e to
Bob was a very powerful one. He looked all around in anxious
curiosity, with the endeavor to comprehend his situation. His first
thought was, that some accident had happened to the party which
was delaying them; but soon he became aware of his own tremendous
progress, and understood the true state of the case'. He was now
in a place where the road ran straight for over a mile. At the end
of this it turned. As Bob reached this turning-place, he looked
back again, and far away, just at the entrance upon the straight
piece of road, he saw the party coming. A few seconds and he was
once more carried out of sight.

And now Bob began to feel that his situation was a serious one. It
was not pleasant to be carried away in this manner, in a strange
country, on the back of an animal like this. Had it been a runaway
horse, he would have felt less troubled. He would, in fact, have
felt quite at home, for he had been frequently run away with on
horseback. He understood horses, but of asses he knew nothing. A
horse was to some extent a sensible animal. He would run away, and
in due time would come to a pause. But an ass! Was an ass possessed
of any sense of decency--any conscience? Would the well-known
obstinacy of the ass be shown on an occasion like this? and would
this ass, merely out of that obstinacy, keep on running for all
the rest of the day? It was a startling thought.

Bob all this time had been making desperate efforts to stop the
ass. He was considerably embarrassed by the fact that there was
no bridle, and no way of getting at the ass, so as to exert his
strength upon him. He tried various ways. First he pulled at his
long ears. For this the ass cared not a whit. He did not seem
to be conscious of it. Then he wound his hands about his neck,
and tried to pull his head back. The effect was useless. Bob's
strength was unavailing. He could no more move that bent and
stubborn neck, than he could straighten the crooked fluke of an
anchor. Then he pounded wildly upon the neck, shoulders, and
flanks of the ass, and kicked against his sides. This, too, was
useless, for his puny blows seemed to affect the animal no more
than so many puffs of wind. Then Bob tried other means. He sat
upright, and suddenly called, in a short, sharp, peremptory voice,
"Whoa!" This he repeated over and over, but without any success;
and at length he reflected that _whoa_ was English, a language
which, of course, an Italian ass could not unders