DELBERT BRIGGS 8

the next morning delberts dad drove into the yard a pallet of lick tubs in the back of his truck. del jumped in and they headed into the pasture.as they drove along del explained to his father about finding the cattle in the back pasture and driveing them into this one. as he listened the man nodded and listened. and when delbert started explaining what norma had brought him his father only nodded then said" i figgued they were going to try something. they made this deal to easy. i didnt say anything because mason was your friend i thought." " until we get this deal cleaned up ill let him think that. but he s no better than jacobs. i want to break this deal off in them where it will do the most good. ime convinced theres more cattle heree than they are aware of" delbert was grinning at his dad. " these tubs will work best when the cattle been on them 3 days.the next two days ride around out there and make sure every swinging cow tales gets a dose or two. ide like to feed mr. banker a little of it." they both broke out laughing. the next day delbert was out early horse back going around the inside of the pasture. when he found a bunch of cattle he pushed them toward the wind mill and the water troughs. when he came to the gate leading back up country he found the gate open, the gate stick broke and the wire twisted and rolled into a mess. he rode on up to the ridge and sure enough the cattle were beded and didnt seem at all concerned he was there, his bull was still gentle acting but was wary. once again del got around the bunch and headed them down country toward the gate. once through there he still had to repair the gate. when they reached the gate and all the cattle went backk into the trap delbert stopped and began pulling the wire in a straight line. he took his dehorning saw from his chap pocket and went to a close mesquite tree where he cut s new end stick and tied it in place. when he shut the gate he tied the stick in a number of places to hold it shut. it was almost dark when he rode into the house yard.