Frank Carlson Library

Don had his knife out and was going to cut an earmark on the calf, when the mother cow charged him, knocking him down. When the cow had him down, she butted her dead against his back. It seemed she was determined to do him some real damage! When the cow knocked Don down, Don's horse shied away. Being hobbled, he couldn't go far, but he did manage to drag the calf a few feet away. The calf bawled and the attention of the cow was diverted from Don to...

"Meet Will Claxton, the loner, as he works his way across the West looking for long-term work, preferably north in the summer and farther south in the winter, where it's warmer. Along the way, he runs into trouble and could end up with the nickname "jailbird." In his own words, "I didn't know where I was going, but had begun to think that working on the dude ranch in the winter, branding calves in the spring, and packing salt during the summer might...