Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1901-11-06
RIDING A BUCKING MULE.
A "Puncher'." Adventure Described
by q Story Teller.


The Century Magazine prize for the
best short story submitted by a COL
lege graduate in 1899, was awarded to
John M. Oskison, of Leland Stanford
dian Territory, and whose blood is
partly Indian. "Only the Master Shall
Praise is its title; and one of its
scenes is a description Of a ride on a
bucking mule.
Out of a knot Of excited men Hammer
went straight to the waiting, restless
mule. With a mock air Of bravado he
struck the excited mule across the
flank with his sombrero, after roughly
seizine tn. reins. No one who has not
learned by experience how to mount a
plunging horse can understand how
Hammer lifted himself out of the chaos
Of rearing mule and struggling attend
ants into the saddle before he signed
to the men to turn the animal loose.
When the mule found himself free to
act there was a momentary pause.
Then began the short, nasty jumps
straight into the air, with the animals
back bowed, its legs stiff and It's head
lowered. It was the first powerful ef-
fort Of the angered beast, made with
devilish confidence. Hammer was
scarcely shaken by these first straight
jumps; but then began the twisting Sc
ries, which is the second expedient Of
a bucking animal. A high jump Into
the air. with seemingly impossible
twist to the side, landed the mule with
its head turned almost half round. Be-
fore the rider caught his breath an
other jump and another half turn were
made. These are the motions that
make a bronco busters life shorter.
Hammer was bleeding at the nose in
half a minute. The twisting jumps
were continued until the strength Of
the mule was almost exhausted, and
as yet only the hat of the puncher had
been dislodged. A short pause follow
ed, during which the mule changed its
tactics, and Hammer thwacked it's
sweaty neck with his open hand. The
next motion was a sudden rearing by
the mule. AS 1t rose on the reins, and,
slipping to the ground on one side, al
lowed the brute to fall on it's back.
The saddlehorn buried itself in the
earth, and the mules hoofs beat the
air a moment before it scrambled to
its feet.
kI4 ,,I1
now, and flung himself back into the
saddle with the first long leap OF the
desperate animal. This was the easy
part Of the trial for the rider, and the
spectacular part for the world. The
mule ran straight away for the oppo-
site fence Of the fair grounds with
long, lunging jumps, rising and pitch
ing forward with the speed Of a racing
yacht. Hammer brought his craft about
before 1t sailed into the fence, and beat
1t fore and aft with flourishing hand.
He was wild with triumph now, his
hair blowing in the wind. He leaned
forward as in race, urging the thor
oughly tired and conquered mule
straight for the crowd. A particularly
vicious dig with the spurs made the
beast plunge into the scattering knot
Of spectators and rise to a four-barred
gate. At the opposite side Of the track
no fence barred its way, and it ran,
frightened and quivering under the
awning Of a lemonade vendors stand,
Hammer slowly dismounted, stroked the
sweaty flank Of the subdued mule, then
turning and picking up an unbroken
bottle of soda, proposed a toast, ito
our gentle old family buggy hoss."