This
brand is his own, and every head of cattle found with his brand on it
belongs to him.
On the open range the cattle get mixed more or less, and in the spring
there is a general round-up of the cattle, after the calves have been
born and are following their mothers.
The cow-punchers go into the vast herds and drive out the calves. Of
course, the mother follows the calf, lowing piteously for it.
When the cow is out with the calf, it can be plainly seen to whom she
belongs by the brand on her. Her owner, or his men or representatives,
promptly throw her and the calf into their own herd, and later put their
brand on the calf.
Calves which are motherless and are unbranded are known as mavericks,
and belong to whoever finds them. The cowman who finds a maverick
promptly puts his own brand on it and it belongs to him.
The safety of the system is in choosing a brand that cannot be easily
altered, and which will not be easily confounded with the brand of
another.
When the boys had chosen the brand Circle S for this herd in honor of
Stella, they had spoken of this, and Bud had remarked that it would be
easily altered by making an eight of the S, but they had found no Circle
8 in the brand book, and took the chance, especially as Stella now
insisted upon having no other brand for the herd than Circle S, her "own
brand," as she called it.
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