254 MULE-HUNTING EXPEDITION. 



drawling utterance, and was inordinately long at 

 arriving at a moderate pitch of civility. He eyed 

 me over and drawled out, ' W-a-e-1 !' I handed my 

 letter, and quietly awaited its effect ; as he was 

 long in everything else, he was long in opening 

 it. Having made a minute inspection of the ex- 

 terior, he slowly took it from its yellow envelope, 

 and gradually seemed to understand from its 

 contents that he was to be civil. 



' So you ain't bin long in these parts, Cap'en?' 

 said the Judge, without in the smallest degree 

 shifting his position. 



I said I was quite a stranger, and should be 

 o-lad if he would give me some information about 

 the trails and the Indians, along the route I in- 

 tended taking. 



' Bars and steel traps ! ' roared the Judge. 

 ' You'll have your har ris, sure as beaver medi- 

 cine ! Why, thar ain't worse redskins in all Oregon 

 than the Klamaths. Jist three months agone 

 come Friday, the darn'd skunks came right slick 

 upon Dick Livingstone and his gang. You've 

 heerd of Dick, I guess?' (I said I had not.) 

 ' Wael, most people has, leastways. They was 

 jist a-washing up a tall day's work, up Rogue 

 river, when the Klamaths swarmed 'em just 

 as thick as mosquitos in a swamp. Several went 

 under, bet your life, for Dick and his boys 



