Sara Ware Bassett

“ Therefore a clear July morning saw the vast herd winding its way up the steep incline of the mountainside. Sandy went on ahead, guiding the flock to the best pasturage and the freshest water-holes. The lambs trotted at their mother's sides or frisked after them with the playfulness of kittens. When a plentiful water supply and rich grass was found Sandy often delayed the upward march a week or more, that the flock might make the most of the lush herbage. ”

“ The worst evil, though, was that one band of sheep after another would feed in the same spot. The first flock would nip off the top of the grass; the next flock had to eat it closer in order to get food enough; and when the last flocks came they burrowed into the earth with their sharp noses and dug the grass up by the roots. Whole stretches of land that had once been green and beautiful were left bare so that nothing would grow on them for years and years. ”

“ But there is a man on Crescent Ranch who knows everything there is to know about sheep-raising—a man honest as the day, and who loves the place as if it was his own—Sandy McCulloch, sir. He is the only man for the position—there never has been any one else. ”

“ Sandy dropped down on a rock beside Mr. Clark and Donald.
"A coyote, as of course you know, is a wee bit wolf, about the size of a fox, and there is no feed he enjoys so well as a young lamb. Coyotes seem to know when the lambs come and they make ready to raid the flocks. You'd think folks would be bright enough to catch 'em, but there ain't wit enough in the world to get ahead of them. They're the cutest! The tricks a coyote will invent, sir, pass belief. In spite of the fact this pasture is fenced with coyote-proof wire the creatures manage to get in—goodness only knows how." ”

“ When a man gets dull and stupid by being alone so much, and sees sheep all the time—even when his eyes are shut—the best thing he can do is to leave the range. Some folks can stand being alone, others can't. Why, I have known of herders being alone until they actually wouldn't talk—they couldn't. They didn't want to speak or be spoken to and were ready to shoot any one who came upon them on the range and disturbed them. Once I knew of a herder leaving a ranch because the boss said good-morning to him. ”

“ Clark asked seriously. "I am used to putting my hand to much hard work when I am at home. Everybody in this world works one way or another. Some of us work with [139] our heads, some with our hands; but so long as it is all honest, helpful work and we do it the best we can, we are all on equal footing, Sandy. Now if you were in my office in Boston I might be teaching you kinds of work that would be new to you; here you can teach me. Try and forget everything, and just consider me a person who is interested in sheep and wants to learn about them. Let me join Donald in helping all I can." ”

“ Donald asked, seeming to fear that the term was a slight to his friend the Scotchman.
"Because he is a herder, son. A shepherd is a man who herds or tends his own sheep—sheep that belong to him; a herder, on the contrary, is a man hired to care for other people's sheep. There is a great difference, you see. Generally speaking, a shepherd will take more pains with a flock than a herder will on the principle that we are more interested in our own possessions than in those which are not our own."
"No one could take better care of sheep, father, than Sandy does." ”

“ Now go out on the range. Look about you. See all that thoughtful, far-seeing men are doing to protect our forests, hillsides, streams; see how our government is entering into the life of those who live not in cities but on farms and ranches. You will find our country is doing much on the range beside merely issuing permits for us to graze there."
"What sort of things?"
"Sandy knows; he'll show you. In spite of the fact that he was born a Scotchman he is as good an American as I know. He appreciates the benefits of this wonderful land enough to desire to be a helpful, law-abiding citizen. ”

“ Another game the flock sometimes played was Follow the Leader, one old ewe marching ahead, followed by a line of sheep that went wherever she led them.
"They play it almost as well as we did at school," said Donald, much amused.
"That is a useful game too," went on Sandy. "By playing it the young lambs learn to follow the others, and do what they do. That is one way they get training to keep in the herd and obey the mind of the leader. It is really more of a lesson than a game. ”

“ But a thing quite as wonderful as that is that they know every sheep in the flock. Let a ewe from another fold come in and they will scent her quick as lightning. And there is something else they will do: they understand well as ourselves that sheep will walk right over ledges and into pits, one after another; so the collies will stand guard at the edges of such places and warn 'em off. What is that but human, I ask you?"
Donald nodded.
"The men down at Crescent say," went on Sandy smiling broadly, "that I am daffy about dogs—my own dogs most of all. ”

“ Haven't we built fires round the herd every night and patrolled the whole distance, back and forth, until light? Luigi, Bernardo, Carlos, and I have been on our feet from twilight until sunrise, tramping like sentinels; yet with all our care we have lost six lambs already. Six is not [141] many when you consider the numbers some herders lose, still it is just six too many. So you see if Luigi goes down over the trail to-day with the ponies we can find work for you and Donald to-night. ”

“ His lips became livid.
"Donald, lad, you are not hurt?" he cried, motioning to the bear that lay stretched on the grass. [102]
"No, Sandy, not a bit. Truly I'm not. See! Isn't he a big one?"
"He is many a size too big for a boy like you to be fighting alone. I was a blind idiot to leave you behind me. Thank the good Lord you got off without a scratch. When I think of what might have come to you——! The next time I'll no go grazing without you, Don. But who would have thought of a bear venturing into these lowlands! He must have been very hungry." ”

“ The pure breed lambs have to be registered with the Breed Secretary, you know."
"Sheep-raising seems to lead from one thing into another," reflected Donald. "In the East none of us ever think of all that the wool goes through before it is made into clothes for us."
"It is better than any story," was Sandy's reply. "Herders get tired of it sometimes, but I never do. Sheeping is in my blood, I reckon. What with herding and trailing the flock, what with bears, and bob-cats, and cougars, and coyotes—I dinna see how it would ever be dull." ”

“ Donald took Sandy's banter in good part.
"You needn't laugh, Sandy," he said. "Lots and lots of our sheep are Merinos, aren't they?"
"Aye, laddie. Merinos are a good sheep for wool-growing. They are no so bonny—having a wrinkled skin and wool on their faces; they are small, too. But their coat is fine and long, and they are kindly. The American Merinos are the best range sheep we have, because they are so hardy and stay together so well. Some sheep scatter. It seems to be in their blood to wander about. Of course you can't take sheep like that on the range. ”

“ We must put some sheep that are wiser than the rest in every flock that they may lead the stupid ones. I dinna ken where they'd be if we didn't. We take as leaders sheep that are 'flock-wise'—by that I mean old ewes or wethers that have long been in the herds and know the ways. Sometimes, also, we put in a goat or two, for a goat has the wit to find water and food for himself. Not so the sheep! Never a bit! You have to lead sheep clean up to grass and to water [49] as well. They can never find anything for themselves."
"Do they know anything at all, Sandy?" queried Donald, laughing. ”

“ It's the finest country in the world, Don! Be proud and thankful that you are an American. No other land does so much for her people. Be humble, too. Never let a chance go by to do your part in helping the country that does so much for you. ”

“ In Wyoming there is a law that no herder shall be sent out alone to tend flocks; men must go in pairs. More than [91] that they must have little traveling libraries of a few books. The reason for that is to prevent them from sitting with their eyes fixed vacantly on the moving sheep all the time. It is a good law. Some time, likely, they will have it in all the states."
"I mean to tell father about it. We could do that at our ranch easily," said Donald. "Do you get lonely on the range, Sandy?" ”

“ They will run right along the backs of the herd, biting the necks of the leaders until they get them aimed where they want 'em to go; then they'll nip the heels of the others till they march up the planks into the cars neat as a line of soldiers. Or they will drive a flock onto a boat the same way. It is a great thing to get dogs that can do that. It takes more wit than a man has. Once a sheep-raiser from California saw Robin down at Glen City getting a lot of sheep off to Chicago on the train and he was hot for having him. ”

“ Sandy is too big-natured a man to do that. He would scorn to use a mean weapon. No, it was just because he was what he was that I feared him."
Mr. Clark was silent.
"You owe it to Old Angus, Sandy's father, to give the lad the place, sir," pleaded Thornton.
"And if I did what is to become of you, Thornton?" asked the owner slowly.
"Oh, I don't know. It does not matter. I will stay here until after the shearing, for it is a busy time and I might be of help. Then I can go and look up something else."
Donald watched his father as he bent forward and stirred the fire. ”

“ Donald said.
"Yes, isn't it? You see sheep recognize their young merely by scent. The power of smell is remarkably [138] keen in all sheep. They can tell their babies no other way. We do not want any of the ewes grieving because they have no lamb—they do grieve, poor things—so we have to fool them a little. It is a fair thing to do because the ewes with twins do not need two. They are just as happy with one," explained Sandy.
"And now you will have a big, big flock to take care of, won't you, Sandy?" ”

“ We never go, though, until the sun has baked the grass a while, for if the herd crops too early the sheep pull at the new shoots that are just taking hold in the soil and up they come—roots and all. Then in future you will have no grass—just bare ground. Very early grass is bad for sheep, too." [60]
"What do people do where there are no ranges, Sandy?"
"Their sheep are kept in great fenced-in pastures and fed from troughs or feeding racks. They have alfalfa hay, turnips, rape, kale, corn, pumpkins and grain. The range sheep are the hardiest, though. ”

“ Only a certain number of sheep are now allowed to graze on a given area; there is therefore plenty of grass and no need for the flocks to eat the herbage down close and destroy it. The money for the permits, in the meantime, goes to the government, and enriches the United States treasury. Much of this money is spent in paying men to work on the range and better the conditions there, so really it comes back to the people who pay it."
"I understand," Donald replied quickly, when Sandy paused for breath. ”

“ The schooners stay near enough to the home ranch so they can go back and forth now and then and get restocked. We ourselves take a few pots and pans [64] to the range—just enough so we can cook our meals. It is like camping out anywhere else."
"I love camping!" cut in Donald.
"Then you'll like the range for certain."
"I know I shall. I hope I can go. What a lot I am learning, Sandy! Pretty soon I shall know more about sheep-raising than father does!"
"Dinna fret yourself about your father," was Sandy's dry retort. "He needs no pity. He can take care of himself." ”

“ When the lambs were three weeks old Sandy decided to break camp, leave the fenced lambing-pasture, and push on to higher ground.
"The sun is getting hot and we must have cooler quarters," he explained. "By nature sheep seek elevated ground, you know, and their health is better there. Now that their fleeces are getting so much thicker the poor beasts are too warm in the low places. What is more, they need the exercise of climbing. Grass, too, is becoming scant and we must not eat it down too close." ”

“ Together he and Sandy set about improving the ranch. They subscribed to magazines on sheep-raising; they visited other ranches and kept abreast of the times; they installed newer and more hygienic methods of wool-growing. Never had Crescent Ranch been so perfectly run. With two intelligent and unwearying young men at its head it bid fair to outshine the fame it had possessed in Old Angus's day. Gradually men interested in sheeping came from far and near to visit it. Clark & Sons began to be very proud to be the owners of such a treasure. ”

“ But I do not see how they can prevent herders who have no permits from grazing on the range."
"They ought not to have to prevent them!" answered Sandy, hotly. "The herders ought to be decent enough to obey the law. If you are granted a favor you ought to be a gentleman in accepting it. ”

“ They are a fat-tailed sheep. We never went in for them here. In England you will find a host of other sorts of sheep that are raised on the English Downs; most of them are short-haired and are [62] raised not so much for their wool as for their mutton. There are Southdowns, Hampshire Downs, Sussex, Oxfords, Shropshire Downs, and the Dorset Horns. We always like some Shropshires in our herd."
"Oh, Sandy," groaned Donald with a wry smile, "I never, never can remember all these kinds."
"Dinna shed tears about it, laddie. The wool will keep growing on their backs just the same. ”

“ We have many a French Merino here; they belong, though, to quite a different family from the other Merinos. You will find them a much larger sheep, and their wool coarse fibered. They are great eaters, these French Merinos."
"Like me!" cried Donald. [59]
"Verra like you!" agreed Sandy. "But it is no so easy filling them up. Why, they will eat a whole hillside in no time. They can beat you, too, on staying out in all sorts of weather. Here in Idaho we generally have fairly mild winters, so our sheep can be out all the year round. ”

“ I simply know the snarls have straightened themselves out, and that Crescent Ranch is now going on better than it has in years. The men have all been glad for a glimpse of your father. It is no so much fun working for somebody you have never seen. ”

“ They bid on the wool—bid right against each other, even though sometimes they are the best of friends. The men get an idea of the price they want to pay by looking over the fleeces and seeing how they will grade up. Above everything else a wool buyer must have a trained eye, quick to detect the quality of the shipment [180] offered for sale. That is what decides him on how high he will bid. After the buyers have got up to what they consider a reasonable price they stop bidding. The wool-grower must then accept the highest bid."
"But he may not be satisfied with the price," put in Donald. ”