The Ranch on the Beaver
by Andy Adams
Seedtime and Harvest
The beeves reached the market the next day. The previous consignment had proved a surprise, in quality and weights, to the commission firm, the members and salesmen of which were impatiently awaiting the arrival of the second shipment. A regular shipper, assisted by Joel, had brought the train of beef through, and while unloading even Major Hunt put in an appearance.
'How do you account for it?' was the latter's greeting to the boy. 'Their condition, I mean,' he added, as the owner hesitated.
'The beeves?' queried Joel, alarmed. 'We thought they were prime cattle. Everybody said they were the fattest--'
'Of course they are,' interrupted the old factor. 'We sent your first consignment to Chicago -- too good for this market. They netted you a handsome profit over any offer here. If these come up to the same standard, we won't even price these on this market. Is it the season?'
'That's one of the reasons,' replied the boy. 'Cowmen in the Arkansaw Valley told us that the tallow weed appeared again this spring; it comes about once in ten years in that sandy country. It gives the cattle an early start in the spring, and is more nutrient than washy, wild grass. Again, these beeves were adrift last winter, which brought them through strong; a new range every week. Again, they haven't been handled in a year. They weren't even disturbed during the spring round-up.'
'There you have it,' said a salesman, nodding to the old factor. 'These beeves have enjoyed a year's perfect freedom, and favored with a good season, little wonder they are in prime condition.'
'Look this shipment over carefully,' said Major Hunt to the salesman, 'and if they are as good as the last, we'll run them to Chicago. Let the office know promptly. Come on, Joel.'
'Wait until I get my saddle,' replied the youth.
The old factor led the way. Once the seclusion of his private office was reached, the elder man threw off all restraint when he and Joel indulged in a friendly chat. Mr. Stoddard had never relaxed in reminding the senior member of the firm of his laxity in extending credits, and the latter hung on the boy's every word. 'Now you feel that you are going to gather the cattle adrift,' he finally remarked.
'So far we have covered only the range in Colorado, where any drift might have lodged. You have the numbers of the beeves shipped, and the other day we sent home over four hundred head of mixed stuff. We feel sure of a good shipment of beef from the Smoky, because we saw them during the spring work. We'll gather cattle on the Saline and Walnut, and then come up the Arkansaw to the quarantine grounds. That circle covers the country, and we have left orders to ship any odds and ends overlooked or on the outside. It's a little too soon to shout, but if there's only twenty-five hundred head of cattle missing from the Arickaree, we have gathered over half that number already.'
'You'll gather more than that number,' said the old man, tapping the table with his finger. 'There's some system to your work. The company have been charging off its books cattle that might have been gathered. You boys will bring them home.'
'That's what McWilliams, the old foreman for the company, says,' admitted Joel. 'Accounts which he kept shows more cattle than the office books. Besides, we picked up any number of beeves that must have been astray two or three years, six-and-seven-year-olds.'
Major Hunt sprang to his feet and paced the room. 'Wait until I see Dudley Stoddard again! He's been abusing me like a dog. Claims that I've been lending money on tampered books; that we haven't a man in our employ who could invoice a ranch. Just wait until I get him in this office!'
The boy inwardly smiled, but said nothing. There was a distinct pause, when the younger one inquired if the Beaver Ranch had sent in any cattle, adding, 'You see. I've been out with the Arickaree wagon for over a month.'
'A thousand pardons,' humbly said the old factor. 'I've been so worried about the affairs of our clients. Yes, we've had two trains from the Beaver. Prime cattle, commanded the best price on the market. The third train will be in Saturday. The boys won't come in; they won't write. Just sulk around until you ask for more beef, it seems. They won't notice me. Suppose you order them to come in with Saturday's shipment. That foreman of yours, Joe --? Joe --?'
'Manly,' said Joel, assisting the Major's memory.
'Stoddard's man. Do you understand him?'
'He's been a trusty for Uncle Dudley a good many years now. We borrowed him only for the beef shipping season. He knows the run of the ranch and the lay of things, and he don't want to come in with every consignment of beef. I'll wire the boys to leave me a horse and come in with the next shipment.'
The sale sheets from the Beaver shipments opened Joel's eyes. 'The first were double-wintered beeves,' explained Major Hunt. 'The second were single-wintered. Note the difference in price and average value.'
'The totals,' mused the boy. 'Lend me your pencil. Our balance ought to take up the Stoddard contract.'
'It was paid the first of September. Mr. Stoddard has advice to that effect. Also note that beeves are netting four to seven dollars more to-day than last year. Ah, my boy, you made a timely buy of that Arickaree ranch and cattle.'
Joel was absorbed in the totals. 'Nine hundred and forty beeves,' said he, meditating -- 'more than squared the Beaver Ranch, leaving the other shipments clear velvet. And we're bound to ship a thousand or twelve hundred more, and a train of strays. The Beaver will go onto a pay basis this fall, with a healthy balance to its credit.'
'That's the idea. Let the Arickaree Ranch also pay for itself. Give it a good management, as you have the Beaver, and let it work out its own payment. You boys are getting a field experience of value. This is no time to hedge. Those sale sheets show that beef on foot is advancing. Cattle have been in the ditch since the boom of '84, but a turn for the better has arrived. Catch the advancing wave and ride it to success. Now it affects beef; in a year or two it will extend back to stock cattle, to a cow and calf.'
The boy again confessed his dread of debt.
'That idea has hampered more cowmen than honest debts ever hurt,' asserted the old factor. 'Didn't your contracts with Mr. Stoddard prove profitable?'
'They made a snug fortune, and we never had a dollar of our own at stake. We worked out our interest, and were well paid.'
'Can't you put another ranch on a pay basis like the one on the Beaver?' urged Major Hunt. 'I have another bargain for you,' kindly added the old man.
'Where?' eagerly inquired Joel.
'At Trail City. A herd of two-year-old steers, in a single ranch brand, the Tin Cup, run full thirty-three hundred head. The cattle are in the hands of an assignee, and we have been appealed to to find a buyer.'
'How long has the herd been at Trail City?'
'Since early in June is our advice.'
'Uncle Dudley and I must have driven through them, in July, while buying horses. A Tin Cup herd of twos?'
'That's the brand. Panhandle cattle, from the Tin Cup Ranch. I have nothing further to say; you must have seen them.'
The two dropped into opposite seats at a table. Prices were submitted and every detail gone over. 'The assignee is here,' added Major Hunt. 'I asked him to wait over. It takes ready money, but if you have twelve hundred beeves to ship yet--'
'We need that herd,' admitted Joel; 'want it to restock the Beaver Ranch. Would it be safe to wait until Saturday's shipment is sold?'
'There is no time like the present. Your sale sheets show what your Beaver cattle are bringing. Tin Cup twos sell on their reputation. I wouldn't wait an hour.'
'Close the trade,' said the boy, with decision. 'Name on or before October 10th as the receiving date. Make an earnest payment, and stipulate that the cattle are to be held under loose herd, on the quarantine grounds at Trail City, where delivery will take place. For the next month our outfits are going to be bogged to the saddle skirts in gathering cattle and shipping beef. If frost falls and lifts quarantine, we'll receive the herd earlier or the seller can deliver on the Beaver. If you can close on those conditions, it's a sale.'
'Send your wire and drop in this afternoon,' said the old factor, putting on his hat. 'I'll have a talk with the assignee. You may consider the deal as good as closed. The assignment is in behalf of a bank, and some uneasiness is being felt of having to winter the cattle in this upper country. That scares a Texan, but you boys aren't afraid of a little snow. Hang around, and I'll look up my man.'
The office sent the message, and Joel sauntered back to the yards. One of the firm's salesmen found the boy on the fence, overlooking the shipment from Kit Carson.
'We're not offering them,' explained the salesman, riding up. 'They go to Chicago to-night. There's good money in running fat cattle to Eastern markets.'
'The shrinkage?' questioned the boy. 'Won't they shrink more than enough to offset any gain in price?'
'They have done their shrinking already,' argued the salesman. 'You and I have no idea how these cattle kill and dress. That's a packer's secret. When buyers for these packing plants quarrel and bid against each other, we know that the cattle are prime. Shrink? Why, these beeves will ship like that many cakes of tallow!'
Seller and buyer of the Tin Cup herd were brought together. Joel was weathered brown as an Indian, while the assignee, a flaccid-featured little man, was gloved and carried a cane. The contrast between the two, in years, occupation, the promise of life, was marked as clearly as day and night. Major Hunt acted as intermediary, alert in the interest of his young client, yet fair and open to all.
'Now that we have agreed on the price,' said the old factor, 'the earnest payment in our hands, a neutral party, nothing remains but the expense of holding the herd another month or so. Surely we ought to agree on such a trifle.'
The assignee contended that any expense should be shared equally. 'I'll show you how to cut it in half,' said Joel, 'if that will suit you.'
'I'm not a practical cowman,' admitted the other, 'but we have a foreman in charge of the herd who is so considered.'
'Exactly,' agreed the boy. 'I met him. That's my impression of your foreman. But here: he can drop back to the south side of the river and loose-herd those cattle with half his present outfit. That cuts your expense in half, no night-herding, and it gives the cattle every advantage of range. I'm willing to receive the herd twenty miles south of the river. And if your foreman says my suggestion is not practical, now that the cattle are as good as sold. I'll stand all the expense. There you are.'
'There you are,' repeated Major Hunt. 'What this boy lacks in years he makes up in experience. He and your foreman won't differ a word on the cheapest way to hold your cattle until quarantine lifts. That disposes of all contention.'
Joel went into detail, in explaining to the banker the advantage in loose-herding over close-herding cattle. 'Write your foreman to drop back to the open country and hold his herd as cheaply as possible, and he'll understand what I'm advising you to do. I could hold them for half your present expense, and so can he.'
The sale was made. An agreement was entered into and the assignee left that night for Trail City.
Inspector Vance, who had been detailed to cover the Kansas City yards, was easily located, and reported having found some twenty head of Arickaree beeves among the Western shipments to date. The two spent the evening together, and the next day rode the yards, scanning every Western consignment for possible strays. Near midnight they met the arrival of the Beaver shipment.
'Why didn't you fellows come in when Major Hunt wired you?' asked Joel of Manly and Dell. 'The old Major felt hurt.'
'Oh, he just wanted to pat us on the back and tell us what bully fellows we are,' languidly answered Manly. 'That kind of candy don't cure collar galls. We've been in the saddle, night and day, getting out these three shipments, and we don't want any sweet stuff. When the beef shipping's over, we'll come in and put our little feet on the office furniture until he remembers a previous engagement. Right now, I'd rather sleep a few lines than make medicine with General Grant.'
It was harvest time on the range and the work called for men. Each in his own niche, one to his office and a hundred in the saddle, made up the rank and file of those who relied on the cattle for a livelihood.
In spite of their late hours, the range men were in the yards at early sunrise. The beeves had enjoyed a good rest, were rising and refreshing themselves, and would be ready to offer with the opening of business. Beeves from the Beaver had established a reputation on the block, packers knew to a fraction how the cattle from different sections dressed, and their buyers looked the offerings of the market over at an early hour.
The Beaver shipment was unsold at eleven o'clock. The brothers and Manly were loitering in the general office when the firm's cattle salesman entered.
'Have you sold them?' inquired Joel.
'Not yet. Every packer in the city wants them, and they'll have to come and see me. I sent my horse to the stable and I'll wait here until twelve. Your cattle will sell themselves.'
Joel was uneasy, as he must make a large earnest payment that day on the Tin Cup herd. 'Phones rang with the business of the day, and shortly a buyer entered and inquired for the cattle salesman.
'Why don't you try and sell me those twenty-four cars of beeves?' inquired the former, with a shrug, when the salesman appeared.
'Don't wait,' replied the latter. 'You'll miss your lunch. The Burlington wants them for Chicago. Offers us a passenger schedule. If these hucksters don't want that train of beef, we'll chance them on Monday's market in Chicago. Prime beef isn't wanted here; old cows about fill the bill.'
As the salesman turned to leave, the buyer detained him. 'Don't you want to sell me your cattle?' insisted the latter. 'You ain't trying to sell them.'
'You have my price, and you can see how worried I am about selling that train of beeves.'
At this juncture a second buyer entered, instantly speaking to the cattle salesman, and ignoring the presence of every other person in the room. 'I want to see you a moment, Louie,' said he, sweeping through and entering a farther department, followed by the salesman.
The first buyer was dazed at the action of the other, but sprang to and knocked on the closed door. 'I'll take that train of beeves,' he shouted, rapping loudly. 'I've bought your cattle. Every one here is witness that I've bought them,' said he, turning to those present.
'Don't make so much noise, Simon,' said the hog salesman of the firm, checking over his morning's sales. 'It takes two to make a bargain, and you hang fire too long to make a good beef buyer. You ought to know prime cattle at a glance. You'd make a better man for a soap factory, haggling over dead hogs and lump-jawed steers.'
The second buyer and the salesman reentered the room. 'Come on, boys,' said the latter, 'we're going to weigh up the beeves. They cross the scales at noon.'
'I bought those cattle,' protested the first buyer.
'Take a walk through the hog yards,' suggested the salesman; 'take the air. You're a dead one. Life's too short to waste a single minute on you. Simon, you're too slow on the trigger to hunt buffalo. It takes a quick, sure shot.'
The brothers were being thrown in contact with the men of the cattle markets. The latter calling, the clash of buyer and seller, required men who could feel the pulse of a market, knew when to stand firm and when to make concessions. To buy or sell early, subject to the rise or fall of distant markets, required a rare touch of judgment that was in no way akin to mere barter. The boys were catching the financial lessons necessary to their occupation, and the wider the contact the surer was their equipment for the battle of life.
Every one would leave for home that evening. The affairs of the brothers were well in hand for the present, and at the parting moment the old factor inquired, 'Now, is there anything further?'
'Not for another month,' answered Joel. 'By that time we will know where we are coming out on the Arickaree Ranch. Its beef will run better than the Beaver, all double-wintered or native cattle. Once we see the end of the beef run, we may want to make some arrangement to restock the upper range. Both are fine beef ranches, and ought to be restocked to their carrying capacity.'
'We'll keep that in mind,' noted Major Hunt. 'Oh, you must restock your ranges. And now, since we have placed the Tin Cup herd, others at Trail City may appeal to us. Get your beef marketed first, and then we can take up these other matters. If your cattle are finished, ship without orders, ship blindly.'
The Beaver men were entitled to return passage on the shipping contract, and early evening found the trio en route for Grinnell.
'Now that the cares of the day are over,' observed Manly, 'has any one the slightest idea why Dell and I came in with these last cattle? Major Hunt had nothing to say, and I'm sure both of us would have enjoyed ourselves better in the shade of the wagon.'
'I wanted to see you myself,' said the other boy; 'wanted to see your honest face and if you were working yourself ragged. All you're out is a little sleep, and you can make that up next winter.'
'You can't see me to-night,' answered Manly. 'Here's where I coil up on these cushions and sleep the sleep of the innocent. If the train runs off the track, don't wake me. I'm asleep now.'
'The brothers talked far into the night. They were fighting to win a foothold in their occupation; if the Arickaree Ranch could be placed on a pay basis, which was then in solution, all would be well.
The home station was reached the next morning. 'Did you leave me a horse?' inquired Joel, as they alighted from the train.
'Yes,' answered Dell; 'one of those you bought at Trail City last fall. He hasn't a lick of cow-sense, but he's a good road horse. The wrangler couldn't rustle in the remuda on him.'
Little time was lost when the trio mounted to ride their respective ways. 'Clean up the Beaver on your next shipment, including the strays,' said the older boy. 'Send a courier down to the Smoky a day or two in advance, as we may want to compare notes. We may have a remnant of cattle to send home, and I can't tell now what your next work will be. You may have to go to the Arickaree. Until I see you again, be good.'
'Is he hinting that we ain't always good?' inquired Manly of Dell, in grievous tones. 'The idea!'