THE TRAIL TO TOMBSTONE 13

as dale rode up to the two mexican vaqueros one stood up and waved. "hola senor, we have coffee come join us.dale saw no weapons in site and billy was sitting up on the opposite ridge keeping a eye on the proceedings. so he shoved his rifle back down in the scabbord and stepped down. the vaquero handed dale a tin cup with the hot brew" are you the owner of this rancho?" he asked. " i am now, we were going to start throwing these cattle together to get a count on whats here" dale explained. " bueno! we are employed by don frederico montoyas whose ranch is just below the border. there are no fences or boundrys between us so we have been sent to see if any of the dons cattle have come this far north.we would gladly join you in gathering these cattle if you would invite us."the tall mexican asked. " there is no doubt we could use the help" dale waved at billy to come on down the slope." it appears there are more cattle here than i aquired in the transaction when i took the ranch.maybe your boss has cattle here. i need to cull some of the cattle with my brand and take them to market. your help would be greatly appreciated." the mexican stuck out his hand " i am antonio, my friend here is francisco." the four men sat down and talked over the coffee and made a plan for the day. " we were told the owner here was a loud profane man but you dont seem to be that way?"antonio said. " he is the one i got the rancho from. we are just barely getting things pulled together and can start working the cattle."dale explained. while they were talking francisco had caught their horses and ws saddling them.when through he came back to the group and picked up the plan for working the day. when they rode out the mexicans went south while dale and billy went north. there was a flat peice of ground about a mile to the south of the water. they planned on holding their gather there to see what they had. the cattle wernt wild, and the cattle belonging to don frederico were gentle and they helped hold the gather together. in a couple of hours the round up ground was covered in cattle.the four men sat their horses and let the cattle settle down. in a hour antonio rode thrrough the round up looking at brands aand getting a count on the cattle carrying don fredericos brand. when he was through he rode to his place and sat while dale rode through the herd. he had a big calf crop of unbranded calves, there were a hand full of two year old steers. and a few older cows and barren heifers. he figgured he had 50 head to take to market. he rode over to antonio." do you wish to cut your employers cattle and take them home?" antonio shook his head"there are more than two men can handle you have much work here as well and need more men. we will return to the rancho and bring more vaqueros. i know we missed cattle in this gather. with more help we can make a better gather. we need to report to don frederico. "- dale agreed.they shook hands annd antonio waved to francisco and they turned and rode south. billy rode around the herd slowly to dale and watched the two vaqueros ride away." we might have stumbled onto a good deal with those guys" " yes sir. good neighbors for sure. lets go home, my belly is rubbing a blister against my back bone." dale grinned they turned toward home. some of the cattle were already starting to trail to the water hole. it had been a long good day.

THE TRAIL TO TOMBSTONE 12

when dale got back to the ranch house he found billy and two mexican teamsters un loading the two wagons of materiel he had bought. billy was all smiles as he was handing down lumber for the teamsters to stack.. dale wasnt sure just what they would do with all this lumber but billy stated he had plans. the teamsters were in agreement to stay and be carpenters dale told billy about wilkinson comming by and his threats. the smile on billys face faded quick. "do you think he was serious with those threats?" billy asked when dale was through telling him about the visit. "i think we better take them serious.. start packing your gun. i think he is a big coward but not above back shooting some one." dale explained. " we arnt going to back down from our work here. i see a solid roof on this ole house. just let us get these wagons unloaded" billy had returnned to his happy go lucky self. the next few days as soon as the thatch was pulled off the roof and hauled away the two carpenters were nailing boards in place makeing a solid roof. one afternoon dale couldnt stand it anymore , he had to ask"whats going to keep the rain from comming through the cracks between the boards?" billy looked at him in disbelief and pointed to two five gallon buckets of tar" when they paint that roof with that, nothing will leak through."while the two carpenters were finishing the roof, billy had nailed a wooden water trough together in the corral it was sealed with tar and had to be buried half its height to get the water to run in to it. but in short order the trough was full and over flowing. dale stood looking at the trough then the roof. , " in short order we have a well improved cow out fit.but i think we need to see how many cattle this outfit has." billy explained the carpenters would be done the next day. then they would fly at gathering the cows. dale couldnt wait. the next dayy just at day light dale and billy were on the trail south . dale knew just the two of them couldnt gather and move very many cows to the corral at home, but his goal was for them to see and count as many as possible.and possibly find another source of water or a good place to develop one. he knew they didnt have enough horse flesh to work a very big bunch of cattle just the two of them. his plan was to have one man take a stand at the water hole and the other go out and start bunches of cattle to water. the man at the water hole would try to get as close a count as possible hopefully this would give them a good idea as to how many more men it would take,, to round up and hold the cattle out in the open while branding and deciding what to market. dale knew the closest place to market cattle was the town of willcox to the north east. it had a railroad and waitting buyers.. people were starting to call it the cattle capitol.. as they drew near the water hole they could smell smoke from a camp fire. billy moved to one side as to approach from a different angle, drawing is rifle as he went. dale slowed his horse and drew his rifle laying it across his lapp behind the saddle horn. as he came in site of the water hole he could see two horses hobbled out away from the water hole. a little closer he could make out two mexican cowboys sitting by the fire cooking breakfast.