Page:Melville Davisson Post--The Man of Last Resort.djvu/265

Rh hold together the black brutes will get a blamed sight nearer to the Queen than most of the little snobs ambling around in the East.”

The herd of Rufus Alshire belonged to that species of beef cattle termed Polled-Angus, native to the lowlands of Scotland; a breed of comparatively recent importation. They were fine bullocks, full, round, and comely in form; hornless, trim of head and neck, and with coats as black as the fabled spirit of midnight. The law of natural selection had finally indicated this breed as best adapted to the conditions of the West Virginia grazier. It was hardy, easily maintained, and endured the rigor of the winter without distress, beside it was quick to mature and gained flesh rapidly, and then, too, the absence of horns rendered it easier to handle and far less dangerous.

The horn, a necessary and powerful weapon in the wild state, was in the state of domestication a useless incumbrance. Hence nature, laboring for the convenience of men, thrust in and produced the Polled-Angus.

The business of the grazier had been