18 TRUE BEAR STORIES.

on the farther bank, followed by the
ponies.

The mule is the most traduced of all ani-
mals. A single mule has more sense than
a whole stableful of horses. You can han-
dle a mule easily if the barn is burning; he
keeps his head; but a horse becomes in-
sane. He will rush right into the fire, if
allowed to, and you can only handle him,
and that with difficulty if he sniffs the fire,
by blindfolding him. Trust a mule in case
of peril or a panic long before a horse. The
brother of Solomon and willful son of David
surely had some of the great temple-build-
er’s wisdom and discernment, for we read
that he rode a mule. True, he lost his head
and got hung up by the hair, but that is
nothing against the mule.

As we turned our eyes from seeing the
animals safely over, right there by us and
a little behind us, through the willows of
the canyon and over the edge of the water,
we saw peering and pointing toward the