One found an old tin can which by the aid of a few pebbles he converted into a very effective rattle.
The dust rose in clouds and eddied in the sun.

We slouched easily in our saddles.

The cowboys compared notes as to the brands they had seen.

Our ponies shuffled along, resting, but always ready for a dash in chase of an occasional bull calf or yearling with independent ideas of its own.
Thus we passed over the country, down the long gentle slope to the "sink" of the valley, whence another long gentle slope ran to the base of the other ranges.

At greater or lesser distances we caught the dust, and made out dimly the masses of the other herds collected by our companions, and by the party under Jed Parker.