The Wit of the Wild 



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" The man rejoiced, but the mustang gath- 

 ered his remaining strength for one more des- 

 perate dash. Up, up the grassy slope from the 

 trail he went, defied the swinging, slashing rope, 

 and the gunshot fired in air, in vain attempt to 

 turn his frenzied course. Up, up and on, above 

 the sheerest cliff he dashed, then sprang away 

 into the vacant air, down down two hundred 

 feet to fall, and landed upon the rocks below, a 

 lifeless wreck but free." 



All equine animals are subject to insane panic, 

 when they lose all self-control and may rush 

 blindly to accidental destruction; but this 

 author, who claims to be relating actual facts, 

 doesn't mean us to understand this incident in 

 that way. I should like to hear his explanation 

 of how this black mustang, or how Vixen, the 

 fox-mother, had arrived at the knowledge that 

 death meant freedom, and was preferable to the 

 halter? What experience had either of captiv- 

 ity? No such condition exists in nature: what 

 reason had they to foresee, much less dread it? 

 Upon what data could they create a mental pic- 

 ture (granting imaginative ability) calculated 

 to alarm them so profoundly? 

 *> 204 &* 



