OVER THE BLUFF! 321 



held on though, you bet. All this time the wolves wur 

 hard behint us. I cud hear the fierce whimperin' o' the 

 critters ; but I guess the speed wur too great fur 'em to 

 waste thur breath in reg'lar cry like hounds. 'Twur a 

 silent, detarmined race fur life or death, an' the varmints 

 did all they knew to overtake us. I soon found out 

 that wi' the weight o' the mutton an' o' m'self the mar' 

 cudn't hold out much longer. I cud hear the poor 

 thing breathin' thicker an' thicker ; an' as often as the 

 wolves 'd give a yelp I'd feel her shake like a leaf, an' 

 then she'd put on a trifle more speed ; but 'd lose it agin 

 in a minute. The wolves knew this as well as I did, 

 fur they began agin to yowl ; an' I now seed two o' 'em, 

 one on each side, lopin' along wi' thur tongues out, an' 

 the hot steam risin' like a fog out o' thur mouths. I 

 began to give in 'twur time fur this child to go under. 

 But one clings to life all the same, an' so I laid my 

 quirt into the mar', an' even pricked her on wi' the 

 p'int o' my knife. The poor critter wur near played 

 out, an' already the wolves wur crowded around, when 

 all at once what shud I see right under the hoss's nose 

 but the edge o' a bluff wi' a river five hundred foot 

 below ! Thur wur a few pines hangin' every which way 

 over the edge; but I hedn't time to wink when the 

 mar' arruv on the brink, an' went over ! I've felt some 

 considerable in my time, but never anything ekal to 

 that. As the mar' went over, fur she cudn't stop her- 

 self in time, she gev an unairthly screech sich a 

 screech as I hope I'll never hear agin. It rang in my 



