on as he had roared himself
hoarse he stood wiping his perspiring face, smiling contentedly, to say
to one, the other, or both of the boys, "I feel a deal better for having
got rid of all that nasty stuff. It kinder eases my mind, youngsters,
and now look at 'em," he continued, pointing at his obstinate charges;
"see how nicely they go. Don't you ever tell me that mules have no
brains. Look at Skeeter, how he's listening to my voice, and you wait a
moment and you'll see him begin working those ears of his about. There,
do you see? That's his way of telegraphing his opinions about what he
has heard to all the rest. There's a deal more in mules than people
think."

Be this right or wrong, the baggage-carrying animals did their best when
Griggs was near them, and a few absurd words from his powerful lungs
stopped kicking, biting, and squealing when a revolution seemed to be on
the way, and a fight of heels had begun, to the imminent risk of
disaster to the packs.

"No luck yet, sir?" cried Griggs, when the doctor had spoken on that
particular morning. "Why, I was just thinking how lucky we had been."

"How?" said the doctor, and the boys pricked up their ears to listen to
the conversation.

"Haven't lost a mule; always got over some of the ground to bring us
nearer to the place we're looking for; and the way in which we are
enjoying ourselves in this compound frolic of a picnic is wonderful."

"Enjoying, eh? Well, I'm glad you take it so."

"Oh, I think we're been wonderfully lucky, seeing what might have
happened."

"Do you hear, boys?" said the doctor. "That's the spirit to take our
journey in. But look here, Griggs, we've been trenching too much on our
stores, and that's bad."

"The mules don't think so, sir," said the American, laughing; "but as we
can't buy fresh, going on in this way, perhaps we had better be on the
lookout a little more for the pot, and leave the stores as much alone as
we can."

"Yes," said the doctor. "I say, don't let anything eatable go by. By
the way, you're deviating a little from the course we laid down this
morning."

"Just a little, sir," replied Griggs. "It was Skeeter's doing."

"Oh, I did not know that the mule took the lead."

"He doesn't always, sir, but sometimes he stops short, lifts up that
muzzle of his, lays his ears flat down, and sings one of those pleasant
little airs of his; and when he does that I've noticed more than once
that it means he smells