That's a Four-Bar-M calf, an' I branded him myself over in Horse Wash before he left the cow.

Some of your punchers are too damned handy with their runnin' irons, Mr.Wild Horse Phil." For a moment Phil looked at the man, while Jim Reid moved his horse nearer, and the cowboys waited, breathlessly.

Then, without taking his eyes from the Tailholt Mountain man's face, Phil called sharply: "Patches, come here!" There was a sudden movement among the riders, and a subdued murmur, as Patches rode forward.
"Is that calf you told me about in the corral, Patches ?" asked Phil, when the man was beside him.
"Yes, sir; that's him over there by that brindle cow." Patches indicated the animal in question.
"And you put our iron on him ?" asked Phil, still watching Nick.
"I did," returned Patches, coolly.
"Tell us about it," directed the Dean's foreman.
And Patches obeyed, briefly.

"It was that day you sent me to fix the fence on the southwest corner of the big pasture.

I saw a bunch of cattle a little way outside the fence, and went to look them over.