It was singular that Avon Burnet’s most humiliating experience overtook him on his first night in to watch his uncle’s of cattle, while following the Great Cattle Trail toward Kansas.  
The starting point was so far north in Texas that the first day carried them close to the Indian Nation, through whose territory they expected to tramp for several days.
 
The night, as has been explained, was raw, with a fine, rain and a cutting wind. The youth was seated on his fleet-footed and intelligent Thunderbolt, with his back to the wind, after the fashion not only of all cowboys, under such circumstances, but of the animals themselves, who sometimes drift many miles before a driving storm.
 
He had his thick army blanket gathered about his body and shoulders, and, though the night was and his situation far from pleasant, it still lacked the of many hours spent on the vast plains of the Star State.
 
The young man had held his position for less than an hour when the wind changed, completely around, so that, instead of being in front of the herd and edging gradually from it, he was thrown behind the cattle, for they immediately faced about and began moving away from him.
 
The situation of the young herdsman became a delicate one at once. His proper place was in front, and to reach that point, he must ride around the animals, and not among them. One of the many singular features of and driving cattle is the wonderful sensitiveness shown at times by them. While there is nothing extraordinary in the wild panic often created by a thunderstorm, there are occasions when a whole herd is stampeded by a cause too to be understood.
 
Our experience leads us to agree with many veteran cowboys that the cattle, when lying on the ground asleep, are sometimes troubled with bad dreams which cause such fright on their part that their excitement becomes . Then again the electrical conditions produce a uneasiness among them as well as among men, and there seem to be times when they are simply awaiting a for dashing off in uncontrollable panic.
 
Avon Burnet’s fear was that if he rode directly after the cattle, the sound of his mustang’s would cause alarm, since it was too dark for them to identify him. A stampede is the terror of the cowmen’s life, and no or trouble is too great to it. He, therefore, checked Thunderbolt and waited a few minutes until the cattle were so far off that he could wheel and around their flank without frightening them.
 
When he thought sufficient time had elapsed, he to wait a brief while longer. His of a stampede was so strong that he was unusually careful, but 231with no thought of shirking any duty, he the of his horse, sharply, and without touch of spur, was off like an arrow.
 
Although not an animal was visible, the rider had the contour of the herd so impressed on his mind that he felt no , when he began edging his steed more to the left, and finally brought him to a stand-still, as he believed, at the very front of the collection. Indeed, his confidence would not have been greater had the sun been shining.
 
But when he halted and listened he failed to hear anything of them.
 
“I must have ridden too far ahead,” was his conclusion, as he started his horse on a walk to meet them; “but they are surely near by.”
 
Five, ten, fifteen minutes passed, and then he drew with an of , for his keen sense of hearing did not catch the first sound of the cattle.
 
“I have lost the herd!” he muttered in dismay, and such was the fact. His cheeks burned with at the consciousness of what at first thought seems an impossible error on the part of man or youth with any experience in attending cattle.
 
It was Avon’s first of the kind, and he felt as though he could never face his comrades again, if they should discover the blunder, which, after all, was not so striking, when the attendant circumstances are borne in mind.
 
But if excuse could be accepted for his slip, there was none for inaction after its discovery. It was not to be supposed that the animals would set out to hunt him, nor that any knowledge could be gained of them by idleness. There were other men on duty, and he shouted at the top of his voice, in the hope of receiving a response, but there was none.
 
Slipping from his saddle, he knelt down and placed his ear to the ground. He fancied he detected faint sounds, such as are made by multitudinous hoofs on the soft, wet earth, but the noises were so slight that he could not identify the direction whence they came, and he hastily climbed into the saddle again.
 
He realized that he was lost, and well aware that at such times it is useless to puzzle one’s brains about the point of the compass, he dashed in the direction which seemed to be t............