Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1873-09-04

back and climbed up again. 1t took Us
day to get over the mountain, and then
we came down into another canyon. Sand
| and shale on every side. Our canteens
had given out and we had no water. Two
hours after, while we was next to dying
with thirst, our tongues swollen so that
we could hardly speak, my horse give
out, and there we were. Night was
coming on, and we were just played out.
"'English,' says Joe, we must take a
rest. You and can take a sleep Of an
hour, and then perhaps we can get lit
tie further Busted will hold out for
something yet.
'And Busted did You could see that
he was wanting water dreadful but he
didn't seem wore out none, and just kept
pegging slowly and slowly along, in a
way just ridiculous and nothing else.
Well, we tied him to tree, and then Joe
and slept 1t little while after shut
my eyes, as it seemed to me, though it
| must have been all of two hours, woke
up, with somebody shaking me like mad.
1t was joe Look here said he, En-
glish, we're lost. Busted has bit his rope
in two and gone off, and here we are. ,
Well, started up. 1t was just as he
said. We couldn't say nothing, it seemed
so useless. We knowed we couldn't have
went back again, and yet we knowed we'd
got to. If you must, you'd BETTER has
always been my favorite motto. But
there we was, fifty miles from water, and
that water was alkali and about as bad as
none at all And for two days we'd been
dry. Well, we felt we'd never see Busted
again, and we just sot and waited for the
moon to rise and light us out. IF it had
been moonlight and ef we hadn't waited
we'd died sure. But its being little
cloudy saved as; for, as we were sitting
there, we heard steps, and there was
Busted He came up to us and shifted.
| OF course, we was mighty glad and
mighty relieved to see him; but
we was puzzled by his onaccount-
able behavior. He kept kind of bucking
| around into us and braying; and at last
| brush against him, and finally that canteen
that hung on his saddle hit Joes hand.
| English y just yelled Joe, in his hoarse
and husky voice, that canteens's wet ~
And sure enough it was. That mule had
smelt water and had come back afterward
and, though it couldn't fill the canteen, it
had stopped down and got its outside wet.
| We saw it all in minute. We'll, lead
| us out, good Busted, said Joe, patting his
neck and half hystercal. And that mule
| just went for water straight; and we fol-
| lowed, you bet, sir. And he led us
strai ght on to spring, with willows and
canebrake growing around us, and nice
bunch grass just little way off. Oh! it
was lovely. We stayed there all the next
| day and just swilled water; and then we
started back, Joe and both riding Busted.
"Well, we kept pretty quiet for some
time. But Joe he kept hearing people
talk of Dryfogel's discovering gold over
there, YOU know; how Dryfogel went
out and found gold and left his private
| mark there, and then came back, and
when he went out again couldn't find
| his mark nor nothing. Well, Joe, he
didn't know Dryfogel; but he kept hear
ing and hearing about it, till he grew kind
| Of crazy about it. And nothing would sat
| isfv him but he must start out again.
| Well, I'd had enough of the Amargosa
| Country and the Death Valley, and
| didn't believe in the DryfOgel story. But
| Joe and me was sitting in Manwel's store.
| Well says Joe, if nobody'll go with
me, Iii 90 alone. Just give me Busted.
and I'll travel through this country from
| one end to the other. And / tell you
what, Pm going over there to settle, bag
and baggage. I've got five hundred dol
lars in gold, that I'll put in my belt, and
| I'll start alone, if it's necessary
"'pll 60 with YOU said MARVEL, sud.
denly.
"Well, Joe was in for it, and he'd have
gone with anybody rather than not have
gone, and it ended in his starting as he
said. Well, as might have been expected,
Joe never come back But MARVEL did.
In less than fortnight he was back again,
with his hair all right; but he said he'd
| lost his hat. He couldn't stand the desert,
| he said: but he'd left Joe well and hearty
and on the way across the Death Valley.
| The story seemed reasonable enough, and
| we didn't think nothing strange about it.,
except that Joe didn't write no message
| to me. 1t might have been all Of two
months after this, when Captain Herring
came through with pack train. And a
precious bung-eyed old rascal he is, you
know. Well, he filed along with his train,
and stopped to take dinner with us; and,
| as he tied up his train, who should see
but Busted At first | couldn't believe it.,
| for I knew that Joe never would have
parted with him; but he prayed and
recognized me when | come up. didn't
say nothing to no one; but | drew Cap
tain Herring outside. Cap, says l. do
you mind putting that mule into my shed,
and just keeping quiet about ity' Well,
Cap, he was little surprised; but he said
yes. Now, Cap" said /, that mule be-
ionged to Joe Childers. am quite sure.
Tell us where you found him. And then
Cap said it was over in the Death Valley
region. and what is curious said the
Captain, he had an old felt hat in
his mouth and flesh wound in
one of his buttocks, but no saddle nor
nothing. Can you show me that hat !?
says l. NO. says the Captain, for |
threw it away but it was for all the world
just like the one you're wearing Well,
says l, Joe never wore hat like that
Look here, Cap, you're going on trip up
north, and will pass through here in a few
days again. Just leave that there mule
with me, and let me investigate this thing!
So the Captain agreed and let me keep
Busted. No one had recognized him un-
der his apparejO, and and my partner
kept quiet about our having him in the
she'd But that evening we went into
Manwel's store By the way said l,
quite careless and Indifferent like, there