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Show page 75 heart of the youth, the heart of the horse. Both knew they had found a friend. Al, on his bunk at night, would charge across the valley and over the mountains and return with deer, coyote and cougar. The tallest timber was as sagebrush to him and his charger. The orneriest calf they returned to the herd in a second.' A thousand cattle he and his horse corralled, alone. The animal too became attached to the youth. Old he was, but the spirit of the youth imbued him, gave his age a new liveliness and his pride a great audience. All summer long they lived and roamed the vastness of the valley. Came the knowledge of the jackrabbit, the sagehen, the Bitterroot trout, the muskrat. The color of the land and the pageant of the sky absorbed Al. The smell of cattle became a part of him. The branding fire became his armorial ensign. The branding iron became his sword. And the horse and the boy were the conquerors of the earth. The boy knew that this was the purpose of living and the reason great men were born. He learned, he grew, he slowly awakened. He was riding with Jim, with Fritz a half-length ahead. All stuck close together for the snow had caught them in the foothills and they were headed for home. "Start winter feeding soon if this keeps," Fritz said. Fritz knew the weather's ways but commented for confirmation in the manner of lonely men; he ha If-expected some booming |