228 BIRDS OF THE ROCKIES 



town, the lads making a merry din with their shouts 

 and whacks, mingled with the patter of hoofs on the 

 street. It was so dramatic that even the women came 

 to their doors to witness the pageant. We tried not 

 to laugh, and so did the delicately mannered spectators, 

 but I suspect that a good deal of laughing was done 

 on the sly, in spite of the canons of etiquette. 



At length the obliging lads became a little too 

 accommodating. They used their persuasives upon 

 the donkeys so vigorously that they — the donkeys — 

 started off on a lope, a sort of awkward, lop-sided 

 gallop. Now, if there is anvthing that is beyond the 

 ability of IVIaster Jack, especially if he is old. it is to 

 canter and at the same time preserve his equilibrium. 

 It is evident that he is not built to make a rocking- 

 chair of his back bone. So a little comedy was enacted, 

 all involuntary on the part of the dramatis personce. 

 Suddenly Turpentine — that was the name of the little 

 gray burro ridden by mv boy companion — took a 

 header, sending his youthful rider sprawling to the 

 ground, where he did not remain a moment longer 

 than good manners demanded. Fortunately he suc- 

 ceeded in disengaging his feet from the stirrups and 

 directing his movements in such a way that the animal 

 did not fall upon him. But poor Turpentine, what 

 of him ? He tumbled clean over his head upon his 

 back, and I want to confess in all candor that one of 



