The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1854-09-27
HUNTING A MULE IN CALIFORNIA.

HUNTING A MULE IN CALIFORNIA.
- Tie author of - Sam Slick . relates
the following adventure while hunting a
vicious mule that had strayed from his
camp ~ t1iaF 'slis 5-4,-f'2e is@
swell, I was huntin' her, and arter
runnin', over the hill and shootin' down
half dozen gulches, I began to get me
cut of wind, and set down to bless that
gray eritter for the many tramps she had
given Tne. I'll swar no lariat 'ud hold
her not if it was made of bull hide an
inch thick. I hadn't sot more'n n mint,
when | heard snort, and roar and a
growl, and right smart sprinklin' of
fast travelin', all mixed I'D together
Lookin' up perpendicular hill, right
behind me, there I saw comm my gray
mule putin in her best icks, and a few
yards behind her a grizzly, not much
bigger than a yearling. Many an in
fernal scrape that mule has taken me
into afore, but this was rather the tight
ess place she ever did get me into. 1
hadn't weepun about me, 'eept one of
those mean, one -barreled auction pistols,
and that hadn't consarned mite of load
in, and hadn't nothing to load it with
and no time to put it in, if I had and
if it had been loaded, it wouldn't have
been worth cuss -
go You had better believe boys, that
my skin got moist suddint-there WERE
MT no dry diggins under nay red shirt,
long afore that grizzly got down the hill
The infarnal mule no sooner seed me
than she jest wheeled round and put me
atween her and the bar, and stood off to
see if [ wouldn't lick him about as 1
used to whale her when she got stub
born. Old grizzly drawed up when he
seed me, gin to roll his old barral
head about, and grunt as if 1 was morn
he bargained for, and I'd jest give him
that mule easy, to have got off square.
lay out [ didn't. want to bet on.
l'HE commenced backing out, and want
ed to make it a draw game; buthe kept
shuffiin' up to me and any fellerwho had
been close to his head, would hey Civ
his whole pile just to get. a chance to
cut. I considered my effects-that pan,
rocker and crowbar-jest as good as
ministered upon; and almost felt the
coroner sittin on my body. / stuck my
hand into my pocket to see. if there
warn't knife about me, and [ pulled
out half a dozen boxes of lucifer match
es, that had just been bought that after
noon. / don't know what put it into
my head but sot box blazin', and
held it out toward old grizzly, and 1
reckin you havn't often seen two eyes
stick out wusser than his did then. He
drew back at least ten yards, and settin'
the box down on the airth. i just moved
off about twenty yards in t'other direc-
tion The bar crept up to the lucifers
and took a smell, and if the muscles of
my jaws hadn't been 50 tight with fear,
I'd have busted into regular snort, of
laughin' at seein' how he turned up his
nose and snuffed. The next mint he
retreated at least fifty yards; and then
1 sot another box of the lucifers, and
boys, dare you believe it-he gin to back
out AS soon as felt l had him skeert,
didn't keera cuss for a whole drove of
grizzlys.: I jerked out another box of
lucifers, teched it off and let out the
most nnearthly,yell that ever woke those
diggins and the way that bar broke
IHIO d CdubCE uO nave =uLSbdHOCu any
quarter nag in Christendoml He jest
seemed to think that anything that could
fire up as easy, and smell as bad as me
was rather delicate subject to kick up
row with.
+" As he was gettin' over the HILL I
fairly squeeled out laughin', and I'll
swear if that impudent mule. which was
standin' behind me-didn't snicker out
too I looked for. rock to hit her
instead of ketchin her to ride to camp
and the ungrateful critter sot right
off in trot, and left me to walk Il
made quick time atween that ravien and
my tent, for I was awful feered that my
grizzly was waitin' at some place to take
a second look at me, and might bring a
few older varmints along to get their
opinion of what kind of critter I wur.
~, All, boys (said he in conclusion,)
Providence has helped me out of many
a scrape but it wasn't him that saved
me from the grizzly Eft hadn't been
old Satan, or some other Dutchman, sin
vented birthstone and lucifer matches,
there would hev been an end to this crit
ter and the verdict would hev been
Died of Grizzly
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