They Are Perfectly
Matched - Coal-Black All Over, Except Their Little Noses, And Are Quite
Small.
They are full of mischief, and full of wisdom, too, even for
government mules, and when one says, "Let's take a sprint," the others
always agree - about that there is never the slightest hesitation.
Therefore, when we first heard the scraping of the brake, and saw that
the driver was pulling and sawing at the tough mouths with all his
strength, no one was surprised, but we said that we wished they had
waited until after we had crossed the Arkansas River. But we got over
the narrow bridge without meeting more than one man, who climbed over
the railing and seemed less anxious to meet us than we were to meet
him. As soon as we got on the road again, those mules, with
preliminary kicks and shakes of their big heads, began to demonstrate
how fast they could go. We had the best driver at the post, and the
road was good and without sharp turns, but the ambulance was high and
swayed, and the pace was too fast for comfort.
The little mules ran and ran, and we held ourselves on our seats the
best we could, expecting to be tipped over any minute. When we reached
the post they made a wonderful turn and took us safely to the
government corral, where they stopped, just when they got ready. One
leader looked around at us and commenced to bray, but the driver was
in no mood for such insolence, and jerked the poor thing almost down.
Three tired, disheveled women walked from the corral to their homes;
and very glad one of them was to get home, too! Hereafter I shall
confine myself to horseback riding - for, even if John is frisky at
times, I prefer to take my chances with the one horse, to four little
long-eared government mules! But I have learned to ride very well, and
have a secure seat now. My teachers, Faye and Lieutenant Baldwin, have
been most exacting, but that I wanted. Of course I ride the army way,
tight in the saddle, which is more difficult to learn. Any attempt to
"rise" when on a trot is ridiculed at once here, and it does look
absurd after seeing the splendid and graceful riding of the officers.
I am learning to jump the cavalry hurdles and ditches, too. I must
confess, however, that taking a ditch the first time was more exciting
than enjoyable. John seemed to like it better than I did.
FORT LYON, COLORADO TERRITORY,
November, 1871.
IN many of my letters I have written about learning to ride and to
shoot, and have told you, also, of having followed the greyhounds
after coyotes and rabbits with Faye and Lieutenant Baldwin. These
hunts exact the very best of riding and a fast horse, for coyotes are
very swift, and so are jack-rabbits, too, and one look at a greyhound
will tell anyone that he can run - and about twice as fast as the
big-eared foxhounds in the East.
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