y careful, as Forrest was reported near that region; they hardly
thought it safe to attempt to get to Green River.

This brewed fresh trouble to me, the owner of the horses and carriage
refusing positively to proceed on the journey. In vain I expostulated,
telling him I would pay for his horses out of the _sinking fund_ of
the _Times_ office, in case of their loss. It was no go, and I was
compelled to retreat. I felt very much like building some
fortifications in the woods, and making a stand, but, remembering the
saying, "Discretion is the better part of valor," retreated, and fell
back upon the National Hotel, in Louisville, with all the luxuries
prepared by Charley Metcalf, Major Harrow, and Colonel Myers.

CHAPTER XXX.

A Reporter's Idea of Mules -- Letter from Kentucky --
Chaplain Gaddis Turns Fireman -- Gaddis and the Secesh
Grass-Widow.

A REPORTER'S IDEA OF MULES.

Junius Browne, describing a mule and his antics, says: "Now, be it
known, I never had any faith in, though possessed of abundant
commiseration for, a mule. I always sympathized with Sterne in his
sentimental reverie over a dead ass, but for a living one, I could
never elevate my feeling of pity either into love or admiration. The
mule in question, however, seemed to be possessed of gentle and kindly
qualifications. He appeared to have reached that degree of culture
that disarms viciousness and softens stubbornness into tractability. I
believed the sober-looking animal devoid of tricks peculiar to his
kind, such as attempting to run up dead walls in cities, and climb
trees in the country, mistaking himself for a perpetual motion, and
trying to kick Time through the front window of Eternity. I was
deceived in the docile-looking brute. He secured me as his rider by
false pretenses. He won my confidence, and betrayed it shamefully.
That he was a good mule, in some respects, I'll willingly testify; but
in others, he was deeply depraved. He exhibited a disposition
undreamed of by me, unknown before in the brothers and sisters of his
numerous family. In brief, he was a sectarian mule; a bigot that held
narrow views on the subject of religion; believed Hebrew the
vernacular of the devil, and regarded the Passover with malevolent
eyes. Confound such a creature, there was no hope for him! Who could
expect to free him from his prejudices? He hated Moses for his fate,
and Rebekkah for her forms of worship. He was insane on Judaism. He