From  every  side  they  come,  with  ponies  fleet
Of  foot,  and   trained   to  hold  tlie  struggling

beasts
When  riders'  ropes  have  checked  their  utmost

flight;
With  cowboys  skilled  in  throwing  lariats,
And   reading    brands   obscure,   or    tampered

with;
With  men  to  cook  and  drive  the  wagons,  filled
With  blankets  and  with  food  supplies,  to  each
Day's  camping   place;    with  irons   that  shall

brand
The  owner's  undisputed  claim  upon
The  luckless  calf.
Prepared  to  live  upon
The   plains   for   weeks, —  to   sleep   upon    the

ground
In  blankets  wrapped,  these  hardy  plainsmen  go
Far  to  the  eastern  limit  of  the  range
Their  cattle  feed  upon,  and  "  round  them  up  "
By  sending  riders  on  a  circuit  wide.
To  gather  every  animal  that  shows
A  brand  belonging  to  the  men  for  whom
They  work.     A  camping  place  is  chosen  where
They  wish  to   have   the  first  day's   round-up

brought,
And  there  the  cook  is  found,  prepared  to  feed
The  hungry  men.
The  first  red  streak  of  dawn
Is  signal  for  the  start,  and  silently
The  horsemen  vanish  on  their  tiring  quest,
Each,  with  his  ground  to  cover  pointed  out.
The  river  flows  upon  the  south, —  seme  search
Its  banks :  another  party  follow  up
A  tributary  stream,  ana  others  s<-our
The  distant  bluffs,  and  all  the  land  between.
Well  past  the  hour  of  noon,  the  cowboys  with
The  herd  appear,  and  men  detailed  for  their
Relief  ride  out  to  guard  the  band,  while  they
Who  gathered  them,  refresh  the  inner  man.
Again,  a  mammoth  stage,  and  actors  skilled.
