ation. "An' also, dey suttinly do git up some
mouty curious laws." He paused a moment as though in a still slightly
dazed contemplation of the statutory idiosyncrasies of the Caucasian,
and then added the key words: "F'rinstance, now, dey got a law dat you
got to keep lions an' tigers in a cage. Yassuh, da's de law. Can't no
circus go 'bout de country widout de lions an' de tigers an' de
highyenas is lock' up hard an' fas' in a cage." Querulously his voice
rose in a tone of wondering complaintfulness: "An' yit dey delibert'ly
lets a man-eatin' mule go ramblin' round loose, wid nothin' on him but a
rope halter."

Across the prostrate form of the speaker Bill Tilghman eyed Tallow Dick
in the reminiscent manner of one striving to recall the exact words of a
certain quotation and murmured, "De trouble wid dat Frank mule is dat
he's pampered."

"Br'er Tilghman," answered back Tallow Dick solemnly, "you done said
it--de mule is been pampered!"

The sufferer stirred and blinked and sat up dizzily.

"Uh-huh," he assented. "An' jes' ez soon ez I gits some of my strength
back ag'in, an' some mo' clothes on, I'm gwine tek de longes', sharpes'
pitchfork dey is in dis yere stable an' I'm gwine pamper dat devilish
mule wid it fur 'bout three-quarters of an hour stiddy."

But he didn't. If he really cherished any such disciplinary designs he
abandoned them next morning at sunup, when, limping slightly, he propped
open the stable doors preparatory to invading its interior. The white
demon, which appeared to have the facility of snapping his bonds
whenever so inclined, came sliding out of the darkness toward him, a
malignant and menacing apparition, with a glow of animosity in two
deep-set eyes and with a pair of prehensile lips curled back to display
more teeth than by rights an alligator should have. It was immediately
evident to Red Hoss that in the Frank mule's mind a deep-seated aversion
for him had been engendered. He had the feeling that potential ill
health lurked in that neighborhood; that death and destruction, riding
on a pale mule, might canter up at any moment. Personally, he decided to
let bygones be bygones. He dropped the grudge as he tumbled backward
through the stable doors and slammed them behind him. That same day he
went to Mr. Ham Givens and announced his intention of immediately
breaking off his present associations with the firm.

"Me, I is done quit foolin' wid ole ice waggins," he announced airily
after