106 IN THE OLD WEST 



tion to their will excites. One of the trappers, on 

 arriving at the camping-place, dismounted from 

 his horse, and, after divesting it of the saddle, en- 

 deavored to lead his mule by the rope up to the 

 spot where he wished to deposit his pack. Mule- 

 like, however, the more he pulled the more stub- 

 bornly she remained in her tracks, planting her 

 fore legs firmly, and stretching out her neck with 

 provoking obstinacy. Truth to tell, it does re- 

 quire the temper of a thousand Jobs to manage a 

 mule ; and in no case does the willful mulishness of 

 the animal stir up one's choler more than in the 

 very trick this one played, and which is a daily 

 occurrence. After tugging ineffectually for sev- 

 eral minutes, winding the rope round his body, 

 and throwing himself suddenly forward with all 

 his strength, the trapper actually foamed with 

 passion ; and although he might have subdued the 

 animal at once by fastening the rope with a half- 

 hitch round its nose, this, with an obstinacy equal 

 to that of the mule itself, he refused to attempt, 

 preferring to vanquish her by main strength. 

 Failing so to do, the mountaineer, with a volley 

 of blasphemous imprecations, suddenly seized his 

 rifle, and, leveling it at the mule's head, shot her 

 dead. 



Passing the Wa-ka-rasha,* a well-timbered 

 stream, they met a band of Osages going " to 

 buffalo." These Indians, in common with some 



*Wakarusa. (Ed.) 



