In order to have his records complete he finished up his daily diary report with a detailed account of the evening’s interview. It was one o’clock when he blew out the light and rolled into bed. He was so tired with his long day’s work that he went to sleep before he had planned out the details for the next day as he had intended.
However, he did not oversleep himself the next morning. He finished breakfast early and put the cabin in apple pie order in case he should have any official visitors before the recount. He had an idea that no one would have much time for the inspection of cabins after that.
He determined to ride out and see that the herders were bringing up the sheep according to his orders. He found Jed ready to go as usual and was soon trotting along gayly through the forest. The sun was shining brightly and his mood was in keeping with the day. He felt that his triumph was sure and he had no misgivings. He had not gone very far when he ran onto one of the bands headed for the chute.
It was feeding time for the sheep and they were in no hurry to travel. They moved by jerks, those in front hanging back till they were pushed on by those behind. Then they would trot a little way and stop to eat once more. Those in the center kept trying to push out to the sides where they could find some grass, and it kept the herder and the dog both busy to keep them moving.
Scott was watching with interest as the parade passed him when the herder called to him. “Too late to try to count ’em now, sonny. You ought to have done that before you ordered the recount.”
“Don’t look as big as it did,” Scott replied, frowning at the band and trying to look worried.
“It’ll look smaller yet when the tail end of it goes through that chute this morning,” the herder jeered.
“Well, I should worry,” Scott retorted, “Dawson, Ramsey and Jed will be there to do the counting at ten o’clock. Are the others coming?”
“You bet, and crazy to get there. You won’t have a very hard time counting yourself when this thing is over.”
“Think not?” Scott replied teasingly, and he rode back toward the chute, leaving the herder cursing him for a conceited upstart who would soon get a proper calling down. He stopped in at the cabin to get his tally register, and then rode on down to the chute to see that all was in readiness there. It was still an hour and a half before the time set for the recount and Scott put in the time examining the fence on either side of the chute to make sure that there were no holes.