TIME AND CHANGE 



canon on mule-back. There is always satisfaction 

 in going to the bottom of things. Then we wanted 

 to get on more intimate terms with the great 

 abyss, to wrestle with it, if need be, and to feel its 

 power, as well as to behold it. It is not best always 

 to dwell upon the rim of things or to look down upon 

 them from afar. The summits are good, but the 

 valleys have their charm, also; even the valley of 

 humiliation has its lessons. At any rate, four of us 

 were unanimous in our desire to sound that vast 

 profound on mule-back, trusting that the return 

 trip would satisfy our "climbing" aspirations, as 

 it did. 



It is quite worth while to go down into the canon 

 on mule-back, if only to fall in love with a mule, and 

 to learn what a sure-footed, careful, and docile 

 creature, when he is on his good behavior, a mule 

 can be. My mule was named "Johnny," and there 

 was soon a good understanding between us. I 

 quickly learned to turn the whole problem of that 

 perilous descent over to him. He knew how to take 

 the sharp turns and narrow shelves of that steep 

 zigzag much better than I did. I do not fancy that 

 the thought of my safety was "Johnny's" guiding 

 star; his solicitude struck nearer home than that. 

 There was much ice and snow on the upper part of 

 the trail, and only those slender little legs of "John- 

 ny's" stood between me and a tumble of two or 

 three thousand feet. How cautiously he felt his 



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