The times., 1898-07-06
NOT AN ASS WAS THE DONKEY.
a Beast Who Found the Discretion
That OversbadOws ValOr.

From the New York Commercial Advertiser)
IT is no reproach to be called an ass.
He is full of brains, pluck and will power
and it is boastful to say that you have
got the best of one of them. But I'm con-
ceited. ] am, for | beat the most intelli-
gent ass that ever made up its mind to
humilitate and trouble me. l hired him
10 go camping In the Yosemite Valley. l
picked him out of a band of donkeyS,
and the ground of my selection was his
cheapness; the owner asked less for him
than any animal in the bunch,
He stood about 10 my belt, and ham
died him as if he was a baby. lifting him
up and dropping him for fun. That didn' I
seem TO bother him; he slept, or dream
ed at least, right through il. But one
day he fell to his knees when / let him
down. and laughed at the sudden awak-
ening. That hurt the donkey's feelings.
He looked AT me, over his shoulder, his
ears pointed straight, at me, and l be
gieve he took a secret oath TO get even
AT any rate, from that time on he made
my life a burden.
He swelled when l cinched on the pack.
He laid down in the dust when We were
in a hurry. Rolling on the pack, he broke
everything breakable, and during the
night ne trampled upon and rolled on any
pile of goods that was left near When
ever he succeeded in doing any damage he
seemed 10 be to wear malevOlent smile,
and the hardest licking l could give him
failed TO remove the expression of tri-
umph from his face No. sir; an ass is no
ass. But man isn't. either; not all men.
One morning as / was packing him /
conceived plan of revenge. / put on all
the stuff in a round pack that would help
him roll; then I made the top fiat, per-
fectly fiat and quite broad. When all
was ready we started off, and ! let him
have all the rope he wanted. He took
lot, got well ahead of the line and sud-
denly dropped stretching out and rolled.
He swung over and over, until at last he
landed on the fiat top of the pack. and
stopped, There he lay, head down and
feet in air, kicking and struggling, but
unable TO turn down. He was caught. l
ran up and, sitting down right at his
head, laughed ! guyed him and shout
ed my delight in his face upside down. II
must have been tiresome but l was mer-
ciIess; l let him stay there for half an
hour, while all the fellows got around to
help me make fun of the donkey. His ears
gradually sloped and hung loose and
meek, dragging in the dust. His eyes
closed At last he ceased to kick. He
kept quiet and gave in. Then 1 helped
him up.
1t was the most Misunderstanding
donkey I ever saw. His ears were in
mourning and he kept his face turned
away. His head hung low and his tail
did not bulge. OF course, we all guyed
him all day, and he seemed to acknowl-
edge the corn absolutely.
But he wasn't conquered. The next
morning he rolled on our cooking uten-
sils, and though that cut his back a little
and bruised him, he had the satisfaction
of doing us irreparable harm. But
wasn't through, either. l knew he
wouldn't roll on his pack any more, and
thought ] could stop the other trick.
The next morning after we had cleared
I'D our camp / covered the smoldering
ashes of the camp fire with dust and
grass and put on the top of ii all some
old cans and rubbish, straps, ropes and
things Then 1 turned loose the ass and
walked away. He browsed along up to
the rubbish. smelt of it and smiled; his
ears lay back happily and he steered him
self up beside the pile Then he sank upon
it and rolled joyously, viciously- He rolled
the cans fiat and bored his way down
through the other stuff till he struck the
ashes. His spine cut deep into the fire.
He uttered a squeal and rolled out of
the fire and up to his feet, his back
curved high, like a camel's. There was a
big burned spot, about as big as saddle,
and il must have hurt, but the ass suf-
fered most in mind. He looked ashamed,
cowed Inundated almost to death, and
as we laughed at him he seemed to shrink
up into a ball. He never got over it. At
ter that he never used his head any more;
he was a good ass. OF course l knew he
meant to put both his hind feet at me
some day, but they are patient, donkeys
are-so patient that this one lost his
chance. 1 returned him before his time
came.