The Eagle's Heart

tinels had stood, morning and evening, through a thousand years, to signal the movement of the wild herds, and from other distant hills columns of smoke by day, or the flare of signal fires at ni

ing like lions, their huge hoofs flinging the alkaline earth in showers a

He cared nothing about the towns or the fame of cities, but these deep-worn trails of shaggy beasts filled him with joy. Their h

ks, were left behind. In their stead, a limitless, upward shelving plain outspread, covered with a short, surly, hairlike grass and certain sturdy, resinous plants supporting flowers of an unpleasant odor, sticky and weedy. Bri

wide was the earth, so all-embracing the sky, they seemed to blend at the horizon line, and lakes of wat

rs on the river road. They rode in a fashion new to Mose, with toes pointed straight down, the weight of their bodies a little on one side. They skimmed the ground like swallows, forcing their poni

s neck, and bought a pair of "chaps," a sort of fringed leather leggings. He had been wearing his pistol at his side, he now slewed it around to his hip. He purchased also a pair of high-heeled boots and a "rope" (no one called it a "lariat"), and began to acquire the technicalities

reached a section of country where the cattlemen eyed his small outfit with contempt and suspicion. He came under the head of a "nester," or "truck farmer," who w

ated cowboys rode furiously u

hink ye're goin',

stant and sullenly said:

ted their question to Pratt, who significantly replied: "I'm a-goin'

ge puller. You better keep out o'

hat, boys," he replied, and the cow

ut across a peninsular body of high land and came in sight of a wide green flat (betw

Ball, deep sunk in the gravelly soil as it came down to join the Big Sandy. All about stood domed and pyramidal and hawk-headed buttes. On the river

g out to meet him. The brother had not forgotten their boyish sig

yes keener. He had been made a bold, determined man by the pressure of harsh

ie-she's a right hearty girl, ain't she? Mrs. Pratt, I'm heartily glad to

ratt," pip

mart of a cowboy yet. What's this?" he said, turn

laughed, Jennie mos

t, Uncl

r it hurt his pride to be counted a suitor of this ungainly and ignorant girl. Righ

long time get

like we'd wear the hoofs off'n our stawk purty soon." Jake sobered down first. "Wal, now I reckon you best unhook right h'yer for a day or two till

, and, as she shook hands silently, Mose looked into her sad dark eyes and liked her very much. She had no children; the two in which she had once taken a mother's joy slept in two li

sauntered out to the stables, where they sat down for a lo

anchers. You see, the cattlemen has had the free range so long they naturally 'low they own it, and they have the nerve to tell us fellers to keep off. They explain smooth enough that they ain't got nawthin' agin me pussonally-you understand-only they 'low me settlin' h'yer will bring others, which is shore about

ming cry. Over the ridges, which cut sharply into the fleckless dull-yellow sky, lay unknown lands out of which almost any variety of fier

herly poked my gun out'n the winder and handed out a few to 'em-an' they rode off. Next year quite a little squad o' truck farmers moved into the bend just below, an' we got together and talked it over and a

inute before he said: "You didn

o disappoint you, Dan. I knew

rss," Dan slowly said; "but the feller t

that, Dan; but how ab

t like a circus feller, and

heart, said, "Y

's our captain-and to-morrow we'll settle you on the mouth o' the creek, ju

e sure that the clamor of a coyote was not a cowboy signal of attack. There was some

e yard. He was tall, grim lipped and curt spoken. He had been a captain in the Un

led pleasantly, as he reined in

, cap'n, an' shake hands

ing the rein over the head of his wild bronc

the river here controls the grass for twenty miles. They can range the whole country; nobody else can touch 'em. Williams, of the Circle Bar, controls the river for twenty miles here, and has fenced it in. Of course he has no legal right to more than a section or

aptain, that I'd better see if I can

opoly of Government land. It's got to go. Settlement is creeping in and these big ranges which these 'cattle kings' have held, must be free. There is a w

above his brother's ranch. Axes rang in the cottonwoods, and when darkness came, the building of a rude, farmlike cabin went on by the light of big fires. Mose, in the thick of it, was a-quiver with excitement.

rob them of some irredeemable joy. A belated prairie cock began to boom, and then tired, sleepy, and grimy, th

camp down here in Jake's barn to sleep,

ldren. In the afternoon Mose and Daniel slept for a few hours while Jake kept watch. The day ended

. The question of Indian outbreaks came up and Jennison said: "We won't have any more troubl

id a small, dark man. "I used to hear 'em

ur years," Jennison exp

'em credit for bein'," said another man. "I lived

s if you treat 'em right they treat y

his drift always. They make mistakes that way, but they mean all right. Of course they have young plug-uglies amongst 'em jest the same as 'mongst any other c'munity, b

Mose a conception of the Indian new to him. These "red devils" were people. In this man's talk they were husbands and fathers, and sons, and brothers. They loved these lands for which the cattlemen and sheepmen were now about to

n a pause in the talk, whispered to him: "I

y, they're my friends. In a show-down I'm

had a final word. "You send your boy to yon butte, and wave a hat any time during the day and we'll come, side arm

ame upon the new settler. He sat upon his horse and swore. His face was da

en as he slipped from the saddle at his

he

r o' his he's been talking about. They cut

'em out," said one of his men

roots of the tree of life. I reckon we've got to let 'em creep in; we'll scare 'em all we can before they settle, but when they settle we've

t's

five thousand sheep cross

t, variously crying out: "Oh

w 'em myself," i

war. Does the V. T

or we'll be overrun with sheep. The truck farmers ar

word up the river, hadn'

o let the whole

he Rocky Mountains. At long distances, on the flat, sandy river, groups of squat and squalid ranch buildings huddled as if to escape the wind. For years it has been a superb range for cattle, and up till the coming of the first settlements on the Cannon Ball, it had been parceled out among a few big firms, who cut G

d poisoned the ground with foul odors. Cattle and horses would not touch any grass which had been even touched by these ill-smelling woolly creatures. There had been ill-feeling between sheepmen and cattlemen from the first, but as water became scarcer and the range more fully stocked, bitterness developed into

ng year. They were worthless as mutton, and at first were never shipped, but as the flocks were graded up, the best were culled and sent to Eastern markets. They menaced the cattlemen in the West and South, while the rancher made

oward the Cannon Ball from the Southwest, walking behind ten thousand sheep, leaving a dusty, bare and stinking t

wait upon the owner of the approaching flock of sheep. The Pratts heard of this, and, for reasons of their own, determined to

m of hobbled horses was feeding near. Before the farmers had time to cross the stream the cattlemen came in sight, riding rapidly, and the Pratts waited for th

ard. He wore an ordinary sombrero, with wide, stiff brim, a gray shirt, and loose, gray trousers. At his belt, and significantly i

t would like to state our side of the case. The range into which you are walking your sheep is already overstocked with cattle and horses, and we are going to suffer, for you know very well cattle will not follow sheep. The

n hold only one quarter section each by squatters' right. That right I shall respect, but no more. I shall drive my sheep anywhere on grounds not actually occupied by your feed

deration. Others were for beginning war at once. "If this man i

myself." He drew a revolver and laid it affectionately in the hollow of his folded l

peace measures, though some went so far as to handle guns also. They withdrew for a conference, and Jake said:

y. "Mighty glad to know you,

Dan," said Jake, "an

ked him, and the stranger returned his liking. "Your fight is mine, gentlemen," he

this proposition. You take the north side of the Cannon Ball above the main trail, and we'll keep the south side and all the grass up to the t

o be a reasonable man also, and I've had troubles in my time, and now with a family growing up on my hands I'm just as anxious

Well, now, we'll be glad to see you over at our shack at the mouth o' the Cannon Ball." He held out his hand and the sheepman shook i

youth, and said: "I'm camp

in Santy Fay. Come and see me. I like your build. Well, gentlemen, just ca

do the same," re

ut in time. I've got sense enough to see that. You can't fight the progress of events. Youngster,

resolute men. He redoubled his revolver practice, and through Daniel's gossip and especially through the boasting of Jennie, his skill with the revolver soon

inch of each other. "That's for use when a man is sneaking onto you from behind," he explained. "I never used it but once, but it saved my life." He could fire two shots before Mose could get his pistol from his holster. "A gun is of no use, youngster, unless you

ngue. He seemed not to aim-he appeared to shoot from his fist rathe

see I didn't know the a b c's-but

me know and I'll open a way out for you. Meanwhile, I can make use of you as you are. I need another man. My Mexicans are no compa

rder. He made a serious social mistake when he "lined up" with the truck farmers, the tenderfeet an

ested him; they had settled down into farmers. They had nothing for him to do but plow and dig roots, for which he had no love. He had not ridden into this

growing passion. She put herself in his way and laid hands on him with unblushing frankness. Her love chatter wearied him beyond measu

iel was at the barn. To him

e I can't begin fer to pay ye the wages Delmar can, but be keerful; trouble is comin', shore pop, and I

w job. She looked very sad and wistful and more interesting

reckon you're g

id, in generous wish to

ound once in a

only twenty miles

and soda biscuits fer ye," she said, wit

ed with a smile, and

f a man now. His wages were definite, and no distinction was drawn between him

or water; by night he took his turn at guarding from wolves. His sleep was broken often, even when not on

ll sides like domes of a sleeping city. Crickets cried in the grass, drowsily, and out of the dimness and dusk something vast, like a passion too great for words, fell upon the boy. He turned his face to the unknown West. There the wild creatures

into the dim valley, miles below. At such times the youth knew he had not

alone formed his attachments to the East. All else was valueless. To hav