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 water were 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 



