180 A BANKRUPT EAILWAY. 



CHAPTER XIV. 



Move to Clear Lake. A bankrupt railway. Abundance of game. Stalking 

 wild geese. Invitation to a bear-hunt. A norther. Story of a norther. 

 Lynch law. Bear-hunting poor sport. Great abundance of snipe. 

 Good shooting. Extortionate landlord. Semi-wild hogs. Wild bulls. 

 Narrow escapes from them. Our dog Booze. His fighting capabilities. 

 Invitation to a plantation. Melancholy appearance of it. A good 

 afternoon at the ducks. A Masonic tip. A Texan ball. Buying 

 mules. Fishing in Texas. 



TOWARDS the end of November we moved on to Clear Lake, a 

 very pretty camp, and only a mile and a half from a railway 

 station. This railway was a source of much amusement to us. 

 It was only forty miles long, running from Houston to 

 Alleyton, and it was in a bankrupt condition; there was 

 only one engine, which made the journey to Alleyton one 

 day and returned the next, and was very uncertain as to its 

 time of arrival and departure. The engine was an old shunting 

 one from New Orleans, with a leaky boiler, which after 

 running four or five miles, and sometimes less, had to stop to 

 get up steam. On one occasion I had started from camp on 

 horseback, carrying a deer on the front of the saddle, and a 



