Page:Pictures of life in Mexico Vol 2.djvu/94

72 halted to refresh our animals before sunset. And now their high spirit urged them to shew their independence of us in the strongest manner. "They would do no such thing as wait; not they! They would go on without us!" So, much to their own satisfaction and amid the unrestrained laughter of our party, they left us behind; the woman and her son riding, and Señor Zarios staggering on, in his old imposing manner, close behind.

As we approached the walls of the town, at dusk, some of our troop thought they could see a mule lying on the ground, to our left, with one figure or more hanging over him as he lay. We drew nearer to the spot, and the true state of the case presented itself to our view.

I must say it was with a grim satisfaction that I beheld, not only the mule, but Señor Zarios himself, lying forlornly helpless and bedraggled, in a pool of slime and mud; into which they had strayed, ignoring the proper path. There they floundered as they might have done in a comic dance; the mud rising in the richest profusion at every movement, till it seemed likely that both man and animal would soon be covered over. The mule kicked