THE BRONC PEELER 13

when bill saw that kate was resting and was definatly better he saddled one of his ranch horses. he wasnt as good as angel but was comming along. but he was still prone to a little bucking when saddled after a rest. bill stepped aboard and turned the young horse toward the gate. at that point the horses head disapeared between his front legs. he bawled and made a couple of wicked crow hops but when bill drove a spur into the horse his head came up and he forgot all about bucking. bill chuckled and headed out the gate to find a few cows to look at. in the house kate had witneseted the show. she was thirsty and had stood at the door with a glass of water watching the bronc stir up the yard dust. she smilled and said to her self" a bronc peeler and a cowboy." as she turnned back to her bedroom. bill lined the bronc out toward the area the cattle were knowen to be located in. the bronc hit a soft jog trott thaat covered ground. bill turned his face up to the sun and soaked in its rays. " how could life be any bettr?" he said to him self. a hour out from the house he rode into a clutch of cows and calves. they totted off away from him but didnt try to hard to get away. bill struck a lope and got around them and held them up. the cows were common range cattle showing a lot of long horn and common breeding. many of the calves needed branding. because of neglect they were getting big.bill sat there for a while just letting the cattle get used to seeing him. when they relaxed and went to grazeing, many of the calves laid down in the warm sun shine. bill turned his horse and continued on with his trip. it didnt dawn on him at the time but looking at those cattle had did his heart some good. he had relaxed his pucker string a lot. this was what he had been searching for for some time. dureing the course of the day he found 5 or six little bunches of cattle scattered across the range. all seemed to carry the ranch brand. many calves wernt branded. he didnt know how many cattle the ranch ran under their brand but so far he had seen a good 200 mother cows. and now there was another bunch headed this way. their breeded would up grade the quality of jims cows considerably. as he rode along it dawned on him he thought of the ranch, the cattle and horses as jims. he had left kate out of the equazion. he would have to amend his thinking he told himself. he took another route back to the headquarters looking the country over. up ahead he saw a couple of buzzards fly up and away. as he got near the putrid smell of rotting flesh struck his smell. there lay a dead yearling. it had been dead a few days. he rode close enough to see the ranch brand on it. the gound was tore up where the yearling lay. the tracks were canine. wolves! he would have to bring this to jims attention........and kates. a pack of wolves could put them out of business if they didnt deal with them. he trotted on toward the house.