第95章 KANGAROOED(1)

Lovell and his attorneys joined the cavalcade which returned to the post, while we continued on south, fording the Missouri above Forrest's camp.The two recovered beeves were recognized by their ranch brands as belonging in Bee County, thus identifying them as having escaped from Bob Quirk's herd, though he had previously denied all knowledge of them.The cattle world was a small one, and it mattered little where an animal roamed, there was always a man near by who could identify the brand and give the bovine's past history.With the prospects bright for a new owner on the morrow, these two wayfarers found lodgment among our own for the night.

But when another day dawned, it brought new complications.

Instead of the early arrival of any receiving party, the appointed hour passed, noon came, and no one appeared.I had ridden down to the lower camps about the latter hour, yet there was no one who could explain, neither had any word from the post reached Forrest's wagon.Sponsilier suggested that we ride into Buford, and accordingly all three of us foremen started.When we sighted the ford on the Missouri, a trio of horsemen were just emerging from the water, and we soon were in possession of the facts.Sanders, my brother, and Mike Sutton composed the party, and the latter explained the situation.Orders from the War Department had reached Fort Buford that morning, temporarily suspending the post commander and his quartermaster from receiving any cattle intended for that post, and giving notice that a special commissioner was then en route from Minneapolis with full authority in the premises.The order was signed by the first quartermaster and approved by the head of that department;there was no going behind it, which further showed the strength that the opposition were able to command.The little attorney was wearing his war-paint, and we all dismounted, when Sanders volunteered some valuable points on the wintering of Texas cattle in the North.Sutton made a memorandum of the data, saying if opportunity offered he would like to submit it in evidence at the final hearing.The general opinion was that a court of inquiry would be instituted, and if such was the case, our cause was not by any means hopeless.

"The chances are that the opposition will centre the fight on an assignment of the original contract which they claim to hold,"said the lawyer, in conclusion."The point was advanced yesterday that we were intruders, while, on the other hand, the government was in honor bound to recognize its outstanding obligation, no matter in whose hands it was presented, so long as it was accompanied by the proper tender.A great deal will depend on the viewpoint of this special commissioner; he may be a stickler for red tape, with no concern for the service, as were the post commander and quartermaster.Their possession of the original document will be self-evident, and it will devolve on us to show that that assignment was illegal.This may not be as easy as it seems, for the chances are that there may be a dozen men in the gang, with numerous stool-pigeons ready and willing to do their bidding.This contract may demonstrate the possibility of a ring within a ring, with everything working to the same end.The absence of Honest John Griscom at this delivery is significant as proving that his presence at Dodge and Ogalalla was a mistake.

You notice, with the exception of Field and Radcliff, they are all new men.Well, another day will tell the story."The special commissioner could not arrive before the next morning.An ambulance, with relay teams, had left the post at daybreak for Glendive, and would return that night.Since the following promised to be a decisive day, we were requested to bring every available man and report at Fort Buford at an early hour.The trio returned to the post and we foremen to our herds.

My outfit received the news in anything but a cheerful mood.The monotony of the long drive had made the men restless, and the delay of a single day in being finally relieved, when looked forward to, was doubly exasperating.It had been over six months since we left the ranch in Medina, and there was a lurking suspicion among a number of the boys that the final decision would be against our cattle and that they would be thrown back on our hands.There was a general anxiety among us to go home, hastened by the recent frosty nights and a common fear of a Northern climate.I tried to stem this feeling, promising a holiday on the morrow and assuring every one that we still had a fighting chance.