THE RODEO
“IS it going to rain? Look at that big cloud,” said Yappa to Shecol one afternoon in June.
“I hope it will not rain to-day,” said Shecol, “for you know we are going to have a round-up of the cattle and then a barbecue afterward.” In a moment more he added, “I know; it’s a dust cloud that the cattle are making as the men drive them along.”
“Come on, then; we shall just have time to climb the tree by the corral,” said Yappa, starting off to run.
Shecol followed after, and in a few minutes they were both safely seated on the branch of a large live-oak tree near the corral.
“I do hope we can find our calf again,” said Yappa. “You know Don Secundini said when he gave it to us last year that we could not keep it unless we could tell it when we saw it this year.”
“Oh, I think we shall know it,” answered Shecol. “Remember the white spots on its forehead and on its left hip.”
Soon a number of men came riding out toward the corrals. The servants rode off to help drive the cattle, while Don Secundini, Don Francisco, Señor Soto, Señor Sanchez, and Señor Martinez halted their horses just under the tree where Shecol and Yappa were sitting.
“We shall have a fine place to see from,” said Shecol.
The men below them looked up when they heard a voice above. Don Secundini laughed. Then he said, “Don’t fall down, little ones. These cattle aren’t used to children, and they might hurt you.”
“We’re going to look for our calf,” said Shecol.
In a few minutes Yappa said, “There they come!”
Shecol peeped out from among the leaves and saw Oshda and Pantu driving a little bunch of cattle toward them.
As the bunch came nearer, Don Francisco said, “There are two of my cattle. I see my brand on the hip.”
One of Don Francisco’s men rode up, separated his two cattle from the others and drove them to one side. The rest of that bunch belonged to Don Secundini, so they drove the calves into a corral where they could be branded. The old ones they drove off in another direction.
As the second bunch came near them, Yappa saw a little calf running along with one of Don Secundini’s cows. The calf had a white spot on its forehead and one on its left hip. Yappa gave Shecol a pull and said, “There it is.”
“Where?” asked Shecol.
Yappa pointed it out, but Shecol said, “That can’t be our calf. That’s the way our calf looked last year. It will have grown to be very large by this time, and besides, father branded it with Don Secundini’s brand. This calf has no brand yet.”
They looked over every bunch that came by, hoping to find their calf. At last, as their eyes were beginning to get tired, Shecol said, “Don Secundini, look at that calf at the head of the bunch that is coming. That’s ours.”
Don Secundini looked at the calf, then he said, “Yes, Shecol, it is yours. You have won the calf.”
The herders kept on bringing up bunch after bunch of cattle and letting each owner pick out those that belonged to him. The cattle had been running wild for so many months that those from the different ranches were all mixed.
There were so many to look over that their herds were not nearly sorted out by evening, so, while some of the men drove home the neighbors’ cattle, others prepared to keep the main herd together all night.
“And now how are you youngsters going to get home?” asked Don Secundini, as he gathered up his bridle-reins ready to ride back to the house.
“Aren’t they going to drive the cattle away from here?” asked Shecol.
“Not until to-morrow evening. I’ll speak to your father about you,” said Don Secundini.
When Oshda saw where they were, he rode up to the tree. He said, “You cannot walk home through these cattle. Drop down behind me on my horse.”
First Yappa, then Shecol, dropped down on the horse. Yappa put her arms around Oshda, and Shecol put his arms around Yappa. In this way they did not fall off as they rode home.
After supper Oshda said, “Good-by. I have to watch with the cattle until midnight.”
The cattle were restive, for they were in a strange place. All of a sudden an owl gave a screech from a tree in the midst of the herd. The cattle became frightened and began to run toward Oshda. There were so many of them and they were coming so fast that Oshda knew he would be run over if he rode toward them, so he turned his horse and rode as fast as he could ahead of them.
When he got a little ahead, he began to turn the herd toward the left. He did not try to turn the whole big herd at once, but only to make the front ones run crosswise. The other herders helped him, and soon more of the cattle began to run toward the left.
After a little the whole herd were running round in a circle. The herders let the cattle run round and round as long as they liked, but by and by the cattle got so dusty and tired and dizzy that they stopped running of their own accord. The herders then drove them back again, for they were no longer afraid.
When the cattle were safely back, Oshda said, “We must keep singing or whistling all night. That will let the cattle know that some one is near them, and they will not be so easily frightened.”
So all the rest of the night the darkness was filled with the sound of singing, and the cattlewere quiet. Oshda and the herders with him watched until midnight; then others came out to relieve them.
Meanwhile, the people at the Robles’ adobe had been having a gay time, for they had a barbecue under the spreading grape vines when they first went to the house, and in the evening they had a dance.
Next morning the work with the cattle began again, and all day every one was busy. At the end of that time, the cattle belonging to the different ranches were separated, the calves were branded with the special mark of the owners, and the cattle were all turned out to roam again.