MULE DRIVERS FROM TEXAS. 133 



poison. I must have cut a pretty figure with my 

 swollen, blistered, shining face. Uhl nearly killed him- 

 self with laughing at me. 



In the evening, some mule drivers from Texas came 

 in, having pitched then' camp not far from the house. 

 They consisted of three whites, and two Cherokees. 

 One of the Indians spoke English very well, and I had 

 a long conversation with him. He had adopted all 

 the habits of the whites, although he did not seem to 

 have much love for them. I went to bed late, and 

 dreamed of Indians and buffalo hunts. 



All next day I was obliged to remain quiet, on ac- 

 count of my swelled face, and was rewarded for my 

 patience by being nearly well by the evening. As the 

 baggage we had hitherto carried was too heavy, we 

 resolved to leave some of it with these people till we 

 saw what was likely to become of us. We had neither 

 of us any settled plan. Our mutual wish had only been 

 freedom and the forest, rightly conjecturing that all the 

 rest would come of itself. 



As on the second day we continued our journey a 

 great deal lighter, and with renewed strength. After 

 several miles walk we came to a smithy, where, luckily, 

 I could get my gun repaired, otherwise I should not 

 have been able to shoot. This smithy was at a Mr. 

 Strong's plantation, where the road branches off to Lit- 

 tle Rock, and to Batesville. We were undecided which 

 to take, when we were told that we should find much 

 more game on the road to Batesville. This settled 

 the point. We waited till the cool of the evening to 

 resume our march. While the smith was repairing 

 my gun, the Tennessee man, with his family, arrived 

 12 



