The next day he was seen with Boar Hound, the kinked necked sorrel, the roman-nosed gruller, and a few more ornery ponies of the "rough string." A company bunch more fitting to his kind. * * * * * The days was getting longer and warmer, the snow begin packing and melting some, and pretty soon bare patches of ground showed in plain sight. Smoky and Pecos' hides begin a itching and the two was often busy a scratching one another and starting from the neck went to the withers along the backbone to the rump and back again. Big bunches of long winter hair begin a slipping and falling to the ground as they scratched, and came a time when as they rolled, more of that hair was left till finally patches of short slick satin like hair begin to show. [Illustration: Smoky and Pecos' hides begin a itching and the two was often busy scratching one another.] Then green and tender grass begin to loom up and plentiful, and that finished the work of ridding the ponies' hides of all the long hair that was left. Creeks was swelling from the waters of the fast melting snows, spring had come and the sunshine and warm winds that came with it was doing its work. The round up cook was once again scrubbing on the chuck box that was on the end of the long wagon, and the cowboys, one by one begin a drifting in from parts near and far anxious to be starting on the spring works again. Some came from the different cow camps of the Rocking R range, a few of the riders that'd been let go when work was done the fall before never showed up, but others rode in and after a few words with Jeff took the places of them that was missing. Clint had wintered at one of the outfit's camps and drawed his wages regular, and when the range land begin to get bare of snow and the watching out for weak stock was no more necessary he put his bed on one horse, his saddle on another and headed for the home ranch. He was one of the first riders to reach that place, and when the horse round up started he was one of the first to have his horse saddled, topped off, and lined out to sashay in all of the ponies that could be found on the horse range. Smoky had been feeding on the sunny side of a butte, and for no reason other than to be looking around he raised his head, only his ears and eyes showed as he looked over the top of that butte; but that was enough for him to see a rider coming his direction, and see him before that rider ever had a hunch any horses was around anywheres near. Smoky snorted and hightailed it down the side of the butte to where Pecos and a few other ponies had also been feeding, and the way he acted left no doubt in their minds but what they should be on the move. They all was at full speed the minute he landed amongst 'em, and when the rider topped the butte where they'd been a few minutes before, they had the lead on him by near a mile.