AND OTHER HUNTING ADVENTURES. 159 



were loaded on a little male which, had never been 

 accustomed to this work, and, as the men were all 

 engaged in handling the other animals, the old ranch- 

 man said he would lead this mule down the mountain 

 himself. Johnston and his partner cinched the hogs 

 on in good shape, while the Dutchman hung to 

 the mule. 



As they were giving the ropes the final pull, Johns- 

 ton gave his chum a wink, and they both slipped 

 out their knives, cut the muzzles off the porkers when 

 the old man was looking the other way, and told 

 him to go ahead. He started down the trail towing 

 the little mule, which did not relish its load in the 

 least, by the halter. The hogs were struggling to 

 free themselves, and, as the thongs began to cut into 

 their legs, they got mad and began to bite the mule. 



Then there was trouble; stiff -legged bucking set 

 in, and mule and hogs were cliurned up and down, 

 and changed ends so rapidly that' for a few minutes 

 it was hard to tell which of the three animals was on 

 the outside, the inside, the topside, or the bottom- 

 side. The poor little mule was frantic with rage and 

 fright, and what a mule can not and will not do 

 under such circumstances, to get rid of a load can not 

 be done by any four-footed beast. He pawed the 

 air, kicked, and brayed, jumped back ward, forward, 

 and sidewise, and twisted himself into every imag- 

 inable shape. The old Dutchman was as badly stam- 

 peded as the mule; he shouted, yanked, and swore 

 in Dutch, English, and Spanish; he yelled to the 

 men above to come and help him, but they were so 

 convulsed and doubled up with laughter that they 

 could not have helped him if they would. 



