St. Paul daily globe., 1889-02-07

suddenly to an incline of forty-five
degrees. That sharp incline is 800
yards from top to bottom.
aad the bottom is simply the top OF a
ledge that has sheer fall OF twenty
rect. From the bottom of that ledge
there is another sloping piece OF ground
2 @ feet or so wide, and at the lower
edge of that slope another ledge drops
perpendicuarly fifteen feet, the west
branch OF Bear run flowing at its base.
Ii have made the topography OF that
section of rather rolling country toler-
ably plain it will be noticed that a man
in t0boggan, taking the course have
marked out, would get enough sport out
O one ride to last him until the opening
Of the next season.
was standing in the road on the
l,ng and crooked hill listening to Uncle
job Snyder, the great unter, Dem0an-
ing the decadence of game, When Bill
Mtrgah, a teamSter from the Sneasiey
mills. appeared. He had pair OF boDs
with good load of logs aboard, ana the
load was drawn by couple OF despond-
ent-lUoking mules. Bill stopped Whei1
he came to the hill to adjust his brake
that hill with load the wagon or sled
has got to have all the brake on it that
heavy chains can give. AS Bill Morgan
was adjusting his chains. Uncle JOB
Snyder said to me:
Them mules hain't got no more life
in 'em than a pair o. old rubber boots.
I'm alluz glad when see 'em raise this
hill a-goin' home, fer don't want 'em TO
drop dead 'round here
Bill Morgan set his brake chains and
came on down the hill. AS the mules
passed us noticed that they certainly
did look as if sudden jar would startle
life away from them. They went as in
a hopeless sort of way and had reached
the very steepest part OF the hill when
the brake chain separated and the b0DS
and logs began pushing rather savagely
against the heels of those little mules.
Now. they'm gone, sartln!> eX-
claimed Uncle job Snyder.
The American mule OF the comic
newspaper, under these circumstances.
would have kicked logs and bObS into
slivers. Did these American mules
supposed to be on the verge OF dlsso-
luton at that time-do anything OF that
bobs prod them in the heels two or
three times, and then, as if the thing
had all been D AIMED beforehand, away
they went down that hill. They
went so fast that their legs looked like
spokes in trotting sulky behind a
horse going mile in 2:14.
They hain't got time to die now
exclaimed Uncle job Snyder. But
they'll be goners when they git to the
bottom O. the hill.''
But they didn't get to the bottom OF
the hill. When they reached the bend
in the road they didn't bend with it, but
kept straight on. Down the bank they
went, down the sl0ping field, with the
bobs and the logs doing their very best
to keep up. When the mules struck the
top of the 45-degree incline and went on
down it, they were going so fast that if
there hadn't been snow Oh the ground
to throw them out in reilef,
we could scarcely have seen
them. Then the top OF the
first ledge was reached, and mules. .bobs
and logs disappeared. Uncle job
to say "That settles it," when the logs
came in sight, going like streaks of
lightning dow the second slope toward
the ledge along the creek. They had
broken their fastenings and shot over
the mules, but the mules followed right
on in their wake, holding the boDs be-
hind them. 1t was like shadow pass
ing over field to see those logs, mules
and bobs fitting down that slope. The
top of the second ledge was reached,
and the whole cavalcade disappeared
again. Nothing came in sight any
more.
Thar exclaimed Uncle Job. with
sigh of relief, .'Nothin' kin ever make
me b'lieve that them mules didn't die
fore they got the bend in this hill, but
they war pushed so hard they couldn't
drop. What'll you take for their shoes,
Bill?"
Bill didn't say. and just for curiosity
l went down with him and Uncle Job to
see how the mules were wrecked. 1t
was Something OF a job to get there,
but we managed it. There wasn't much
left of the bobs, and the logs were lying
about as promiscuously, good deal
splintered and jammed. But there
in the midst of the wreck, and up
to their knees in water. stood those
two mules, looking just as despondent
as ever and painting little, but as much
alive as any mules that ever hee-haWed.
and without scratch on 'em. Uncle
Job stood simply aghast. He could
scarcely believe his eyes, even after
Bill had led the mules out of the creek
on the other side and started to lead
them across lots to the hill, the bottom
of which they hadn't reached. Then
Uncle job shouted:
Bill! rll give ye $500 fer the m
mulesr'
| came away soon afterward and don't
know whether the mules changed hands
or not. but do know that never again
can anything be said about the Amer
lean mule that won't swear to.