There was no such thing as counting one's holdings; the
increase only was known, and these conclusions, with due allowance for
their selection, were arrived at from the calf crop of the improved
herd. Its numbers were known to an animal, all chosen for their vigor
and thrift, the increase for the first two years averaging ninety-four
per cent.
There is little rest for the wicked and none for a cowman. I was
planning an enjoyable winter, hunting with my hounds, when the former
proposition of organizing an immense cattle company was revived at
Washington. Our silent partner was sought on every hand by capitalists
eager for investment in Western enterprises, and as cattle were
absorbing general attention at the time, the tendency of speculation
was all one way. The same old crowd that we had turned down two
winters before was behind the movement, and as certain predictions
that were made at that time by Major Hunter and myself had since come
true, they were all the more anxious to secure our firm as associates.
Our experience and resultant profits from wintering cattle in southern
Kansas and the Cherokee Strip were well known to the Senator, and, to
judge from his letters and frequent conversations, he was envied by
his intimate acquaintances in Congress. In the revival of the original
proposition it was agreed that our firm might direct the management
of the enterprise, all three of us to serve on the directorate and to
have positions on the executive committee.
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