about noon
Clear dry weather was the best preventive against screw worms , but until the present damp spell abated every man in the ranch was in the saddle from sunrise to sunset . In the midst of this emergency work a beef buyer by the name of Wayne Orahood reached the ranch . He was representing the lessees of a steamship company plying between New Orleans and Texas coast points . The merchant at the ferry had advised Orahood to visit Las Palomas , but on his arrival about noon there was not a white man on the ranch to show him the cattle . I knew the anxiety of my employer to dispose of his matured beeves , and as the buyer was impatient there was nothing to do but get up horses and ride the range with him . Miss Jean was anxious to have the stock shown , and in spite of my lameness I ordered saddle horses for both of us . Unable to wear a boot and still hobbling on crutches , I managed to Indian mount an old horse , my left foot still too inflamed to rest in the stirrup .