Middletown transcript. [volume] (Middletown, Del.) 1868-current, 1912-03-16

OF 0acn mountain namIeL LnrOugn
which they had passed, to all Of which
Bradshaw remained serenely Oblivious.
The young man, who does enter espe-
cially into this tale, was vestryman
of the church in his home in the
suburbs Of Philadelphia. HIS piety
had been put to severe strain in the
mountains.
That day everybody had to work on
the trail-everybody wanted to for
that matter. The hardest labor con-
sisted in the driving Of the burros.
Unfortunately there was no good and
trained leader among them through
an unavoidable mistake, and the camp
.ers had great difficulty in keeping the
burros on the trail. To Arthur Brad
shaw had been allotted the most OBJ
stinate5- cross-grained and determined
Of the unruly band, and old Kirkby
and George paid particular attention
to instructing him in the gentle art
of manipulating him over the rocky
mountain trail.
WALL" said Kirkby with his some
what languid, drawing, nasal voice,
'that there burro's like a ship witch
I often seed 'em wen was kid down
east afore l come out to Gods coun-
try. Nature has pervided 'em with a
kind Of hellum. remember il you
wanted the boat to go to the right
you showed the hellum over to the
left. Sta'boad an port was the terms
as recollects 'em. It's Jest the same
with burros, you takes 'em by the
tiller, that's by the tail, git a good
tight twist on 1t an eff you want him
to head to the right, slew his stern
sheets around to the left, an you got
to be keerful you don't git no kick
back witch ef it lands on you is worse
n the ree-coil Of a mule"
Arthur faithfully followed direc-
/ tons, narrowly escaping the outraged
brute's small but sharp pointed heels
on occasion. His efforts not being
productive Of much success, finally in
bis despair he resorted to brute
strength; he would pick the little ami
NAL up bodily, pack and all-he was
man of powerful physique-and swing
him around until his head pointed in
the right direction; then with a prayer
that the burro would keep it there for
a few rods anyway, he would set him
down and start him all over again.
The process oft repeated became mo.
notonous after awhile. Arthur was q
slow thinking man, deliberate in &C.
ton; he stood it as long as he possibly
could. Kirkby, who rode one horse
and led two others, and therefore was
exempt from burro driving, observed
him with great interest. He and Brad
shaw had strayed way behind the rest
of the party.
At last Arthur's resistance, patience
and piety, strained to the breaking
point, gave way suddenly. Primitive
instincts rose to the surface and over
.whelmed him like a food. He de-
Hberately sat down on a fallen tree
by the side Of trail, the burro halt
ing obediently, turned and faced him
with hanging head, apparently con-
scious that he merited the disappro-
baton that was being heaped upon
him, for from the desperate tender
foot there burst forth SO amazing, so
fluent, so comprehensive a torrent Of
assorted profanity, that even the old
past master in objuration was aston
ished and bewildered. Where did
Bradshaw, mild and inofTensiVe, get
80 EJfo
palled his rector and amazed his fell
low Vestrymen. Not the Jackdaw Of
Rheims himself was so cursed as that
little burro. Kirkby sat on his horse
in fits Of silent laughter until the
tears ran down his cheek, the only
outward and visible expression Of his
mirth.
Arthur only stopped when he had
thoroughly emptied himself, possibly
Of an accumulation Of years Of repres-
sion.
WALL" said Kirkby, you sure do
OVermatch any one l ever heard wen
1t comes to cursin'; wy, you could
gimme cards an spades an beat me,
an was thought to have some gift
hathaway in the old days"
Il didn't begin to exhaust myself"
answered Bradshaw, shortly, and
what l did say didn't equal the situa-
ton. I'm going home"
Il wouldn't do that" urged the old
man. Here, you take the horses an
I'll tackle the burro."
Gladly" said Arthur. II would
rather ride an elephant and drive a
herd Of them than waste another min
ute on this internal little mule"
The story was too good to keep,
and around the camp fire that night
Kirkby drawled it forth. There was q
freedom and easiness Of intercourse in
the camp, which was natural enough.
Cook, teamster, driver, host, guest,
men, women, children, and had al.
most said burros, stood on the same
level. They all ate and lived together.
The higher up the mountain range you
go, the deeper into the wilderness you
plunge, the further away from the
conventional you draw, the more
homogeneous becomes society and the
less obvious are the irrational and I'M
scientific distinctions of the lowlands.
The guinea stamp fades and the man
and the woman are pure gold or base
metal inherently and not by any ar
tificial standard.
George, the cattle man, who cooked.
and Pete, the horse wrangler, who as
sisted Kirkby in looking after the
stock, enjoyed the episode uproarious-
ly, and would fain have had the exact
language repeated to them, but here
Robert Maitland demurred, much to
Arthur's relief, for he was thoroughly
Inundated by the whole performance.
It was very pleasant lounging
around the camp fire and one good
story easily led to another.
1T was in these very mountains"
said Robert Maitland, at last, when his
turn came, that there happened one
of the strangest and most terrible ad.
ventures that ever heard Of. 1 have
pretty much forgotten the lay Of the
land, but l think 1t wasn't very far
from here that there is one Of the
most stupendous canons through the
range; nobody ever goes there; don't
suppose anybody has ever been there
since. It must have been at least