point him out, as he had reason to believe the horsethief was in town.

They went into the Tivola saloon, then on the corner west of the old Inter-Ocean hotel, and the man was sitting at one of the tables. Likens pressed a gun muzzle against the back of his neck and said : "Fly Speck Bill, you are my meat." The arrest proved a tame affair, for the man merely glanced at the officer, and threw up his hands, saying: "Oh, all right!"

By this time the Coads had laid claim to about all of the North Platte valley, east of Scottsbluff mountain. They had put fences in the gaps in the hills, and had some pole bars in Mitchell Gap.

Among early ranchmen, a custom had sprung up to respect the calves belonging to another, and if a cow and calf were found in a herd, off of their proper range, it was customary to put on the calf the brand of the real owner. Coad early refused to follow the custom, and the calves of other fellows found in his herds were left unbranded.

One time a calf belonging to the Coads crawled through the bars, into Mitchell valley, and was found by a bunch of fellows from higher up the river. That Coads might understand the custom, they singed the hair on one side of the calf with big letters "M-A-R-K" and on the other side "C-O-A-D," Coad did not like it, but he took the hint.