Ted Strong in Montana | Page 2

it was to accomplish their contract that they had
bought the Texas cattle and driven them north to the Long Tom Ranch

in northern Montana.
Now that they were within a few miles of it, and still on the low ground,
it appeared that a big snow was inevitable, which might frustrate all
their plans and cause them great loss.
But Ted Strong did not complain. It was a condition which he could not
have foreseen, and, being close at hand, there was nothing for them to
do but meet it with all the fortitude at their command.
Soon the herd began to move forward, being crowded by the broncho
boys and the force of cow-punchers whom they had employed to assist
them.
Stella Fosdick, who, with her aunt, Mrs. Walter Graham, had
accompanied the boys on their drive, now came galloping up to Ted.
She had been riding beside the carriage in which her aunt had been
comfortably traveling.
"Going to keep on, Ted?" she asked.
"Yes. Got to do it. Those clouds are full of snow. If it catches us down
here we're likely to be snowed in, and if we do it's all up with the Circle
S," he replied.
"That's bad."
"Oh, I guess we'll pull through all right, if we can keep the cows
moving; but it is not going to be very comfortable for your aunt or you.
We'll have to drive until the cattle refuse to move farther."
"I can stand it, and aunt will have to. She's getting a little anxious,
though, and asked me to ride ahead to learn when we're going to stop.
Poor auntie likes her comfort. I often wonder why she became the wife
of a ranchman."
"Or why she consents to traipse all over the country with you," laughed
Ted.

"Ted, she absolutely cannot refuse me a thing."
"So I see. You've got her hypnotized--as, indeed, you have all the rest
of us. But ride back and cheer her up all you can. I told McCall, the
cook, to make some good, strong coffee and to serve it to any of the
boys who wanted it, as it will be some time before we can have supper.
Have Mac take her a cup of good, strong coffee and something to eat.
That may make her a little more cheerful."
"I'll do it. But don't you want some coffee, too?"
"Not for me. I've got something else to do right here. This is going to
be a race between the herd and the snow clouds, and it means a whole
lot to us."
"Afraid of being snowed in?"
"You bet. If this bunch of cattle gets snowed in I see our finish. We'll
lose half of them before we get to the grass."
"I don't know a thing about the Northern range, and I can't see how
you're going to bring that herd through to spring. It would take
thousands of tons of hay, and I don't know how much corn to feed
them."
Ted laughed.
"I see you don't know much about the North," he said. "But what
should a girl brought up in Texas know of wintering cattle in the snow?
You see, it's this way: Montana is the best winter cattle range in the
United States.
"The winds from the mountains sweep the snow, which is dry and loose,
from the high, level ground, exposing the grass which has been cured
on the ground, and which makes the best kind of feed. Then there is
plenty of water, and the deep coulees, with which the country is cut up,
afford ample protection for the cattle during storms.

"Occasionally there comes warm winds from the northwest. These are
called chinook winds, because they come from the direction of the
country of the Chinook Indians. They are warm and balmy, and melt
the snow as if by magic. Their warmth is caused by having come in
contact with the Japanese stream, which crosses the Pacific Ocean,
after being warmed in the sunny East, and which strikes the shores of
North America along about south Alaska. This stream is called by the
Japanese, Kuro Siwo. It is the equivalent of the Gulf Stream, which
leaves the Gulf of Mexico to cross the Atlantic and warm the shores of
Great Britain."
"Quite a lecture," said Stella, laughing.
"I didn't mean to lecture," replied Ted, laughing also, "but I wanted you
to know why it is that it is a good thing to winter cattle in this north
country. In the first place it puts strength and stamina into the cattle,
and makes the beef better, and all the conditions of which I have
spoken make it possible to keep cattle on the open range out here,
where one would think they would