The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1894-01-13
THE MULE CALLED BACK.
The Remarkable Instances OF sus-
pended Animation Of
Border Animal
Buried In the Deep Mud of tho
Jicara Plains for Several
Months.
A Story That the Inoreduious Might
Question In soothing MAnner-soil
That Absorba Abundantiy.

We were sitting In the Cringo club NJ
Panama, telling stories q travel. The
most Of the yarns bordored on the marvel
Gus, and II one could believe them all
strange tai.gs do happen In the world
Senior Delgardo hn; related story about
the increase OF frogs noted about an arti-
fetal pond he had made. on a branch OF the
Tahasara river, when Jack Hemenway, n
contractor from Nicaragua, said;
Speaking Of frogs reminds me OF the
curious statements made by baturalists
about them. They have been found in
clay, in trees and even I'm stones, where
they had been incased for untold years,
and yet were soon rcsuscitated on being
released and became lively. Now that al
ways seemed marvellous to me, but let me
tell you about Nicaragua mule that
owned. IL was when the contractors were
clearing tho route of the proposed canal
from the lake 10 the Pacific. / got con
tract 20 take lot of their traps from san
Jorge on the lake down along the line TO
the Pacific terminus, and IL required just
30 mules 60 carry the stuff. The route lay
over "A beautiful macadnmized road as far
as Rivas, and then struck out on the trail
10 san Juan del Sur, which. as some of
you know, crosses what they call the
Jicara plains. New, in the summer time
that is, during the dry season-that
trail is "A pretty fair one If you keep your
eyes open, but this contract was got just at
the beginning Of the wet season.
"With couple of men 90 help me,
started out ON the plains just AS one Of
those laundering big rain squalls came on,
and you know how the men as well as
81.
rain came down in food, and the light
ming went scooting about over the clouds
and down TO the ground and from bush TO
bush, till you would have thought perdi-
ton was at hand. and away went the
mules on a mad gallop, in spite Of tho loads
they carried, while the men alternately
swore and crossed themselves in prayer,
and had the whole outfit 20 look after
and no time even 20 properly cuss or pray.
"I.et me sec, it's about three miles
across those plains, amt it? We'll, before
we were half way over the ground was all
in a trembfe like jelly. You see the earth
there cracks open during the dry season
down as deep as 25 and 80 feet-fact You
can see cracks a-plenty that are from 2 TO
feet wide and 25 feet deep that the hot
sun makes in that clay. Now, when the
rain comes the water just fills into those
cracks, and beginning at the bottom soaks
into the ground and makes a regular thin
mortar of il. And then more rain comes
and soaks up more and more Of the clay
underneath until at last there's only
thin layer Of solid clay on top, and that
ism too solid, and then's the time 20 look
out for your mules when you're crossing
the plains. If they get within jumping
distance Of a crack, the crust just breaks
off and in they 20.
"You bet, was looking out for my
mules with both eyes and a blacksnake
whip. but it wasn't much use. / simply
trusted to luck and kept the whip snap
ping, and in the course Of 20 minutes we'd
crossed the reach of dangerous ground,
and then we lined up the procession and
took stock IL grieved me greatly to find
that only % were there to line up, the
more so as the missing mule was big
burly fellow with a piebald head, that
could carry "A bigger load on less feed than
any beast / ever saw.
However he was gone, and all / could
do was to charge him and his load to the
other side of the account and deliver what
i had saved, which l did, and then got
even for tho loss by selling out the whole
outfit TO a tenderfoot who had come down
from the States to take a contract ON dam
building before ever the engineers had
completed the surveys.
"Unul the end of the wet season was
alternating at Downings, in Granada,
most Of the time, but when at last the sun
came out to stay, and times were too dull
90 live by, concluded to go down TO San
Juan del Sur and catch the steamer for
Punta Arenas and see what | could do
there. Let me see, that was three years
ago. Maybe You remember how hot it was
the first of that season. I've been in these
countries 10 years without seeing the
weather so hot. Why, when / got TO Rivas
and wanted TO hire a mule for san Juan
they wanted s. for the trip, because, as
they said, of the danger that the mule
would be- sunstruck. 50 put my baggage
on CARLOAD of fustic and started down
afoot. ! had the money, but | wouldn't
give in TO them
"Well, that was the hottest walk on
the Jicara plains | ever heard Of, but the
heat wasn't the worst of H. The time had
come for the ground to begin TO crack
open. You see, the clay just got a thick
dry scale over the top, and then the heat
struck down through 10 the thin stuff un-
derneath, and naturally that scale would
just crack open in all directions like a
boiler with too much steam on. The cracks
We're opening in all directions and IL was
positively dangerous. l began 70 think
that n crnek might open under my feet at
any minute and let me down. | had just
got myself worked up TO a state Of mind
where J was ready To run for H. when the
biggest crack / ever saw ripped open right
beside the trail, and what should / see
down about feet but my old piebald
headed mule
Just waiting 10 be resuscitated. like
the frogs Ia limestone rock, said Char
ley Mansfield. Its wonderful about
these Central American mules, but let me
tell you wasp story hats
II didn't expect any one % believe me-"
continued Jack. "but II You will write 20
the alcalde 81 Rivas. or u DR.. John Il.
Theron. formerly.of Louisville, but now
druggist ut Rlyas. they will tell you Of
three well authenticated cases Of mules
that survived burial in the mud Of the
Jicara plains for periods r1nning up sew
Cral months. i-Nrw York sun.