There was no question of ownership there," agreed Phil.
"But in the case of the calf," the cowboy's pupil persisted, "if it had left its mother when the man owning the iron was asked to vent it, there would be no way of proving the real ownership." "Nothing but the word of the man who found the calf with its mother, and, perhaps, the knowledge of the men who knew the stock." "What I am getting at," smiled Patches, "is this: it would come down at last to a question of men, wouldn't it ?" "That's where most things come to in, the end in this country, Patches.
But you're right.

With owners like Uncle Will, and Jim Reid, and Stillwell, and dozens of others; and with cowboys like Curly and Bob and Bert and 'Shorty,' there would be no trouble at all about the matter." "But with others," suggested Patches.
"Well," said Phil slowly, "there are men in this country, who, if they refused to vent a brand under such circumstances, would be seeing trouble, and mighty quick, too." "There's another thing that we've got to watch out for, just now," Phil continued, a few minutes later, "and that is, 'sleepers'.

We'll suppose," he explained, "that I want to build up my, bunch of Five-Bars, and that I am not too particular about how I do it.

Well, I run on to an unbranded Pot-Hook-S calf that looks good to me, but I don't dare put my iron on him because he's too young to leave his mother.

If I let him go until he is older, some of Jim Reid's riders will brand him, and, you see, I never could work over the Pot-Hook-S iron into my Five-Bar.