The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1908-07-10
MULE PROVED RIGHT
DID WELL TO STAY OUT IN OPEN
DURING STORM.
Call Il stubbornness or Precedence, or
Anything You Wish, But His Ae'
ton Saved the Life Of
Ills Rider.

Everybody knows that all mules
are brainy, but the mules OF Old Mexl'
co have something on other mules foi |
a sort of precedence of their own, saia
a man who has spent many years Ill
the neighborng republic, to Ne"
York Sun writer "a Mexican mule
will do just so much work and not
bit more.
"The riding mule. for instance, 10
fully aware of the distance, down TO
rod, he is supposed and required 10
traverse in the progress of one travel
ing day, and all the sharp sticks or
goads or dynamite on earth won't get
him to do bit more than what ne
knows to be the correct distance. Inc
Mexlcans have a peculiar saying III
! connection with this characteristic Oh
| the Mexican mule You ask Mexi'
can. for instance, how far it is by
muleback to such and such a point
1.-Two days journey II you are not
! rushed. but three days II you are
| in a hurry the Mexican will reply
'IIs meaning is that If you don |
ask any more OF your mule than you
should ask of him the mule VIII be
able to make the trip in two days but
If YOU attempt to drive the brute hell
soldier on you, and in consequence the
tourney will take you three days.
Now for the prescience Of which
spoke. | don't know what else to calI
il. The latest instance ! saw OF II
was when | was riding through the
state of Sonora a month or so ago on
an old gray mule that knew every turn
and twist of the road | was taking so
thoroughly that ] let the bride reihs
hang and permitted him to go 1t alone.
Along toward evening terrific
thunder storm came up. The air was
heavy with the fumes of sulphur
something had heard about but had
never experienced beforehand the
} crashes were deafcning. The road was
rocky and bad and there was only an
occasional scrub pine alongside
p THE old gray mule. when the storm
reached its height, stopped his jog
of a sudden and stood In the middle
of the road, peacefully enough. lie
, wasn't worried, apparently, but nj
5 considered that that was a pretty goot
il place TO stand during the continuance
of the tremendous electrical storm
+ for It was out in the open.
3 For myself, | wanted to get undeI
e the shelter Of a pine tree about nun
= dred yards ahead of me. But the mul'
}. couldn't and wouldn't see that. Hin
o for the open, and there he stood.
l. 81 proddcd him with the spurs, blu
s he merely looked around at me IN
i dnsgusted sort of way. Then ! dis
d mounted and tried to lead him. Notl
r. Ing doing. He wouldn't bulge.
80 at length, giving in to him ina
r. he knew more about 1t than | did.
4. wrapped my poncho about my hea
70 and stood at his head, waiting for tn
n storm to pass l hadn't stood by tn
Is mule in that way for more than thre
lie minutes before l saw couple OF ball
1T Of red fire playing around the trnn
,r of the pine tree that I'd wanted TO &c
under the shelter of Then Their
n. came a positively deafeninG crash an
n when could see again there was tht
I'd nine tree stretched across the roa
O. and good part of it In kindling WOO
I'd Il suppose maybe that old gray mu
by didn't know | give 1t to him, anyho'
O. that he did"