"Dead cows! What ’n h—l killed ’em? Wolves would clean ’em to the bone. G’wan, you fool!" he growled at his mount. "Scared of dead cows, are you! If you are, I ’ve got the cure for it right here on my heel."
The horse went on, picking its footing, and soon Murray whistled in surprise: "Cyclone brand! Bet they ’ve got the itch, too. Yep! Died from it, by G—d! Now, how the blazes did they get over here! Cows, and sick ones especially, don’t hanker to swim the Jack. Well, that will hold over a little—let ’s see how many are up here"—and he began the search. Four were all he could find, two alive and two dead. The two that still stumbled weakly in search of food, dropped as if struck by lightning as the acrid gray smoke sifted past Murray’s head. "Wonder how many more there was and where they went to? Must have been here some time, judging by the carcasses. Holy smoke! If any cows gone as bad as these are loose on our range may the Lord pity _us_! Come on, bronc; we ’ll see what Schatz thinks about it. Wish I had time to build a fire over these itch farms."
He was careful to guide his horse on ground barren of vegetation and not let brush or grass touch the animal when he could avoid it. As he plunged down the steep northern trail, a dried water course, he reined up hard, looking closely at the tracks in the soft alluvial soil washed down by the last rain. "Must have been about a dozen; perhaps a few less—then some did get where we don’t want them—holy cats! as if we have n’t got enough with our regular calf round-up!"
When he galloped up to the north line he found Schatz waiting for him. "Schatz," he shouted, "I just found four itch cows on the Hog Back. Six or eight are loose on th’ ranch. They was Cyclone, an’ they never crossed th’ Jack by themselves."
"Two was dead; th’ other two was so near it I just dropped ’em. They could n’t stand a drive even to th’ river. Shall I tell Peters?"
"Shall you tell him? _Gewiss_! Vat you t’ink—I vant itch on de Double Vy? How dey come?"
"I don’t know. But they must ’a’ been driven. Th’ Jack is cold as ice an’ she runs strong by th’ Rocking Horse. That’s where th’ tracks led to. Cows ain’t goin’ to swim that for fun. Why, these was all et up with th’ itch—wonder they did n’t drown."