So far, the fence had been as good as when he had last checked it, and Monty nudged Buck to step up the pace. There were still miles to check, some of it in pretty rough country, and Monty wanted to get finished by early afternoon. He needed to know that there were no fence problems before he left early tomorrow morning, and he still had other preparations to make for his trip. Today was the last Tuesday in October. That meant that Wednesday and Thursday would be Cattleman's Days at the Grand National Livestock Show and Rodeo in San Francisco. Thursday would be the annual range bull sale, and Monty needed 4 or 5 new bulls, so he wanted to get there on Wednesday to check out the selection. It was time for his annual trip up to the Cow Palace.