As Many Persons As Then Can Be Assembled
Get Behind The Animal To Persuade It To Enter The Water.
The boat is ready
to go as soon as the animal is "in," but yet it prefers to be
"Out."
Yellings, shoutings, pushings are of little or no avail, and the gentle
pleadings of the man with the rope are as effective as Mrs. Partington's
sweeping back of the Atlantic with a broom. Vigorous measures must be used,
so a concerted movement is projected. At a given signal the boat is to be
pushed off, the oarsman ply his oars with power, the man in the stern is to
pull with energy, and a man at each flank of the animal is to push, while
every other being is to do his or her part by a shout or a boost. One man
swings a riata to help scare the animal in, and the boat pulls out into the
current. We all stand and watch. What is the fool horse doing? Scared at
first of going into the water, he now is making desperate efforts to climb
into the boat. His rope is held as tightly as possible, but the beast swims
frantically from one side to the other, endeavoring to climb aboard. His
knees thump the boat, and his chin occasionally rests on the gunwale, but
active interference thrusts him back. In the meantime, the current is
taking the boat well down the river, but we are not alarmed, for we have a
good half-mile stretch, with convenient sandy places on the north side, on
which to land.
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