"PUT FORTH THY HAND" 49 



promised me, I was to ride a mule. The 

 Chief said that when we came to a lake one 

 hundred and fifty miles away, I would get the 

 famous horse — not before that — but he was 

 a paragon, having all the virtues that could 

 be possessed by any horse; in the meantime, 

 I was to ride a mule. 



The Chief passed a high eulogium upon 

 the mule whose name he said was "Billie" — 

 "Billie" with no prefix or subfix whatsoever. 

 He forgot to say that among the natives he 

 always went by one of two names — "Billie the 

 Wild" or "Wild Billie," and he also neg- 

 lected to say that he was famous because he 

 had thrown more men and wrecked more bug- 

 gies and sleighs than any other five horses or 

 mules in the Yukon. It was perhaps better 

 or more polite that he should keep this infor- 

 mation to himself, as the sequel will show. 



While sitting on Billie and waiting for the 

 cavalcade to begin the journey, a man came 

 to me and advised me to demand of the head 

 guide that a start be made for the "Meadows" 

 — a camping spot five miles away on our road, 

 — where plenty of grass and w^ater w^ere to be 

 found, saying that if we didn't make such a 

 beginning we might be held back from one 

 cause or another for one or more days. So 



