The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1912-08-19
A MoUNTAINEER's MULE.
(By NJ. Quad.1

ooanstep, began the old poSsum
hunter when asked for a story, "a
stranger came along the road ieadin'
a mewl. 1t was a Moth Caroleeny
mewl, and he looked like a likely
beast. 1 was a-wonderin' why the
man was leadin' the mewl instead of
ridin' him, when he stopped and said:
I'm on my way to the Tennessee
river to jump in and perish, and I'll
sell you this mewl powerful cheap if
you want him."
What do you want to perish for ?"
I asked.
"Bekase I'm alone in the world and
too good for it. 1 can't stand the
wickedness around me, and would go
wings. This mewl is the last thing
I've got to get rid of, and if you fancy
him he's yo'rs for $40"
I was in want of mewl just then"
said Zeb, "and after lookin' him over
put down the money. When the
trade had been made the stranger
wiped a tear from his eye, embraced
the mewl in lovin' way and then said
to me:
I'D take him with me to the other
shore, but nevis can't go thar. He'll
grieve after me, but if you treat him
well he'll get over it in time. Good
angels kin come flynn around on airth
once in a while I'll drap in and see
how the critter gifts along"
"It didn't take me long" said Zeb,
"to diskiver that that mewl was orn-
cry. All nevis are pizen mean, but
this one was a champion. If tried
to put a saddle on him, he'd lay
down in his tracks, and II hitched
make him pull a pound. He'd bite
and he'd kick, and he went around
lookin' for a fuss. In a week 1 found
he was no airthly good. l dubbed
him till I was tired. but couldn't
pound no sense into him. One day I
90 so mad that I was gwine to shoot
him, but the old woman mixed in and
said:
I was jest a-thinkin'. zeb. Do
you remember that cartankerous bar
that was around yere last fall?'
".He'il likely come back ag'in this
fall. Better leave him to the mewl If
las to that bar, he was the most
cantankerous varmint 1 ever met up
with. He'd come sneakin' around at
night and chaw up the sheets spread
on the grass, and sometimes ned ap-
pear by day and skeer the old woman
half to death. I set trap for him ana
he carried it off. 1 laid out two nights
on the watch, but he come like
shadder and almost killed my oaWg-
HE was up to all kinds of tricks.
and he bothered me fur months befo'
he disappeared. 1t was likely he would
come back ag'in, and II he did thar
would be fun between an ornery meWl
a,
irving to do anything with the mewl,
but he growed meaner and meaner ali
the time, and he wasn't happy unless
he was kickin' his heels ag'fn the CAD
in doahs. -
stem out. and 1 had to carry club to
keen him off I'd had him SIX weeks
and had wanted to shoot him every
day, when one night that D ar showed
up. He come down off the mountain
feelin' mo- cantankerous than ever
and that ornerly mewl was wa1tln 1or
somethin' to come along ana peglh
row. They got at 1t in no Tune.
me and the old woman got up ana
looked out, and the two critters was
thoroughly enjoyin' themselves. They
was kickirl', bitin, c1awin', groWl1n'
and squealin', and it was better than
circus to watch 'em. They mt for an
hour. and then they got tuckereo out
and the bar went back to his cave
'sIt was the same thing over the next
nsght. and every night for week or
mo-. A bar ought to lick mewl easy
huff, specially when he's cantanker-
Gus bar, but in this case he'd got hoio
of a rnewl so mean and obstinate that
he wouldn't hev turned tail for all the
bars in Tennessee. He was as spry as
a cat, and the way he bit and kicked
warmed up my heart He got good
many scratches in them conflicts, but
ne wouldn't run away or give in One
l..
bar over a dozen times without hurtin'
him, the old woman said to me:
aZeb, it amt exactly fair fout. The
mewl hain't got no shoes on, and his
kicks don't hurt. Better gin him a
decent show
.'It struck me that way, and the next
day takes the critter up to the black
smith shop at the Cove and has sharp
shoes put on his feet. He seemed to
know what they were for and he didn't
like it tall He was ugly all the way
home and when night come he stood in
the yard with his head down and
'peared to be thinkin'.
The bar come down about 8 O'Clock.
Mebbe he was madden than usual, for
he pitched right in at once. Me and the
old woman both noticed that he didn't
use his heels tall, but jest bit and
paved, and We wondered at it. How
ever, after fightin' about half an hour
the bar cornered him, and he had to
turn and let fly, and he killed that var
mint as dead as doahnail with one
kick The sharp ca1ks of one of the
shoes pierced the bars skull. and over
he went and never got up ag'in.
'I was mighty tickled over it and
went out to praise the mewl- He was
standin' clus to the bar, and he never
moved a foot for five minutes; Jest
stood and looked at me through the
darkness in a sort of accusin' way and
then fetched a gasp and fell down
dead.
He's bin wounded in his vitalsg