wake—straight [118] for the face of the precipice—was running the entire flock. "They're startled!" gasped Sandy. "We must head 'em off. Run for your life! We must get between the brainless creatures and the cliff before they go over." Donald ran. He had never run so before. His training as a track sprinter stood him in good stead now. But he had never been a long-distance runner. Two hundred yards was his limit. Moreover he was not in training. But he ran—ran as he did not know he could run. He gained on the sheep. Sandy, in the meantime, was waving his arms to the dogs who, understanding his slightest motion, now dashed ahead. The sheep, however, were far in advance by this time. On they sped in mad panic. Donald could run no more. He began to lag, his heart beating like a hammer. Even Sandy, who from the opposite direction was racing for the edge of the rock, slackened his pace. The race was a hopeless one. Then without warning, out of the trees at the left side of the field rode a horseman at full gallop. [119] With flying hoofs he cut in ahead of the herd just as they neared the face of the rock. The leaders swerved, circled, and turned about. The gait of the stampeding flock lessened. The dogs skilfully steered the approaching sheep out to one side where Sandy scattered them that they might not collide with the ranks coming toward them. Gradually the fears of the flock became quieted. Falling into a walk they worked their way into their customary places and turned about, feeding as they went. Immediately when Sandy saw them safe he pressed forward to the side of the horseman where he beckoned Donald to join him. "I spied your plight from the ridge above, Sandy McCulloch," called the rider. "The rest of the Crescent herd has gone in to the Reserve and I have had my eye out for you for days. I thought it was about time that you were coming along." "It's a good turn you've done me this day, Sargeant," Donald heard Sandy say. "You have done many a favor for me." "Dinna be talking. It is little I ever did for [120] you. An errand or two perhaps, or carrying a message—but what is that? Any man would be glad to do the same. To-night, though, you have saved my whole herd. We should not have had a sheep left. Here is Master Donald Clark, the son of our owner," went on Sandy, as Donald came nearer. "Let him thank you. Don, this soldier is one of the government rangers." Leaning from his saddle the horseman put out his hand. "I am proud," he said, "to meet one of the owners of Crescent Ranch. If you are learning about the range, Master Clark, you cannot be in better company than to be with Sandy McCulloch. There is little about sheeping that he doesn't know; nor is there a cleaner-handed herder to be found. We never need to see his permit or count his sheep. He is no lawbreaker!" "I hope none of our men are," replied Donald, shyly. "Crescent Ranch has always had the reputation of being run on the square. We have no complaint to make," was the ranger's answer. [121] "We—my father means that it shall be," the boy asserted modestly. "I do not doubt he does. You will have trouble, though, I fear, in finding another manager who can match Old Angus—or even Johnson. They were rare men who were famed throughout the county for their honesty and common sense." "We shall try to find some other manager as good." "May you be so fortunate. Good luck to you!" With a wave of his hand the ranger cantered into the darkness and was soon lost from sight. "You see, don't you, Don, that the rangers are not our natural born enemies after all," said Sandy, with a good-humored smile that bared his glistening teeth. "I should say not!" "They are all like that if we but live up to our part of the bargain. I never yet met a ranger who was not friendly and kind. But you cannot have folks for your friends if you do not meet them half-way." <div class="figchapter"> [122] <ANTIMG src="images/chapter.png" width-obs="500" height-obs="191" alt="Chapter Decoration" /></div> <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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