He approached the cabin as he had left it by way of the corral and the wood pile, for he thought possibly Dawson had stopped there again on the way home. He glanced quickly around the cabin. There was no one there, but there was a piece of paper lying on the table in a conspicuous place near the lamp. It was a scribbled note from Dawson.
Dropped in but did not have time to wait for you. We’ll have the recount to-morrow morning about ten o’clock. Ramsey is coming up and I’ll be down there. Probably Jed will be up to count for his side. A recount is rather a serious matter and I hope for the good of the Service that you have not made any mistake.
“I hope you have not made any mistake,” Scott repeated with a grin. “That’s a pretty slick little piece of sarcasm and I’ll bet he grinned when he wrote it, but if he knew what I know he would have made it a prayer that I had made a mistake.”
In order to have his records complete he finished up his daily diary report with a detailed account of the evening’s interview. It was one o’clock when he blew out the light and rolled into bed. He was so tired with his long day’s work that he went to sleep before he had planned out the details for the next day as he had intended.
However, he did not oversleep himself the next morning. He finished breakfast early and put the cabin in apple pie order in case he should have any official visitors before the recount. He had an idea that no one would have much time for the inspection of cabins after that.
He determined to ride out and see that the herders were bringing up the sheep according to his orders. He found Jed ready to go as usual and was soon trotting along gayly through the forest. The sun was shining brightly and his mood was in keeping with the day. He felt that his triumph was sure and he had no misgivings. He had not gone very far when he ran onto one of the bands headed for the chute.
It was feeding time for the sheep and they were in no hurry to travel. They moved by jerks, those in front hanging back till they were pushed on by those behind. Then they would trot a little way and stop to eat once more. Those in the center kept trying to push out to the sides where they could find some grass, and it kept the herder and the dog both busy to keep them moving.