Pagina 278 de 439

Long before they reached the scene of the round-up they could

hear the almost continual bawl of worried cattle, and could even

see the cloud of dust they stirred. They passed the remuda, in

charge of two lads lounging sleepily in their saddles with only

an occasional glance at the bunch of grazing horses they were

watching. Presently they looked down from a high ridge at the

busy scene below.

Out of Lost Valley ran a hundred rough and wooded gulches to the

impassable cliff wall which bounded it. Into one of these they

now descended slowly, letting their ponies pick a way among the

loose stones and shale which covered the steep hillside.