THE MARE AND. THE MULE. 139. 
less race of freebooters and horsemen probably, on the face 
of the earth, who are at war with every one, and prize noth- 
ing so much as a white man’s scalp. Knowing such to be 
the case, it behooved me to keep my weather-eye open when 
separated from my newly-formed acquaintances ; but for all 
my watchfulness I several times had narrow escapes. Still, 
time fled pleasantly onward, and as I write this I look back 
with delight to the happy, free, thoughtless hours passed 
either in the saddle or watching the movements of the wild 
animals that knew no bounds to their demesne. The In- 
dians seldom troubled my thoughts, for I had a mare that 
I daily rode, handsome as a picture, and as game, flect, and 
enduring as any animal I had ever thrown a leg over; thor- 
ough-bred, I believe, and as sagacious as a dog; also a bat 
mule, between both of which existed a most extraordinary 
affection. I had but to go ahead, and the latter was certain 
to follow; so if I did not fall into an ambuscade, I knew 
full well I could distance most Comanche braves till I re- 
gained camp, where,behind the wagons, backed by the stal- 
wart Missourian teamsters, who knew well the use of their 
rifles, I would be safe. Unfortunately the principal of the 
expedition was a most unpleasant and unpopular person, so 
that between his bullying and unpleasant manner, a mutiny 
arose among his retainers, and the consequence was that 
the majority started en masse on their own hook to seek 
another employer, or find their way back to their native 
State. 
My education and antecedents had been such as to give 
me a horror of mutiny; moreover, up to this date, I had 
nothing to complain of, so I determined to stick to the 
wagons, and use every effort in my power to save the 
owner from the only alternative that appeared left, desert- 
ing his property in the wilderness. Ere long, however, I 
was compelled to change my resolution, for no one could 
