814 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Oct. 13, 1894 
FROM DAN TO BEERSHEBA. 
The Tribulations of a Trio. 
I suppose it is allowable to send to a sporting paper an 
article which only incidentally treats of sport, "but tells of 
an outing, wherefore this true account of the manifold 
trials of Shadrach, Meshack and Abednego, in their 
efforts to compass the journey from Refugio to Victoria, 
in pouthwest Texas. 
These three worthies are all lawyers, the last a six foot 
three specimen of humanity, whose acquaintances, when 
he first came to Texas, immediately dubbed him "Scant- 
lin';" the first, a gray-haired lawyer of three score years, 
and seasoned to such trips by thirty years' experience in 
Texas; the second, a round-faced, round-bodied smiling 
gentleman, inclined like Mark Tapley to come out strong 
under difficulties, but unlike Mark, not inclined to seek 
the trouble that he might have the chance of coming out 
of it. 
Court being over, the problem of a return home began 
to interest this interesting trio. There had been incpssant 
rain for several weeks, and the natural roads through this 
part of Texas — you know Texans in these parts believe in 
letting them severely alone, and never doing any work 
on them — were in such condition that the question was, 
not which was the best road, but which presented the 
least difficulties to be overcome. 
Roads were all discussed. They had come to the large 
and flourishing city of Refugio somewhat after the fashion 
of the travelers in oldpn times, who. desiring to go from 
Victoria to Brownsville on the Rio Grande, had to travel 
overland to Indianola, thence by ship to New Orleans, 
and thence by ship to Brownsville. They went by rail 
from Victoria to Guero, thence to Kennedy, thence to 
Beeville, and thence to Refugio by hack, some 150 miles, 
to compass the distance of forty-five from Victoria direct, 
and found the roads that way so bad that they believed 
anything was better than a return in the same direction. 
To appreciate the foregoing consult a map of Texas. 
So it was made known that the trio wished transportation, 
and about 10 A. M. there appeared one of the enterpris- 
ing citizens, a certain Sefior Baalim, whose long residence 
in Texas and large experience in the management of the 
Texas pony, Were vouchers of his ability to take us to our 
destination some time. Our jehu proposed, for the con- 
sideration of four dollars per capita, to transport us to the 
city of Victoria, via Sharp's Lake, Terrell's Ferry and 
Stafford's Crossing. His outfit consisted of an ambulance, 
a pair of small ponies, and a jug of mustang wine, with 
an amount of energy and linguistic proficiency not then 
fully realized by his would-be passengers. 
Abednego eyed the team askance. Just a doubt was 
creeping up his spinal column, as to the ability of those 
two 144 hands high ponies to take the paTty, bag and 
baggage, and gun, to Victoria. Then, too, there was a. 
wicked look in the eye of the brown pony, and he shook 
his shaggy mane over his eyes and looked devilish. He 
was evidently a horse with a character. Abednego had 
ridden such a beast during the unpleasantness between 
the U. S. and the C. S., and knew the look. He had 
doubts of that beast. He intimated some of them, as to 
speed, endurance and temper, to Baalim, but was assured 
in a eulogy such, as no living animal had ever before that 
received, that that pony was par excellence the pony of 
the universe for style, endurance, steadiness, bottom, 
push, energy and mildness. Evidently Abednego was 
wide of the mark. There was not another such animal 
on the green earth. So down sank that doubt into his 
boots again, and he felt sheepish that he bad presumed to 
doubt an animal, like Caesar's wife, "above suspicion." 
"I tell you father's a driver, he is!" said a tall specimen 
of young man with red hair and his hands in his pockets, 
eyeing the ponies critically, "and he'll take you through 
all right, you'll see. And as to Brownie there, why, he is 
just the beatin'est pony in all Refugio county." 
Doubts set at rest, and lunch, gun and baggage loaded , 
they started, and for at least 200yds. from the start, with 
the whip of Baalim flying around them, Bill and Brownie 
"lit out," and the last they saw of that red-haired young 
man was a smile about a foot wide, with which he 
exulted in the fulfillment of his prophecy. 
If our joys would only last! Ah, there comes the rub! 
If Romeo kissing his Juliet good night over the front 
gate could just perpetuate the sweetness of that kiss for 
one hour, but 'tis 
"Like the snowfall in the river. 
A moment felt, then melts forever." 
The lope slowed up into a jog trot, the trot gently de- 
generated into a walk (and not a fast walk either) as the 
first mud hole was encountered and Jehu's notes of en- 
couragement were heard, a sound impossible to spell, 
made by the drawing in of the breath through puckered 
hps. But as the optimist, Meshack, remarked, they were 
only going to the San Antonio River, anyway, only about 
twenty miles, and he reckoned they had plenty of time 
for that. Abednego began to study Brownie again. He 
thought that that animal had an opinion of his own, and 
that it was decidedly against going very far from the 
master's crib. Sometimes one ear and then the other 
turned backward, as if to inquire how much further 
before a change of course, but no rhange came. The 
road lay wet and muddy ahead, and steadily the master 
urged his steeds away from town. 
A few miles further on the road passed a wide shallow 
pond, and the trio saw a flock of Wilson snipe wheeling 
and circling near it, and as they approached the snipe 
settled down, and Abednego, who was the only booted 
passenger, wanted a shot, so with much willingness Bill 
and Brownie called a halt to rest, and the hunter strode 
off toward the pond. A long shot at them on the water, 
and another as they rose secured half a dozen birds, and 
the journey was resumed. 
"These snipe," said Abednego, "you will see differ from 
the jacksnipe only in being of a somewhat lighter color 
under the wings and on the breast, than the jacksnipe, 
and in going in flocks. But there is one way you can 
always tell one from the other, though they are so much 
alike. This middle toe of the jacksnipe reaches the knee, 
when bent up thus, and the toe of the Wilson snipe does 
not. But when they are cooked you can't tell the differ- 
ence. Both are equally toothsome." 
The party lunched at the Melon, a small stream crossed 
by the road. Baalim contributed some very delightful 
turtle steak and the jug of wine to the lunch, and with 
proverbial Texas hospitality insisted that all should par- 
take of the latter, as the creek water was muddy. 
Meshack drank, and was charmed, and straightway began 
a long dissertation on the nature and manufacture of 
mustang wine which was his special delight, and there 
was nothing like it, he said. Shadrach drank slowly, and 
like a man who wants to get all the pn jnyment possible 
out of it, and then fixed his eyes steadfastly on vacancy, 
about two miles away, as if pondering a perplexing legal 
question. Abednego drank, and made a wry face b hind 
his hand, and was vividly reminded of his boyhood, and 
those unripe persimmons, that he had torn his pants in 
climbing to gather and eat. 
While the team was resting, Meshack took the gun and 
in a short time added three or four more birds to the bag, 
and Abednego with that doubt creeping once more up 
his spinal column, made a rapid mental calculat'on. To 
the Melon, six miles, two and a quarter hours, fifteen yet 
to travel, three miles an hour, 6 o'clock P. M. 
Upon the road from Melon to Sharps Lake, more than 
once Brownie showed symptoms of baulking, and as 
walking was faster traveling than riding, to lighten the 
load, Meshack and Abednego walked several miles, bag- 
ging several ducks on the ponds by the way. Sharps 
Lake is a shallow pond, about half a mile across and 
about knee deep, one of a chain of lakes, lying nearly 
northwest and southeast for six or eight miles across 
Refugio county, and filled with aquatic birds and fowl of 
every kind. In this region they were hardly ever out of 
sight of companies of wild geese stalking across the 
prairie, or clouds of wild ducks of every variety on the 
water or rising from it. A line of white brant half a 
mile long stood motionless on the edge of the lake about 
a quarter of a mile north of the road, and Meshack won- 
dered how many could be killed with a small cannon 
loaded with buckshot within range and so posted as to 
command a raking shot. 
It was with fear and trembling that Sharps Lake was 
entered with our slow team, as no one could tell when 
Brownie would take it into his head to stop, and the water 
was too deep for comfortable wading. But as luck would 
have it the beast did not stop in the water, though he did 
shortly after they got on firmer land, and the load was 
again lightened by the dismounting of passengers, and 
the team again started by the exertions of the driver who 
under the pressure of necessity added some choice oaths 
to his vocabulary, stamped on the floor of the vehicle, 
. used his whip, threatened all sorts of punishment to his 
steeds, and in the language of the statutes, used "loudand 
vociferous language." They added several ducks and 10 
or 12 Wilson snipe to their bag here, Meshak shooting and 
Abednego retrieving. The San Antonio River was 
reached about half an hour before sundown, and they 
had still before them about four miles of river bottom to 
travel before reaching their stopping place, and over the 
very worst part of the road. The river had been over- 
flowed for the whole distance, and the waters receding 
had left the whole river bottom, which is heavily tim- 
bered, soft and muddy with bad washes in the road and 
much debris accumulated in places. 
With infinite difficulty the team were induced to pull 
the empty vehicle up the eastern bank of the river, from 
the ferry boat, and Meshak and Abednego now became 
convinced that if they expected to get through at all they 
would have to walk the whole distance, 
"We are of the earth, earthy," remarked Shadrach, 
with a sigh, as he also rolled up his trousers, preparatory 
to joining the pedestrians. Meshak with his usual optim- 
ism thought that we would not find it so bad, any way, 
and at least Abednego wouldn't find any water he could 
not wade, and Baalim cursed his team energetically and 
encouragingly and they crawled along in the rear of the 
footmen. In the depth of the forest twilight came along 
swiftly and gloom began to lower down upon the travel- 
ers. After about a. mile had been walked, the road 
became so bad that Shadrach got back in the hack to 
keep company with the driver, but the other two walked 
on. The method of the driver was, to begin to urge his 
team by shouting and stamping a little before a bad place 
was reached, and to keep it up crescendo, until it was 
passed. He rose to the necessities of the occasion, as his 
road grew worse. Meshak and Abednego pushed on, cir- 
cumnavigating those pools of water they could not jump 
across, and occasionally differing as to the better track to 
take to avoid the water ahead, they gradually drifted 
some way apart, and as the gloom of the late evening 
increased, they separated entirely. Occasionally the 
sound of the driver's voice abusing his team could he 
heard as they dragged along far behind, but at last, some 
dire misfortune seemed to have overtaken them or the 
team had broken entirely down, for the driver had lifted 
up his voice on high, and as Meshak and Abednego each 
paused at the unwonted energy and deliberation of the 
address, they heard through the vistas of the forest 
Baalim thus address his team, "You scoundrels! and so 
you won't go any further; ha! you sore-backed devils! 
You Brownie, you lazy hound! so you are cutting up 
your hundred-dollar shines, are you! I just believe I'll get 
down and cut your throat from ear to ear. Why don't 
you go along, you scoundrels, you lop-eared bandy-legged 
villains! Go 'long I say ! I'll kill you no-count billy goats, 
go 'long!" 
With a sigh for the fate of their partner in distress, and 
a certainty on Abednego's part that help had to come 
from their stopping place for the night, they pushed on, 
and down the long corridors of the forest pursued them 
the music of the cries of our Baalim, whose energy and 
perseverance had long before this time fully earned him 
the pay he was to receive for the whole trip. Abednego 
found doubtful footing upon the muddy islands lying 
through the sloughs that he had to traverse, and more 
than once would have been wet to the knees but for his 
boots, but at last reached Boniface's comfortable home, 
and after having explained to him the situation he 
promised to send a team back for the Btalled hack. There 
was some delay in getting the team to send back, and 
about the time that Boniface had found his men, behold 
slowly looming up in the darkness, down toward the tim- 
ber, Bill and Brownie hove in sight, and as they halted in 
the light of Boniface's hospitable door, such a look of 
mingled woe, dejection and resentment rarely developed 
on the face of beast as appeared on Brownie's shaggy 
countenance. 
A good supper and refreshing night's rest, followed by 
a substantial breakfast, cheered and invigorated the trio, 
and Abednego thought that even the ragged edges of 
Brownie's perversity would have been smoothed down by 
rest and hay, oats and corn. In the morning they saw 
the team once more attached to the vehicle, with high. 
hopes that their troubles were now over. The road to 
Victoria was still heavy and wet, and the morning was 
foggy with threat of rain during the day, but until they 
reached the Guadaloupe bottom they did not expect to 
encounter anyroad quite so bad as the San Antonio River 
bottom. 
Baalim mounted his seat, the passengers took their places, 
and the heads of the team were turned in the direction of 
Victoria, and with a cheerful "G'lang,"tbe driver started. 
But about three .rods from the starting place there was a 
gentle up grade. Brownie wanted to go to Refugio and 
not to Victoria, and here he incontinently called a halt 
and began to cut up one of his hundred-dollar shines, as 
his owner called them. He backed, both his body and 
his ears. He completely frustrated the efforts of the wil- 
ling Bill, bis co-laborer, to climb that hill, and at this 
early hour the anger of Baalim was kindled and he smote 
the beast with whip and with choice words of denuncia- 
tion. But it was all to no avail; Brownie would not pull 
the load up that hill, and passengers dismounted as well 
as driver, and then by dint of whipping and pushing the 
vehicle on the refractory beast, forced him up the hill to 
level ground. Here passengers embarked and the journey 
was again resumed as the mist began to thicken and drip 
down the cover of the hack, and the hog wallows ahead, 
fiill of water, showed up white between the black, waxy, 
muddy lumps. 
To vary the monotony of the journey, Meshak began to 
speak of the South Pacific extension, of the railroad from 
Victoria and Goliad and Beeville, and to enlarge upon the 
benefits of railroads in general and this one in particular 
to the section of country through which it passed, and 
Baalim listened for a while in silence; but as the team 
staggered through a mud hole more than usually tenacious, 
he began to give us his views. "Can't see that the durn 
railroads are any good," he paid. "The country was a 
heap better off before we had them. Then there was 
plenty of work for teamsters, and the people had more 
money and were better contented, and hundreds of 
wagons would go to Indianola and load, and hauling was 
a good business, and there was a market for the corn that 
the people made and for the meat and chickens, and 
everything was better and peop'e were better off. Now 
there's all sorts of people come into the country, and the 
dang tramps and thieves; and in my opinion we would 
have been a ding sight better off in Texas if there had 
never been a railroad built. Go long! git out of here!" to 
the team. 
"There is certainly one thing they are good for, 1 ' said 
Abednego. "One can travel on them in comf ort, at any 
rate." 
"People go too fast in these days, anyway," said Baalim, 
"and always in a hurry, and horses is a drug in the mar- 
ket, and all because of the railroads." 
"When I came to Texas," said Abednego, "there was a 
stage line from Indianola to Victoria, then the only means 
of getting from one place to the other. The charge was 
ten cents per mile, and not long miles either, and only 
fifty pounds of baggage allowed to each passenger. I 
waited three days before I could secure a seat in the coach, 
everything having been engaged ahead, and the stage 
proprietors would not take any passenger who did not 
stop at a particular hotel. I had stopped at the opposition 
house in Jndianola, and before 1 could engage my seat 
had to go to the other house and put up there. When we 
were about ten miles from Indianola the coach stalled in 
the mud. . All the men passengers had to get out, and the 
driver kindly suggested that while he held the team we 
should go about two hundred yards off and get two or 
three fence rails to pry the coach out of the mud if we 
wanted to get on. This was done, and the coach was dis- 
lodged from the mud by the united efforts of six or eight 
men; then it started again, and the unloaded passengers, 
scraping two or three pounds of the black, sticky mud 
from their shoes, concluded to walk awhile to rest the 
team. Pive hundred yards or less from the scene of the 
first stall, the coach stuck again in the mud, and as the 
rails formerly used were now the nearest, the driver again 
came to the rescue, and suggested that we should go and 
bring them to pry the coach out once more. As that 
seemed the only thing that could be done, it was done, 
and again the coach was en route but as the driver 
climbed into his high perch and cracked his whip at the 
leaders, he said that there were several bad mud holes a 
short distance ahead, and to save time we had better bring 
the rails along, as we would surely need them; and so it 
came about that we paid ten cents a mile for the privilege 
of walking and packing a fence rail." 
Abednego quieted his conscience for getting off this old 
chestnut on the driver as a part of his own experience, by 
the thought that desperate cases required desperate rem- 
edies, and further, by the thought that it was allowable 
to "point a moral" if not to "adorn a tale." 
"But bow about being starved to death in a snow-up, 
or pitched into a fifty-foot river, or mashed into smith- 
ereens, by another engine, or blown into kingdom come 
by a boiler explosion?" retorted Baalim with withering 
scorn. 
Here the team came to a standstill in the midst of a 
mud hole of larger dimensions than usual. He attempted 
to urge them out by shouting and stamping, but in vain, 
and then he said that he reckoned we would have to 
lighten the load before that danged Brownie would pull. 
As Abednego was the booted passenger, he prepared to 
dismount; but the mud and water being deep, he stepped 
over the dashboard, and cooned it out to the harness of 
Bill, from which point it was possible by a spring to clear 
the worst part of the mud. Throwing the leg that had 
been between the horses over to the outside, he sprang to 
the ground, but unfortunately the seat of his pants had 
hitched on the catch fixed on the top of the pack saddle 
for the reception of the reins, and a fearful sound of tear- 
ing cloth saluted his ears. 
Now, the suit he wore was a new one, for which he had 
paid $55 to a Galveston tailor, and he was proud of its 
neatness and fit, and with great indignation as he reached 
dry ground he threw back the tail of his coat to investi- 
gate the amount of the damage. Alas! there was a letter 
A, 2ft. in length, torn in the solid cloth, and the white of 
his underwear maliciously shining at him from his rear. 
He glanced back; Shadrach was doubled up, with his 
hands over his stomach, his face aflame, with a million 
wrinkles in it, and his whole frame convulsed with 
laughter; Meshak was thrown back, his mouth a yard 
wide, haw-hawing as though his life was at stake. The 
driver's weatherbeaten countenance was screwed around 
until circular wrinkles having the mouth for a center 
