"Yes," said Hugh, "a good deal. Lots of antelope and deer, a good many elk and a few buffalo. I never happened to see any buffalo just there, but I saw signs of 'em more than once."
"Why, when I was working down there," said Joe, "there were still quite a lot of elk. I remember once seeing Buck Taylor come in to the CN ranch dragging a big cow elk after him. I don't remember where they caught her, but I do remember how she looked when she came. Buck was snaking her along by the neck, and somebody had put a rope on one of her hind feet, and she was dragging that. I remember, too, hearing that one of the Oliffes roped an elk one time, but somehow or other he couldn't handle him, and I believe he had to shoot him to get the rope off him."
"Yes," repeated Hugh, "there was plenty of game there then, and quite a little fur. Old Jim Carson used to make a living by trapping. Then in those days there were still a few wild horses in the country. I don't mean strays that had got away, but real wild horses, such as we used to have in old times, thirty or forty years ago."
"Is it possible!" exclaimed Donald. "I'd like to see them."
"Well," responded Hugh, "you can see pretty nearly the same thing, only about a hundred per cent, better, any time you come across a bunch of range horses on the prairie. These wild horses were of no account. They looked as pretty as a picture when they were fat and slick, but a number of 'em were caught, and not one of 'em was good for anything. I chased a bunch once for six or eight miles, and came near killing a good horse after 'em, and didn't get one. I'll bet the horse I was riding was worth more than the whole bunch I was chasing. The romance of the wild horse is a good deal like the romance of the cowboy's life: there's nothin' to it."
[CHAPTER XX]
ROPING A BEAR
The round-up was drawing to its close. Most of the country to be ridden had already been covered and, as Joe said, scraped of cattle as if they had gone over it with a fine-tooth comb. McIntyre was an excellent cow man, and besides keeping his men up to their work he himself had covered much ground and had satisfied himself that his crew had been faithful and thorough. Most of the cattle had been sent off in bunches to their home ranges, and now only one day more of riding was to be done, over a rolling country among the foothills of the low mountains.
On this last day, Jack, Donald, Vicente and Tulare Joe were covering a stretch of country among the foothills. The ground was open, and so rolling that the riders could see one another only occasionally, yet still could keep track of one another's movements pretty well. Donald, who still occupied the position of pupil, though he had made good progress, rode pretty close to Jack and was often within hailing distance of him. There were not many cattle here, and only a few had been gathered, which Donald was driving along, trying to keep up with the other riders and yet not to hurry his cattle.